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Fed up with their lowly professional status, office workers Dolly Parton, Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda ponder over drinks.Wit, wisdom in office filmThe “pink collar” ghetto of the seere* tarial pool is the locale of Nine to Five, an original social comedy designed for all those who ever wanted to get even with an overbearing boss,Nine to Five is madcap comedy with a smattering of social comment. Its fragile premise has three secretaries kidnapping their boss in a desperate bid- to improve office conditions. Due largely to an excellent cast, a strong script and sure-footed direction, the film emerges as a solid piece of entertainment,Jane Fonda plays Judy Bernly, a recent divorcee forced to join the work force. At Consolidated Industries she immediately becomes just another cog in the multinational machine.Judy’s co-workers include Violet (Lily Tomlin), who knows more about the office* organization than does the-boss, and Doralee (Dolly Parton), the boss's buxom private secretary who spends more time fending off her employer’s advances than taking dictation.The boss, Franklin Hart Jr. (Dabney Coleman), is a pompous sexist not above claiming someone else’s good idea as his own. He runs the office as if it were a Soviet work camp.The “girls in the office” fantasize about sweet revenge on the boss. The day-dreams become reality when abizarre episode forces them to take drastic steps.The three women believe the boss has evidence which makes it appear they conspired to put a dose of rat poison in his coffee. Although the poison incident was an accident, and he didn’t drink the coffee, he threatens to use the information unless Doralee provides him with a little office hanky-panky.Fiddling the fundsJudy, Violet and Doralee kidnap the boss and hold him prisoner in his own home. Meanwhile, Violet goes through his files, hoping to find a business indiscretion she can trade off against his blackmail.She discovers Hart has been skimming'off company profits through a phoney unused warehouse. She cables head office for inventory lists to confirm the suspicion but the information can’t be made available for several weeks.In the interim the three take oyer the office operations. They do such a good job no one notices the boss isn’t at his desk.Writer-director Colin Higgins is a specialist at making the oddest premise appear plausible. In Harold and Maude he created a touching relationship between a suicidal teen-age lad and a octogenarian biker; in Foul Play he deftly mixed mayhem, romance and comedy.Higgins, who co-wrote the screenplaywith Patricia Resnick, dabbles in avariety of comedy styles and visual effects. The secretaries’ fantasies allow him to venture into flights of fancy such as a Snow White parody, complete with cute, animated animals, and a nightmarish chase shot with mon-ochramatie film.He has cast his film shrewdly. There isn’t a weak performance.The best work comes from Lily Tomlin as the bright, ambitious but passed-over Violet. Tomlin is put through the widest array of emotional situations of the three women and carries off her scenes with a stunning combination of comic timing, invention and aplomb.Dabney Coleman as Hart keeps the boss a very human monster. The role could easily have become a wild caricature but the decision to keep Hartcloser to reality aids the story’s plausibility. His office spy, played by Elizabeth Wilson, also registers well as a recognizable office pest,Dolly Parton, in her screen debut, is a natural film performer, She provides Doralee with more than her obvious physical assets and displays basic common sense in any situation.Humor* not tiradeOriginally Nine to Five was planned as a drama exposing the sexist practices most women endure in large offices. Th6 film couches its message in humor rather than tirade, but all the groping, rude remarks and extra perks for the boss remain in the script.Nine to Five emerges out of the grind of Hollywood productions as a fresh, witty film. You may even pause between laughs to consider what’s be-tweemthe lines.NINE TO FIVEDirected by Calfn Higgins; Screenplay by Hlooins and Patricia Resnick, story by Resnlck; cinematography by Reynaldo Villalobos; production design by Dean Mfizner; edited by Pembroke Herring; music bv Charles Fox. title song by Dolly Pariani produced by Bruce Gilbert, Art Astral films release. At the Northstar 1, Mature, not suitable for children.Judy Bernly ................... Jane FondaViolet Newstead................. Lily TomlinDoralee Rhodes.......................... Dolly PartonFranklin Hart Jr.......................Dabney ColemanTinsworthy.................................Sterling Haydenrqz ................................... Elizabeth WilsonHtnkle............................................. Henry JonesDick....................................Lawrence PressmanMissy Hart..................................Marian MercerBarbara .......................... Ren WoodsMoviesLeonardKlady
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