Opening Title Sequence: Working Girl

Carly Simon’s gospel-themed “Let the River Run” (Madonna’s “Like a Prayer” came out only months later) kicks off an early New York morning.  Michael Ballhaus' helicopter shot swoops around the Statue of Liberty after dawn starting with her face and arm in a counter clockwise motion while pulling out in a spiraling fashion to reveal the multitude of neighborhoods encircling Gotham in the background, including New Jersey, and boroughs Staten Island and Brooklyn.  We leave the image of her Liberty from the perspective of watching the soft morning sky spread the light throughout the cavernous streets of the already bustling city.  

The focus is then square on the Staten Island Ferry headed for the southern port of Manhattan and begins to zoom in from the back with the full view of the World Trade Center lording over the southern end of the iconic skyline.  The camera speeds along the vessel port into a dissolve that simultaneously moves inside to the front of the ferry catching various passengers in temporary early pre-work stasis, slowing down to where our heroine Tess McGill (Melanie Griffith) sits with her back to the city, unaware of that day’s pivotal nature.  Her best friend Cyn (Joan Cusack) makes a tiny celebration out of her birthday, both of them with their semi-unironic high Jersey hairstyles, as a gum-chewing stranger fondly watches them nearby.  “Did you make a wish?” inquires Cyn.  “Yeah,” Tess muses, in a look that can be described as cautious optimism.  She knows big things lie ahead, because she’s talented and ambitious enough.  But, she’s no longer the wide-eyed, bushy-tailed girl who was convinced she could conquer the world.  The years aren’t getting easier, life is getting more relentless, and it’s getting hard to believe her break will ever come. 

Kind of reminiscent of
Every Thing You Always Wanted to Know About Sex*

"Did you make a wish?" ... "Yeah."

The next shot is of the ferry approaching dock, and then another of the throng of people disembarking.  (Prediction: one of these days someone who appreciates Mike Nichols will make a film and recreate this shot digitally once the new towers are finished.)  I watched this movie countless times as a kid and imagined myself as a corporate titan mopping the competition up on the streets of Manhattan (well, not really, more like just me sitting with my legs up on a desk on some ridiculously high floor).  I never ended up moving to the city, as I’ve been a West Coast boy at heart and have been unofficially in the process of living in all its major cities.  

The background actor on the left's hot-dog
has a first-name and it's O-S-C-A-R

The subject of plans and their accents come up.  "No lunch, I got speech class."  "What do you need speech class for, you talk fine ... Alright.  I'll pick you up at five.  We'll ride back together."  "I can't.  I got a merging market seminar at five-thirty."  "Geez, it's your birthday, can't they merge without you just this once?"  Tess asks about her surprise party and Cyn relunctantly relents information.  She playfully knocks into Cyn and they have a little shoulder bumping match as they walk out of frame.  Tess arrives in her office as the music fades out and she answers a call.

Full Disclosure: This inspirational Simon song can make me sob like a clown.


*But Were Afraid to Ask


Previous Editions:
Devil in a Blue Dress
Working Girl
The Addams Family
Beetlejuice
The Birdcage
My Best Friend's Wedding
To Die For
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo