Working Girl

 

Oscar Wins:  

Best Song: Let the River Run, Carly Simon

Oscar Nominations:

Best Picture
Best Actress:  Melonie Griffith
Best Supporting Actress: Sigourney Weaver, Joan Cusak
 Best Director: Mike Nicols


Cast: Melanie Griffith, Sigourney Weaver, Harrison Ford, Joan Cusak, Alec Baldwin, Oliver Platt, Nora Dunn, Kevin Spacey

Storyline: Tess McGill is looking to make it big in the corporate world, but as a young and beautiful woman, she finds the path very difficult to manage. 

Why Should It Have Won? Working Girl is a relevant film that takes a realistic, but screwball look at life in the corporate world.  Mike Nichols delivers one of his best films ever, with dead on performances by Weaver, Griffith, Cusak and Ford, rhyming off some of the most awesome dialogue of the decade.  And if that isn't enough, Carly Simon's Academy Award winning song fits into this film perfectly.  I defy you to listen to that song without thinking about Melanie looking forlornly at the New York skyline, from the Staten Island Ferry.  

Why Didn't It Win? While the movie proved to be a popular adult comedy, Rain Man proved to be the bigger box office champ, with a winning performance by Dustin Hoffman.  

 

Best Scene:  When Katherine learns that her secretary, Tess, and her fiancé, Jack, have been conducting a secret business affair, she doesn't take the matter lying down.  She gets out of her sick bed and crashes their big meeting.  

Sigourney Weaver deserved the Oscar nod for playing one of the bitchiest business women to ever appear on screen.  Her moment of glory, when she mixes the right blend of corporate prowess with feminine wiles, makes for the perfect climax to the film.

Behind the Scenes: If there was ever a perfect snap shot of the 'me' decade, then Working Girl is it.  A big haired girl with a heart of gold, goes up against her ice princess of a boss, and takes on corporate big wigs, in what turns out to be - a romantic comedy!

Melanie Griffith had been around Hollywood for years prior to this film, in a series of low budget and independent films.  Working Girl marked her entry into the big leagues.  The film also gave a boost to the career of Joan Cusak, who earned her first Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress.  Once again, Harrison Ford was overlooked for a great performance, but Sigourney became the fifth person in history to receive two nominations in one year.  She earned a Supporting Actress nod for Working Girl, and a competed with Melanie Griffith for Best Actress for her role in Gorilla's in the Mist.

Joan Cusak and double nominee, Sigourney Weaver await the results of the Best Supporting Actress Oscar.  They would both lose to Geena Davis.

Odds makers hedged their best on Weaver winning the Best Supporting Actress Oscar, if only because of the trend to give dual nominees the Supporting Award.  She lost to Geena Davis, who was up for The Accidental Tourist.  Melanie Griffith was favored to win Best Actress, in a tight race with Glen Close.  They both lost to Jodie Foster, nominated for The Accused.

 

Carly Simon wins the Award for Best Song, but in an unusual move, they did not perform the songs that year! 
 

Working Girl is available on DVD and VHS!

 cover cover

 

A story about the corporate rat race!
Melonie Griffith and Joan Cusak are girls with big hair and big dreams.
As Tess McGill, Melonie tries to escape her ordinary life, as a girl from Staten Island.
Melonie commits a CLM by spraying champagne on Kevin Spacey.
Olympia Dukakis is Melonie's temp agent, who begrudgingly finds her another job.
Melonie meets her new boss, the confidant Katherine Parker, played by Sigourney Weaver.
"Watch me, Tess. Learn from me." Sigourney plans a ski getaway with the hopes of getting married.
While minding her boss's house, Melonie finds out that Katherine has stolen one of her ideas.
And then finds out that her boyfriend, Alec Baldwin, is cheating on her.

Melonie cozies up to her boss's associate, Jack Trainer, played by Harrison Ford. 

Joan Cusak, as Tess' good friend, Cynthia, poses as her wise cracking secretary.
Joan comes to blows with fellow SNL alum, Nora Dunn.
Harrison gets applause from the girls in the office while changing his shirt.
Harrison and Melonie crash a wedding to get a business deal.  Ricki Lake appears as a bridesmaid.
 
Sigourney returns with a stuffed gorilla, perhaps a throwback to her Gorilla's in the Mist  part.
 
 Sigourney expects some action from her fiancé - Harrison!