Jaunted

Classic-NYC-Movies-Map / Classic New York Movies / Movie Set Travel / Melanie Griffith / → All Tags

Classic New York Movies: Leaving The Boroughs With "Working Girl"

Visit our Classic NYC Movies Map to make your way in the big, hard city.

Tess (Melanie Griffith), the heroine of 1988's "Working Girl," wants a future bigger than Staten Island and the temping pool. She may not be as highly educated as her bosses on Wall Street, but she's a fast learner, and when her smarmy boss Katharine (Sigourney Weaver) is put in traction after a ski accident, Tess sees it as her opportunity to get ahead. No one will stand in her way--not even a cute trader named Han Solo Jack Trainer (Harrison Ford).

Woody Allen's opening shots in "Manhattan" reference genteel Central Park, while Mike Nichols' in this film capture Tess's windy, cold commute. The Staten Island Ferry is a short, but free alternative to the classic Circle Line tour of Manhattan. While the lobby of Tess's office actually belongs to the 7 World Trade Center building (destroyed on September 11), the office scenes were shot at 1 State Street Plaza--rather convenient to the ferry, in a rare case of movie geography reflecting real-life geography.

The venue where Tess crashes the wedding is the City Midday Club, which used to be an exclusive Wall Street hangout until it closed in 1997. Katharine lives in tony Irving Place, while Tess and her good-for-nothing boyfriend (Alec Baldwin, with his downwardly mobile chest hair) live at Richmond Terrace and York Avenue.

Related Stories:
· Working Girl [Movies Rewind]
· Classic New York Movies coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Yahoo! Movies]