The fiery threats that made Dolly Parton a 'natural-born movie star'

In an early scene in the 1980 film 9 to 5, Dolly Parton has her sleazy boss pinned to his office chair.

Accused of sleeping with him and shunned by her coworkers, Parton – as Doralee Rhodes, all blonde curls and pastel silk office-wear – has finally had enough.

"Look, I've got a gun out there in my purse," she tells him.

"And up to now I've been forgiving and forgetting because of the way I was brought up, but I'll tell you one thing.

"If you ever say another word about me … I'm gonna get that gun of mine, and I'm gonna change you from a rooster to a hen with one shot."

With those fiery words, the successful country music singer made one of the hardest transitions a musician can make: she became a movie star. 

Working 9 to 5: How to hold your boss hostage

Directed by Colin Higgins, the film was born from an idea by actor Jane Fonda, who by that time had reached widespread success for films like Barbarella and They Shoot Horses, Don't They?

It was Fonda who cast herself, comedian-turned-actor Lily Tomlin, and Dolly Parton as the three leads.

Interviewed in 1980, Parton said she had never walked on a film set before.

"I'd fully memorised the entire script because I'd no idea that we would be doing just bits and pieces at a time," she told The Australian Women's Weekly.

"Why, I was ready to do the whole thing the first day."

Fonda plays Judy, a woman forced to get a job after years as a housewife, with Tomlin and Parton as her new colleagues.

Dabney Coleman plays Frank Hart, the aforementioned sleazy, misogynistic boss at their office, "Consolidated Companies".

During the 110-minute run time, they face sexual harassment, overwork, unfair dismissal and more.

But by the climax of the film, Adelaide University feminist media studies expert Jessica Ford says it takes a rare turn for the period.

Hogtied, blackmailed, and strung from the ceiling via a hang-gliding suit, their boss actually gets his comeuppance.

"We've got mainstream film about women exacting their revenge on men, but very few of them actually go as far as physically torturing the men," Dr Ford tells the ABC.

"We see them actually unburdening themselves and having this cathartic moment of telling him the torture he has put them through.

"And I think that's quite radical and revolutionary to give the film this moment in which these women's voices are not being silenced.

"Because he's literally, from memory, gagged."

The feminist success of Parton's 'fanciful' debut 

The film, Parton’s theatrical debut, grossed $US103.3 million ($144.06 million) at the box office. 

Film critic Roger Ebert gave it three out of four stars, calling it a "good-hearted, simple-minded comedy" and predicting its future place in film history.

"[Parton] is … a natural-born movie star, a performer who holds our attention so easily that it's hard to believe it's her first film," he wrote.

"She exists on another plane, as [Marilyn] Monroe did: She is the centre of life on the screen."

Other reviewers were not so kind, labelling the movie overall "fanciful" and "silly".

The mixed reviews at the time, however, have since given way to a reassessment of 9 to 5's social commentary, particularly on workplace sexism.

It was one of the first "very out there feminist" films to have such high-profile box office success, says author and University of New South Wales academic Jane Mills.

"It blends genres in a way; it's got comedy, it's got serious political issues, it uses quite a lot of screwball, but it's also quite serious at the same time," she says.

"All those reviewers at the time, they're all men … and I just think they didn't get it.

"The film lingers on – and I think it lingers on partly because of Dolly and the other two women – the friendship of three women together.

"I think it was because the film did do things that we hadn't seen before on screen.

"It was partly the feminism, the sisterhood, but also that lovely blurring of the boundaries between genres.

"And it is very funny and great for all of us who are in work seeing a boss strung up on the ceiling."

A TV series, a musical, and a hit song

Since its release, the film has inspired both a long-running TV series and a stage musical.

The song written by Parton for the soundtrack earned an Academy Award nomination and multiple Grammy nominations.

The song's typewriter rhythm, according to Parton, was developed when she realised she could click her acrylic fingernails together to simulate the sound.

Parton's screen roles were few and far between, starring in musical comedy The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas in 1982, Rhinestone in 1984 and a smaller role in 1989's Steel Magnolias.

But her part in 9 to 5, says Dr Ford, almost mirrored her own life – not only because her character, in a post-script, is revealed to have quit her job to become a country music star.

"There is an interesting parallel with Dolly Parton's career [which was] very determined by [singer] Porter Wagoner," Dr Ford says.

"[It was defined by] her role on The Porter Wagoner Show and that she wrote I Will Always Love You for Porter Wagoner.

"She had this very typical country music career in the sense that she had this patron in this old-school country music singer who gave her a platform.

"But she decided to leave him, leave the show and leave his patronage in a way that was quite radical for the time. Women in country music did not do that.

"I think the film almost echoes that, she's the secretary, she's the subordinate … by eschewing that, she has this moment of independence."

Fonda, Tomlin mourn 'prankster' and 'visionary' 

In the wake of her death, her former co-stars penned tributes on social media.

Actress Lily Tomlin shared photos of herself and Parton, writing only that she had "no words".

Her other 9 to 5 co-star, Jane Fonda, called her a "prankster, visionary, [and] loyal friend".

"More than anyone I have ever known, Dolly will always be with us because she was so present, so powerful, so generous and playful that she is woven into all our lives and hearts forever," she wrote.

"To her gay and trans fans, I want you to know that she loved you. You know that without me telling you.

"She loved all her fans, and they are legion.

"And you know she doesn't want y'all to mourn now. Dress up and celebrate her spirit."