By David Fear, CT Jones for Rolling Stone | Dolly had already been a major country singer and songwriter, as well as a constant presence on TV and The Tonight Show, for close to a decade when Jane Fonda recruited Parton to play Doralee Rhodes, the secretary who threatens to turn Dabney Colman’s male-chauvinist-pig of a boss “from a rooster to a hen.” Parton’s big-screen debut earned her a Golden Globe nomination right out of the gate, with everybody singling out the movie’s revenge-fantasy sequence when Parton lassos and hog-ties Colman like she was a state rodeo champ. But it’s the scenes of the three women bonding that make this film sing; you’d have thought that she’d been making comedies with her costars Fonda and Lily Tomlin for years.
Speaking of singing: Parton had been clicking out a rhythm on her acrylic nails in between takes, occasionally pairing it with lyrics about the trials of working women. The result would end up becoming the movie’s iconic theme and a No. 1 hit on both the country and adult-contemporary charts. What a way to make a living. —David Fear
‘The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas’ (1982)
Nothing speaks to the big-screen appeal of Dolly Parton like this film adaptation of the 1978 Broadway musical, in which Dolly starred as Mona Stangley, the often-bedazzled owner and madam of the Chicken Ranch. Her musical prowess shines in “A Lil’ Ole Bitty Pissant Country Place,” where Parton cheerfully explains to viewers that she runs an establishment patronized by a “nice quiet crowd” where the beds are clean, the girls are beautiful, and there’s “nothing dirty going on.” And while her chemistry with leading man Burt Reynolds is less splashy than the lingerie-clad chorus lines, the use of Parton’s 1974 hit “I Will Always Love You” adds an emotional resonance of film — proving that little whorehouse would be nothing without her. —CT Jones
Photo: Dolly Parton as Doralee Rhodes in “9 to 5”
