When Jane Fonda was developing the rollicking 1980 workplace farce 9 to 5, inspired by a real-life women’s rights organization of that name, at some point the project shape-shifted from the serious drama that was originally planned to a comedy, enlisting the brilliant Colin Higgins to direct and work on the screenplay with Patricia Resnick. Having cast Lily Tomlin as her acerbic ally in the secretarial pool, Fonda and producer Bruce Gilbert wanted to broaden the film’s appeal, landing on the idea of a third lead who might push beyond urban liberals to reach mainstream, conservative and Southern audiences. From that commercially-driven…
