Melanie, Harrison, Signourney and the writers chat about the movie.
Signourney is, after all, Signourney.
by Anonymous | reply 1 | December 13, 2018 9:39 PM |
That was a nice read, OP, thanks.
by Anonymous | reply 2 | December 13, 2018 10:57 PM |
The lasting effect of this movie n me: the realization that Harrison Ford should never be cast in the roles that require him to wear a tie.
by Anonymous | reply 3 | December 13, 2018 11:05 PM |
I need to rewatch soon.
by Anonymous | reply 4 | December 14, 2018 12:09 AM |
On a related note, since I don't have any retirement plan, I'll be known as Working Girl at 80.
by Anonymous | reply 5 | December 14, 2018 12:18 AM |
This is such bullshit!!! They are going on about the movie being a forerunner of Me Too and yet the ending sequence consists of Sigourney Weaver being referred to as "Bony Ass" by a group of old white men who close ranks to humiliate her.... how the fuck do they have the audacity.
by Anonymous | reply 6 | December 14, 2018 12:20 AM |
Well r6, those were Tess's words and Sigourney kind of deserved it.
by Anonymous | reply 7 | December 14, 2018 1:28 AM |
r7 I know but I just didn't like how it became about a bunch of old guys bullying a woman.
by Anonymous | reply 8 | December 14, 2018 1:30 AM |
They didn't invite Kevin Spacey?!
by Anonymous | reply 9 | December 14, 2018 1:30 AM |
Let the river run.
by Anonymous | reply 11 | December 14, 2018 1:34 AM |
r11, cum... the new Jerusalem.
by Anonymous | reply 12 | December 14, 2018 1:35 AM |
Here's a lovely rendition of the theme song, kind of gives you an idea of how it would sound if the movie were released today.
by Anonymous | reply 13 | December 14, 2018 1:36 AM |
This movie is so dated, such a time capsule from the eighties. A Cinderella story where, instead of dreaming of going to the ball, the Cinderella's dream is to nab a job in a mercenary, cutthroat corporation. Her "Prince" is a member of the mercenary, cutthroat corporation. This 80s Cinderella's evil stepmother is a female in the corporation. She gets her dirty deeds done by lying and manipulating and being underhanded. On the other hand, the spunky Cinderella moves up the corporate ladder by....lying and manipulating and being underhanded. She ends up vanquishing the evil stepmother, getting her corporate job (and her own secretary!) and the dick of the Prince. A movie that totally reflected the eighties, where greed and money and power were all that mattered.
Melanie Griffith was quite addicted to booze and coke during the filming of this movie, which is why she looks so puffy and fuzzy. There's a scene where she has to walk down some stairs and it had to be shot over and over again because she was drunk and couldn't get it right. The extra cost to reshoot the scene over and over was taken out of her salary. Some Cinderella!
by Anonymous | reply 14 | December 14, 2018 1:51 AM |
Her weight also went up and down during the filming.
by Anonymous | reply 15 | December 14, 2018 2:49 AM |
r14, that's totally ridiculous. Tess didn't climb the corporate ladder because she was greedy, but because she had the brains to be something other than a secretary and she wasn't getting any doors open to her. She only decided to be deceitful because Cunterin Parker stole her idea, content to let the lowly secretary stay in her place. The movie is a great morality tale about the ability to someone, however low class, to get to the top. That's what the Statue of Liberty is supposed to reflect... Tess working to achieve her goal.
by Anonymous | reply 16 | December 14, 2018 3:12 AM |
R10 I searched.
Frustrated? Talk to Muriel and ask her why search isn't working right for us.
by Anonymous | reply 17 | December 14, 2018 11:53 AM |
I just remember wanting to be in the middle of a Harrison/Alec sandwich.
by Anonymous | reply 18 | December 14, 2018 11:54 AM |
I love this movie. Defintiely one of the best of the 80's!
by Anonymous | reply 19 | December 14, 2018 12:25 PM |
"Tess didn't climb the corporate ladder because she was greedy, but because she had the brains to be something other than a secretary and she wasn't getting any doors open to her. She only decided to be deceitful because Cunterin Parker stole her idea, content to let the lowly secretary stay in her place."
Oh come on. She went after what she wanted by behaving exactly the way Katherine did; lying, manipulating, being underhanded. She LEARNED that from Katherine; that's how you get ahead in business, by being a good liar and manipulator. Tess was supposed to be "good" and Katherine was supposed to be "bad" but they were really the same type. They both went after what they wanted by any means necessary, truth and honesty be damned. That was a credo of the 80s; get what you want by any means necessary, no matter how corrupt and unethical it may be.
by Anonymous | reply 20 | December 14, 2018 8:30 PM |
Well, r20, at least Tess didn't make her secretary fetch coffee.
by Anonymous | reply 21 | December 14, 2018 8:33 PM |
r20 so what was Tess supposed to do, let Katharine steal her idea and continue toiling as a secretary? Tess pursued the idea that was hers to begin with... you're insinuating that it was Tess who stole the idea and found her success through that.
by Anonymous | reply 22 | December 14, 2018 8:39 PM |
"Tess pursued the idea that was hers to begin with... you're insinuating that it was Tess who stole the idea and found her success through that."
No, I'm saying that Tess took her cue from Katherine and used the same tactics she used (deception, manipulation, sneakiness) to become a successful business woman. She became another Katherine, a supposedly "good" version of her.
by Anonymous | reply 23 | December 14, 2018 11:33 PM |
Interesting to read that Alec Baldwin turned down Melanie Griffith.
by Anonymous | reply 24 | December 14, 2018 11:42 PM |
r24 "Hey, it wasn't me poppin' Doreen DeMooci in our bed!" It was really interesting to me how Cyn was siding with Mick the whole time... it portrayed the Staten Island working class community as really misogynistic where women are supposed to just get over being cheated on and put up with their lot. That's what I like about the movie, how Tess decides she wants something better for herself, which isn't the same as shunning her roots... in fact, her roots come into practice with her down to earth decency and good manners. But she really was somebody who was going to be thwarted by her own peers, the people who loved her, and she simply wasn't going to settle for it.
by Anonymous | reply 25 | December 14, 2018 11:51 PM |
I agree with R20. The film is a capitalist and feminist critique. It shows how the system dehumanizes everyone - from the supposedly “empowered” executive, Katherine, who has to sexualize her intelligence and continually pander to her male counterparts while prioritizing a “power” marriage - to Tess, the underclass usurper, who simply sexualizes herself more successfully with her breathy voice, low-cut evening dress (which is symbolically borrowed from Katherine) and her “bod for sin.” It’s a race to the bottom on the way to the top. The women devour each other in the process all to the amusement of the true male power brokers. The end shot of Tess in a corner office as another drone is especially dystopian. Carly Simon’s theme is also wonderfully tongue-in-cheek. Manhattan as the “New Jerusalem.” Money is the new religion. We will acquiesce like Tess and “let the river run” while we confuse our visions of greatness with greed (John Winthrop’s “City on a Hill” for Reagan’s “Shining City on a Hill”).
by Anonymous | reply 26 | December 14, 2018 11:59 PM |
r26 you guys have read it all wrong. I feel sorry for you. Yes, Tess is one of hundreds at the end, just an ant in a colony, but she didn't aspire for anything more than that. She just wanted a decent career for herself.
by Anonymous | reply 27 | December 15, 2018 12:01 AM |
Yet we see Tess repeating the same patronizing tropes with her own secretary at the end of the film, R27. She has internalized the sickness of capitalist culture and become another, perhaps even more dangerous, version of Katherine.
by Anonymous | reply 28 | December 15, 2018 12:06 AM |
[quote] those were Tess's words and Sigourney kind of deserved it.
Not from the men, certainly.
It was offensive even back in the day.
by Anonymous | reply 29 | December 15, 2018 12:09 AM |
Please r28, Tess's secretary has to practically beg her for direction.
by Anonymous | reply 30 | December 15, 2018 12:09 AM |
That’s why she’s dangerous. She’s as cunning and cutthroat as Katherine but hides behind a humble, working class demeanour. At least Katherine was conspicuous.
by Anonymous | reply 31 | December 15, 2018 12:38 AM |
r26, r31, were you a literature major in college? You seem highly skilled at BS.
by Anonymous | reply 32 | December 15, 2018 12:46 AM |
I think Nichols was inadvertently mocking the whole notion of “working up the ladder” when we all still end up as components of the dominant system. Yes, Tess ended up with the corner office but she lost her humanity in the process. Yes, the movie also works on a comedic and romantic level which is what makes it such a great film. I love the casting and the script.
by Anonymous | reply 33 | December 15, 2018 12:54 AM |
There's a troll in this thread pushing the fraudulent angle that Tess becomes as bad as Katharine.
by Anonymous | reply 34 | December 15, 2018 1:04 AM |
R20, ok, we get it. You’re woke. Now sit down.
by Anonymous | reply 35 | December 15, 2018 1:10 AM |
"There's a troll in this thread pushing the fraudulent angle that Tess becomes as bad as Katharine."
She IS as bad as Katherine. She steals her clothes. She uses a fake identity. She sucks up to the Big Boss. And of course she steals her boyfriend. That's pretty bad. It doesn't take a "troll" to see that.
by Anonymous | reply 36 | December 15, 2018 1:24 AM |
The movie IS a fairytale, as somebody mentioned upthread... Tess is Cinderella at heart, adored by everyone despite her lowly status (all the people in that fearful office building are greeting her warmly when she walks past, she inspires devotion in all her co-workers and spreads happiness in pitiful circumstances). Harrison Ford is like prince charming and Sigourney is like the evil Queen in Snow White, Lady Tremaine in Cinderella or Maleficent in Sleeping Beauty, tall, elegant, imposing and wicked (her moment where she screams "LITTLE SLUT SECRETARY!" reminded me of Maleficent having a meltdown in this scene.
by Anonymous | reply 37 | December 15, 2018 1:25 AM |
The horse is dead, R36. We got it the first hundred or so times.
by Anonymous | reply 38 | December 15, 2018 2:59 AM |
"We got it the first hundred or so times."
Obviously SOME people on this thread didn't get it. I hope you all have gotten it now.
by Anonymous | reply 39 | December 15, 2018 3:11 AM |
You guys are so retarded. So, what was Tess supposed to do? Arm all the secretaries to overthrow the capitalistic system? And then setting up a communue where everyone fetches their own coffee and makes the same salary?
by Anonymous | reply 40 | December 15, 2018 3:36 AM |
"You guys are so retarded. So, what was Tess supposed to do?"
Maybe she could have gotten ahead in the business world WITHOUT resorting to the same evils Katherine resorted to. There was always that possibility. You're the retarded one if you can't see that.
by Anonymous | reply 41 | December 15, 2018 4:14 AM |
The anti Tess troll needs to watch the movie again and pay a little more attention. She did not steal Jack away from Katherine... she had no idea they had ever even been involved romantically until Jack casually mentioned it AFTER he and Tess first slept together.
And clearly it was already over between Jack and Katherine because he stood her up and never went on the Germany trip. All of which happened BEFORE Tess started house sitting for Katherine, discovered Katherine was lying to her about the Trask deal, and got a meeting with Jack to pitch her idea herself.
by Anonymous | reply 42 | December 15, 2018 4:26 AM |
"She did not steal Jack away from Katherine."
She certainly did. Her screwing him was the catalyst for Jack finally breaking it off with Katherine.
by Anonymous | reply 43 | December 15, 2018 4:32 AM |
^ WRONG. Answer me why Jack stood Katherine up for the romantic trip to Germany BEFORE he even knew who Tess McGill was.
Give it up bitch... you’re WRONG.
by Anonymous | reply 44 | December 15, 2018 4:35 AM |
R43, if you don't quit beating that dead horse, I'm calling the SPCA.
by Anonymous | reply 45 | December 15, 2018 4:37 AM |
It’s very clear from the screenplay that the “Katherine losing Jack to Tess” angle was only from Katherine’s point of view and was meant to be another example of Kathrine’s enormously delusional ego.
Jack had already ghosted her well before he became involved with Tess, but Katherine just wouldn’t accept it, pushed ahead with the European ski vacation that he doesn’t show up for, has the completely unjustified belief he’s going to propose to her, etc..
It was all meant to show that Katherine had an ego so big that she was capable of even lying to herself. Jack was a decent guy and so agreed to meet her once more when she came back, but she still didn’t get the message that it was over and he wasn’t interested.
The backstory was clearly that he never was all that interested in her to begin with. It was most likely just a fling that she made bigger than it was in her supremely conceited and egotistical mind.
by Anonymous | reply 46 | December 15, 2018 4:51 AM |
They originally wanted Shelley Long in the role? Yikes.
by Anonymous | reply 47 | December 15, 2018 5:08 AM |
^^^^ Yeah I know... and also Demi! Either of them would have stunk the whole thing up.
Michelle P. might have been ok, but would have been too pretty in a way.
by Anonymous | reply 48 | December 15, 2018 5:11 AM |
"Answer me why Jack stood Katherine up for the romantic trip to Germany BEFORE he even knew who Tess McGill was."
He was having second thoughts about the relationship but DIDN'T break it off. He only did that after putting his dick in Tess's overworked vagina. Got it! Next!
by Anonymous | reply 49 | December 15, 2018 10:16 PM |
I read that Mike Nichols wanted Meryl to be Katharine and she turned her nose up at the film, not thinking it serious enough... many years later she played a Katharine type in The Devil Wears Prada so she learned not to be too snobby,
by Anonymous | reply 50 | December 15, 2018 10:28 PM |
I love how, in the article, Joan Cusack makes a point that her character’s hair was Joan’s real hair. Impressive!
by Anonymous | reply 51 | December 15, 2018 11:04 PM |
The anti-Tess comments are hilarious. So, Tess should allow herself to be railroaded, her ideas stolen and she should have remained a a secretary indefinitely.
It was a good scene between Bosco and Griffith where she explained why she had to be underhanded. There was no other way. But, she wasn't evil or immoral. Yes, she did questionable things but she had a moral compass. She played dirty but not as dirty as she could have.
Meanwhile, Katherine was an immoral egotistical woman who stole her secretary's ideas. She was so full of herself, she made the case to Tess that it was both impossible and implausible that Jack wouldn't propose even though it was the furthest thing from reality. That great apartment she had was her parents. She was so classist it was hilarious.
She preached mutual respect and camaraderie as she underminedc another woman trying to make it in a male-dominated field. Instead of a mentor, Tess got a horrible thieving boss.
I didn't like the bony ass line from the men either but he was repeating what Tess had already called her. And you should remember that Katherine stealing didn't bode well for her superiors. Stealing could lead to a lot of bad things business-wise. Tess took back was what taken from her with Jack's help.
It's an 80s movie but still relevant.
by Anonymous | reply 52 | December 15, 2018 11:23 PM |
I've been thinking. Trask, radio. Trask, radio.
by Anonymous | reply 53 | December 15, 2018 11:38 PM |
"So, Tess should allow herself to be railroaded, her ideas stolen and she should have remained a a secretary indefinitely."
Nobody said that. It's just been remarked upon that Tess uses the same tactics Katherine uses to get ahead, that is, dirty ones. She's presented as being the "good" one but she's basically the same type of unethical character as Katherine. The movie strongly implies that's what you have to do to get anywhere; be sneaky, lie, manipulate, suck up to the boss. It was the mentality of the 80s; do anything to get the money and the power.
by Anonymous | reply 54 | December 15, 2018 11:45 PM |
I didn't care for the girl who played Tess's secretary, she came across as a bitch. Seriously, if Tess thinks she's going to land a secretary like herself she has another thing coming.
Incidentally, the girl who played Tess's secretary went to Harvard and Yale.
by Anonymous | reply 55 | December 15, 2018 11:47 PM |
[quote] I read that Mike Nichols wanted Meryl to be Katharine and she turned her nose up at the film, not thinking it serious enough... many years later she played a Katharine type in The Devil Wears Prada so she learned not to be too snobby,
The Devil... is from the latter part of her career also known as the "Anything For A Paycheck!" era.
by Anonymous | reply 56 | December 16, 2018 12:28 AM |
I loved Katherine’s apartment with the Warhol portrait of her.
by Anonymous | reply 57 | December 16, 2018 12:39 AM |
The business part of the movie with Trask was really boring. They should have had Katharine get AIDS from her sexual exploits (as demonstrated at the Cocktail Party with her "never burn bridges" quip) and Tess seizing the opportunity to take her place... you couldn't get more 80s than that. I'd love to see Working Girl with a fucking dark angle like that.
by Anonymous | reply 58 | December 16, 2018 12:41 AM |
I had no idea that it was shot in WTC Building 7.
by Anonymous | reply 59 | December 16, 2018 1:37 AM |
“Second Act” is “Working Girl Returns”.
by Anonymous | reply 60 | December 16, 2018 1:46 AM |
R26 , R27 I agree that the ending had an intentionally non-fairy tale feel. In that sense, WG's ending reminded me of the ending of another of Nichol's films: The Graduate. I appreciate that Nichols did not tie those endings up with a pretty bow. I wonder if he got any pressure from the studio to change it.
by Anonymous | reply 61 | December 16, 2018 2:10 AM |
" I agree that the ending had an intentionally non-fairy tale feel."
I think the fans of this film interpreted the ending as the "happy ending" you see in a fairy tale. Tess conquers the Evil Katherine, gets the admiration of The Boss (Trask), gets The Prince (Jack) and becomes a full-fledged executive at a mercenary firm, with her own office and her own secretary and everything. She has anything anyone at that time could want; sex, a high paying job, underlings. It was a fairytale for the 80s. God, I hated the 80s.
by Anonymous | reply 62 | December 16, 2018 2:18 AM |
r61, How can you see anything but a feel-good ending? With Joan Cusack excitedly cheering and sharing Tess's good fortune with the old secretarial pool ?
by Anonymous | reply 63 | December 16, 2018 5:25 AM |
Fact: When Katharine was taking Trask upstairs for the meeting, it was really to give him a blowjob. When Tess starts at Trask Industries, she doesn't realise that lunch with Trask will consist of performing the same favours if she wants to keep her new job.
by Anonymous | reply 64 | December 16, 2018 8:44 PM |