Actully niether Dolly or Burt deserve any credit for that story line. The film is based on a show which niether of them had anything to do with.
Trust me, I know
more than a little bit about this film, and Dolly deserves a lot more credit (or blame, depending on how one perceives it) than the film's credits may state...
The play was a ginormous success in the late '70s, and it seemed a natural progression that it should transition to film. Unfortunately, the bawdy play would've been too scandalous to transfer as is. Movie musicals weren't having much success and, by the early 80s, the studios were leery of making films that featured the shocking excesses that were prevalent in films of the '70s. So when Universal acquired the rights to the film, they decided to tone down the material and snag a singer for the leading role. And as soon as "Nine to Five" was being prepped, Dolly Parton jumped to the top of the list.
Here's an excerpt from Larry L. King's "The Whorehouse Papers:"
Early on, it turned out, Universal had Dolly Parton in mind. "Jesus," I said on hearing the news. "Too obvious. She looks like she might run a whorehouse or work in one." Some Universal naboob, however, had become enchanted with the idea of Dolly Parton and I don't believe anyone else was ever seriously considered. She is the only actress I know of who was squired to the play by Stevie Phillips and a half ton of assorted Universal brass. The night Ms. Parton was at the 46th Street Theatre, by the way, our irrepressible steel-guitar man, Lynn Frazier, leaned over during the warm-up music and said to fiddler Ernie Reed, "Hey, man, you see Dolly's tits?" Frazier did not realize, until it was too late, that a microphone had shared his question with much of the audience, including Stevie Phillips, who was furious. Fortunately, Ms. Parton thought it funny and so Lynn Frazier did not get handed a sandwich and a road map."
Larry L. King wanted Willie Nelson to play the Sheriff, and he had the deal all set... but Dolly decided the movie would be bad for her image, so she backed out. Universal, oblivious to the potential casting of Willie Nelson, snagged Burt Reynolds for the male lead, and Burt talked Dolly back into doing the movie. Universal later came to regret making this pairing, as both demanded a high salary and a cut of the profits -- and each refused to do the movie without the other.
Here's an excerpt from a US MAGAZINE story from April 15, 1980:
"Recently, Dolly saw the play in New York and was stunned to find that the relationship between Miss Mona and Sheriff Dodd was more talked about than acted upon. "In the play, the two never even touch," says Dolly, aghast. She immediately started scribbling changes. "There should be more of a direct personal thing between us, not just shared memories of what was," she explains. "I am not going to miss my chance with Burt Reynolds."
Larry L. King was not only disenchanted with the casting of Dolly, but downright hostile about the casting of Burt (a United Press story that hit newspapers around the time of the film's release had King challenging Reynolds to a fistfight, but I don't know what became of that). King described the third draft of the script as "perfection," but between Universal's notes, Dolly's notes and (most insultingly to King, it seems) Burt's notes, King rewrote the script countless more times before quitting.
Originally the film was going to be co-directed by Tommy Tune and Pete Masterson, who'd directed the Broadway hit, but then the pair were fired. Enter Collin Higgins, who co-wrote and directed "Nine to Five." Dolly had formed a friendship and trust with Higgins that was doubtlessly reflected when he rewrote the script (Higgins
also received a writing credit on the film). Dolly wrote several songs for the film ("Sneakin' Around" is the only
new song that made it to the final cut; "I Will Always Love You" had already been recorded once before; "Down at the Chicken Ranch" is heard in the trailer; and Burt's ballad "Where Stallions Run" appears in TV prints).
The movie wasn't much of a success in theatres, but there's probably two good reasons for that... The first is the title. Many TV stations and newspapers refused to advertise a film with the word "whorehouse" in the title (my, how times have changed!!). In some parts it was referred to as "The Best Little
Cathouse," a title Parton herself used frequently when discussing the film in interviews. (As a side-note Ken Russell encountered the same ridiculous problem with his 1991 film "Whore," which was generally promoted without a title and the tagline "If you can't say it, see it.") The other obstacle in the way of the whorehouse's success was a lovable little alien named E.T. "E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial" was released about a month before "Whorehouse" and it instantly became a phenomenon, playing theatres for around a year (the first of two theatrical runs prior to its 1988 release on home video). Although a lot of beloved movies were released in the summer of '82, all of them were overshadowed by that little turtle-like alien. "The Best Little Whorehouse" was released on video in 1984 (if memory serves) and it made its TV debut in 1985 (with a drastically different alternate cut), both of which were very popular.
While it was nice to see that they trudged up a few vintage extras for the DVD (though I'm annoyed they didn't include "The Best Little Special in Texas"), it's a shame they didn't do a retrospective making-of. This overlong post is an abridged version of the fascinating story of the genesis of the film.
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