The Rhinestones Will Always Shine: Celebrating Dolly Parton on Tubi
Five Dolly Parton movies and documentaries on Tubi celebrating the woman behind the songs, stories, and seriously impressive hair.
There are stars, there are icons, and then there was Dolly Parton. Following her passing at 80, the country music legend leaves behind the kind of legacy that requires a little extra room: hundreds of songs, unforgettable movie roles, Dollywood, an Imagination Library that put millions of books into children's hands, and enough rhinestones to make subtlety seem wildly overrated. As Dolly herself knew better than anyone, if you're going to make an entrance, you might as well sparkle.
But underneath the big hair, bigger personality and perfectly timed one-liners was one of country music's most celebrated singer-songwriters, an actress who knew exactly how to use that unmistakable charm, and a woman whose generosity became as much a part of her story as the music. So turn up the volume and add a little extra sparkle. These Dolly Parton Tubi picks celebrate Dolly from the Smoky Mountains to Hollywood and everywhere her very high heels took her in between.
The Dolly Parton Story: From Rags to Rhinestones
Before Dolly Parton became a name that needed no introduction, she was one of 12 children growing up in a one-room cabin in Tennessee's Smoky Mountains. The Dolly Parton Story: From Rags to Rhinestones documents Dolly Parton’s life and career, from singing as a child and chasing a career in Nashville to becoming one of country music's most recognizable voices.
The title couldn't be more appropriate because Dolly never hid where she came from once the rhinestones arrived. Her childhood, family, and Appalachian roots became material for some of her most personal songwriting, and this Dolly Parton documentary puts that history behind the larger-than-life image.
Dolly Parton: Big Hair, Bigger Heart
How exactly does one person become a country legend, actress, businesswoman, philanthropist, and owner of perhaps the most structurally ambitious hair in show business? Dolly Parton: Big Hair, Bigger Heart takes on Dolly Parton's life beyond the music, looking at the woman whose personality became almost as famous as her songs.
What emerges is the contrast that made her so beloved. Dolly could joke about her wigs and glamorous image before anybody else got the chance, then turn around and quietly build the Dolly Parton Imagination Library, inspired by her father's inability to read. The bigger Dolly became, the more room she seemed determined to make for everybody else.
Blue Valley Songbird
Blue Valley Songbird gives Dolly Parton a dramatic starring role that sits particularly close to the world she understood best. She plays Leana Taylor, a successful country singer whose polished stage life hides an abusive relationship and painful memories from her past. As Leana begins confronting both, the woman audiences see performing and the woman struggling behind the curtain start moving closer together.
Dolly brings exactly the warmth you'd expect, but the role also gives her something heavier to play beneath the stage-ready charm. And naturally, there is music. For anyone looking for a Dolly Parton movie that lets her acting and musical talents share the stage, this is the one. Give Dolly a country singer with a complicated life and a song to sing about it, and we're listening.
Unlikely Angel
Heaven apparently has a dress code, and Dolly arrived prepared. In Unlikely Angel, Dolly Parton stars as Ruby Diamond, a country singer who dies unexpectedly and learns she hasn't quite earned her wings. Her assignment is to return to Earth and reunite a grieving family before Christmas. Only then does she get through the pearly gates.
Could another performer sell this premise? Maybe. Would we rather watch Dolly do it? Absolutely. Ruby lets her use the humor, warmth, music, and slightly mischievous sweetness audiences already associated with her, without the movie feeling like it's simply asking Dolly to play herself. If anyone could make earning your angel wings look this fabulous, the casting department clearly knew who to call.
Still Working 9 to 5
When Dolly joined Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin for 9 to 5, she wasn't just making her major film debut. She also casually wrote “9 to 5,” one of Dolly Parton's most recognizable songs, while doing it. Decades later, Still Working 9 to 5 reunites Dolly, Fonda, Tomlin, and others to look examine the legacy of 9 to 5 and the workplace inequalities that inspired it.
The documentary gives 9 to 5 something particularly interesting: a performance review more than 40 years later. Some things changed. Others frustratingly didn't. And Dolly's song still works because underneath that irresistible typewriter-like rhythm was a very clear understanding of what working women were angry about. Turns out “pour myself a cup of ambition” had staying power.
