Tess McGill

Trump fan

She had a mind for business and a bod for sin.

[quote] She had a mind for business and a bod for sin.

She said a body for Cyn. That’s right guys… Jack and Tess was a business arrangement.

Trask Industries was seized in a hostile takeover eight months later - led by the old man's new son-in-law. They sold the scraps to the Japanese, and Tess McGill, being a new associate AND a broad, was let go.

Tess wound up managing a chain of storefront travel agencies in Staten Island and NNJ. She did well...for a decade.

Jack moved on from Tess after a few months. The thrill of their one big deal wore off, and he realized she was too demure and passive to actually grab the brass ring.

Katherine Parker went back to Wellesley for a few years to revamp their Entrepreneurship program and lick her wounds. She later went into mutual funds, where thieving cuntery is forever rewarded. She bought herself a European ambassadorship in the 2000s, and has since retired to Cap d'Antibes.

Cyn went bald from overusing hairspray, and was the last gal in the typing pool when the shadow of a jetliner darkened the windows of 7 WTC one quiet September morning.

R4 You're good. You are very good.

[quote] Cyn went bald from overusing hairspray, and was the last gal in the typing pool when the shadow of a jetliner darkened the windows of 7 WTC one quiet September morning.

Wow… talk about grief porn.

We weren't

R6 I didn't say she died on 9/11. Just that she was still hanging around the typing pool, doing the same job she'd been doing since '88.

And isn't that the real tragedy here?

Cyn was the Jude the Obscure of the 80s

Is there any way, R4, they Tess married Jack and had two kids, moved to Wesport, Connecticut and she steps away from career for the kids. Jack dies too young of a massive heart attack from smoking. Tess moves permanently out to the Amagansatt house and gets really good at day drinking with Cyn who basically moved in to the pool house. They occasionally smoke weed that Cyn gets from her kid they and sing songs from the old days. I need a happy ending on this shitty ass Tuesday afternoon.

Westport

[quote] Jack dies too young of a massive heart attack from smoking.

That’s a happy end? How about Jack falls in love with a young upstart at the company who happens to be a young handsome Piers Brosnan type and leaves Tess for him but still sees the kids and takes them to all the shows.

Pierce Brosnan

The name Tess is awful

Molly Ringwald said she auditioned for Tess but was considered too young.

Tess and Katharine are 65 years old now. Did you watch the movie? R4 has it about right.

Cyn married a NYPD or FDNY from Staten Island. They had three kids and now she's a grandmother and perhaps great grandmother who along with her (now retired) husband lives in North Carolina or Florida.

R15 - Molly won’t have been right for the part even if she were the right age.

Someone like Tiffani Thiessen or Alyssa Milano would have been a good Tess if it were done in the late 90s.

Tess turned into Katherine after a few months. That’s what happens. It wasn’t as if she weren’t in a cut throat business.

Jack wanted kids. They split up.

They all moved to Florida.

I LOVE Working Girl. It's in my top five favourite films.

When I saw in the cinemas, I was a bit confused by the ending. It wasn't the traditional happy ending. It felt bittersweet. My 12-year-old self couldn't quite understand why we the audience were supposed to be so happy for Tess as the camera pulled away to reveal she was just in another small box in a larger building of many boxes.

The scene with Tess meeting her new secretary is supposed to give us confidence that Tess will treat her secretaries with respect but we already know that Tess will do what she needs to get ahead. She's already a compromised character.

I still love the film but Tess isn't as innocent as when I saw the film at 12.

And Katherine wasn't that bad. I feel like Katherine would have made a comeback. Trask did treat her horribly and she probably would have had some type of lawsuit because he triggered her and degraded her by calling her "bony ass". It was uncalled for.

Tess started a topless housecleaning service.

[quote] Tess turned into Katherine after a few months.

This is an interesting idea and kinda makes the ending a little like All About Eve in that way.

[quote] The name Tess is awful

I always thought the names Tess and Katharine (not Katherine, as some here keep writing) were meant to be perceived as a reference to K Hepburn and the role she was playing (Tess Harding) in Woman of the Year.

Btw, Weaver was often compared to Hepburn, and at times allusions were made on screen, such as here or in Dave, where the character she was playing was away giving a speech in her alma mater, Bryn Mawr.

This movie could have starred Katharine Hepburn and Ginger Rogers in the 30s

Was Katharine lying about her age in the movie? She claims to be a few months younger than Tess. It always confused me because Sigourney is a good 10 years older than Melanie. I think the recording of her speech to her old college seems to confirm that it’s been 10 years since she left Wellesley though so it could be true.

R25 Or Crawford. She would have been perfect for the Tess role in the 30s, and the Catherine role in the 60s.

I guess Clara Bow would have been a good Tess too at Paramount. Maybe Claudette Colbert or Miriam Hopkins as Katharine.

Twiggy as Tess and Maggie Smith as Katharine

R21 Tess is insane. A 12 year old might not pick that up because of the Cinderella aspects. She is insane but also clever.

It's a morality tale on sex and class based discrimination.

Its references are very old conflicts in American culture. Including "passing" - here it is "class passing".

I wonder why Melanie so rarely works/has worked - was it all just the negative attention about her plastic surgery?

R31

Melanie Griffith worked steadily since "Working Girls" in both film and a few forays onto stage. Most of her subsequent film work was either not very good or movies themselves were overall flops. That breathy baby voice didn't do Ms. Griffith any favors either.

Off and on addictions to booze or pills, issues with two husbands also caused Ms. Griffith's career to lose steam at certain points. Pile on now her age and all that plastic surgery...

Living in the downstairs of a duplex in Queens, complaining about the yellows renting upstairs, and watching Fox News all day.

R26- There’s only a four year difference in their ages.Sigourney Weaver was born in 1949 and Melanie Griffith was born in 1953.

Investment banking chews women up and spits them out. She did well for about 15 years and now lives full time in the Catskills. Jack was dead with cancer within 5 years. He and Tess drifted apart as it became apparent that she would never lose her Staaten Island accent (or sensibility). Katherine died in 9/11. Joan Cusack worked as a secretary for the rest of her life. She died alone on a ventilator in Elmhurst Hospital in Queens - after a life of bitter disappointments including the death of her oldest, gay son of meth addiction that ended with an accidental fentanyl overdose.

R15 If they told Molly RIngwald she was "too young", that was polite. Imagine her delivering the line that she had a "head for business and a bod for sin"! People would laugh and not in a good way.

Damn R4.... I was about to do something similar and would have given you a run for your money, but I can't improve on, or beat, perfection. Bravo, Brava, Bravi! Let's meet for coffee and write something. ;)

Katharine wouldn't have graduated Wellesley at 20 or even 19. So the script is inconsistent or yes she's lying about her age.

Jack discovers in his 40s that he has two teenage children from different girlfriends he can barely remember. He happily takes on father roles with them, in addition to his 2 kids with Tess, though they are divorced now. Jack develops his creative side as he kind of flames out in investment banking. Not a complete loser at it but never anyway near a star. Tess makes several M&As, each one making her richer. However, her deep character flaws do not make her popular at her firms and she never makes partner, that's for sure. Still, she's independently wealthy. She becomes friendly again in her 40s with her Staten Island crown and even invests in a seafood restaurant and bar with her old beau Mick. May or may not fuck him a few times again. Depends if Mick keeps that tight body or gets a big gut. He was a hot fuck, though Tess couldn't admit it when she was young and unhappy with her station in life.

Cyn has an affair with a banker, who sets her up in hair salon and clothing boutique in Soho, of all places. It takes off. Cyn shows an unexpected knack for styling anyone of any class, and becomes a downtown style celebrity. Though she keeps it real and Staten Island. That's what her rich clientele love about her.

R37 Nah, I’d rather meet for some casual sodomy

In that case, R41, call me. ...NOW!

What is your source for Melanie being born in 1953, R34? I've always seen 1957.

I'm so glad Melanie Griffith did all her best work before she destroyed her face. I"m also glad to own the soundtrack from this film, which I love. Probably my favorite Carly Simon work.

Mike Nichols' contributions to cinema will last a long time, because of his fierce intelligence and his willingness to really explore material. Peter Bogdanovich had the same qualities, even if his taste and what he wanted out of his films was different.

It seems I linked to a video of unused "Working Girl" tracks. Here's the real one.

Tess and Jack would have separated years ago. Tess and Cyn would be a lesbian power couple. Jack would have been fucking around with a hot young intern- a lean muscled bleached blonde twink who calls him "Daddy".

R42 Alas, no way to DM on DataLounge. The whores!

R45 Siggy's German was actually pretty fluent, and not as rigid as many non-native speakers.

"Helmut? Hier ist Katherine Parker. Wunderschön, danke, und Sie? Wie ist der Rücken? Gut, und Marlena? Fabelhaft! Hören Sie, ist es möglich das 314 zu bekommen? Vielen, vielen Dank. Sie sind mein Süßer. Gut, bis heute Abend dann. Also, Ciao!"

"Helmut? This is Katherine Parker. Wonderful, thanks, and you? How's the back? Good, and Marlena? Fabulous! Listen, is it possible to get room 314? Thank you very much. You are my sweetie! Good. Until tonight, then. Ciao!"

[quote] I always thought the names Tess and Katharine (not Katherine, as some here keep writing)

You've brought the concept of anal-retentiveness to a whole new level.

[quote] Molly RIngwald

The c*nt who stood me up!

The Kevin Spacey character would be living in Thailand as a fugitive from the law.

Sherilyn Fenn could have played Tess if the movie were a few years later.

Ramona Singer from RHONY

R50 - R24 here. You really didn't get what I was all about, didn't you? Tomayto/tomahto, Katherine/Katharine - who cares - unless it our dear old Kate. Picking up the fact the character's name was spelled with an "a" made my (nitpicking, anal, nerdish - whatever) Hepburn observation plausible. That's all.

Never mind.

Melanie Griffith being cast in "Chicago" shows all that is wrong and or right with Broadway nowadays.

Much like Christina Applegate suits chose to cast MG in good part due to box office drawing power, this despite some reservations about other qualities.

In the end things worked out well enough in that whatever reservations some may have had regarding Ms. Griffith's overall performance she filled the house.

R49 Would she really use "Sie" rather than "Du" in a conversation like that with someone she clearly knows somewhat, even if they're not close friends? I guess in the 1980s that was more likely than today.

R57 Yes, it was a business call, and given her question about his back, he was probably older. Plus it’s a way to charm the elders with uppity respect.

R59 OK, I see your point. But "Sie sind mein Süßer", really throws me.

More identity theft

I want to know what happened to the David Duchovny character. He's in the bar scene. I always sing the theme as "Let the Jism Run".