On Golden Pond

On Golden Pond is a 1981 American drama film directed by Mark Rydell. The screenplay by Ernest Thompson was adapted from his 1979 play of the same title.

The plot focuses on aging couple Ethel and Norman Thayer, who spend each summer at their home on a lake called Golden Pond. During the year the story takes place, they are visited by daughter Chelsea with her fiancé Bill and his son Billy in tow. The film explores the often turbulent relationship the young woman shared with her father while growing up, the difficulties faced by a couple in the twilight years of a long marriage, and the special bond forged by Norman and Billy while his father and Chelsea spend time in Europe.

Cast:
Katharine Hepburn ..... Ethel Thayer
Henry Fonda ..... Norman Thayer Jr.
Jane Fonda ..... Chelsea Thayer Wayne
Doug McKeon ..... Billy Ray
Dabney Coleman ..... Bill Ray

Director:
Mark Rydell

DVD Review
By magellan (Santa Clara, CA)

When this movie came out, it made an impressive showing at the Academy Awards and immediately passed into the stuff of Hollywood legend and cinematic history. I only just saw it again recently for the first time in over 30 years, so I thought I make a few brief comments.

I was only 27 when it first debuted, and couldn't recall another movie that seemed to resonate so much with the people of both my and my parents' generation. But it's not hard to see why. Despite both looking somewhat frail, Fonda and Hepburn turn in stellar performances--for Fonda his last and one of Hepburn's also. But for Fonda it was a truly great swan song.

As the crusty, 80-year old, retired professor, Fonda lashes out at the people, things, and events around him, not so much from meanness so much as just to see if anyone will pay any attention to his old lion's roar anymore, as he tries to come to grips with old baggage from his relationship with his daughter, and with the new relationship with the boy who is left with Fonda and Hepburn for a month.


Overall this is a great movie starring two of the old greats and icons from the Golden Age of Hollywood Cinema. Both Fonda and Hepburn are gone now, but they'll always be remembered for their roles in this movie as well as their other work.

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On Golden Pond Movie Trailer


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