On Golden Pond Information

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. Henry Fonda won the Academy Award in what was his final film role. Co-star Katharine Hepburn also received an Oscar, as did Thompson for his script, and there were a further seven Oscar nominations for the film. The movie co-stars Jane Fonda, Dabney Coleman and Doug McKeon.

Plot

An aging couple, Ethel and Norman Thayer, spends each summer at their cottage on a lake called Golden Pond. They are visited by daughter Chelsea, who is somewhat estranged from her curmudgeon of a father. Chelsea introduces them to her new fiance, Bill, and asks the Thayers to permit Bill's young son Billy to stay with them while she and Bill have some time to themselves.

The boy is annoyed by being left with elderly strangers with no friends nearby and nothing to do. He resents Norman's brusque manner at first, but eventually comes to enjoy their Golden Pond fishing adventures together. Chelsea returns, a little exasperated and envious of the fact that Norman seemingly has bonded with a stranger's child in a way he never quite did with her.

Production notes

Jane Fonda purchased the rights to the play specifically for her father, Henry Fonda, to play the role of the cantankerous Norman Thayer. The father-daughter rift depicted on screen closely paralleled the real-life relationship between the two Fondas.

Screenwriter Thompson spent his summers along the shores of Great Pond, located in Belgrade, Maine, but the film was made on Squam Lake in Holderness, New Hampshire. The house used in the film was leased from a New York physician and was modified significantly for the shoot: an entire second floor was added as a balcony over the main living area at the request of the production designer. After the shoot the production company was contractually obligated to return the house to its original state but the owner liked the renovations so much that he elected to keep the house that way and asked the crew not to dismantle the second story. A gazebo and a small boathouse were also relocated during the shoot.

Despite their many common acquaintances and long careers in show business, Henry Fonda and Katharine Hepburn not only had never worked together, but had never met until working on the film. On the first day of shooting, Hepburn presented Henry Fonda with her longtime companion Spencer Tracy's "lucky" hat, which Fonda wore in the film. Hepburn, who was 74 at the time of filming, performed all her own stunts, including a dive into the pond. The scene in which Norman and grand-stepson Billy run their boat, the "Thayer IV", into the rocks was filmed repeatedly. The vintage 1951 mahogany Chris-Craft boat, used strictly for the crash scene, was so sturdy that it kept bouncing off the rocks without any damage. The crew had to modify the boat so it would break away in the wreck. The water level in Squam Lake was so low during the summer of production that Fonda and Doug McKeon could have stood during the scene in which they were supposedly clinging to the rocks for fear of drowning. The September water was barely knee deep, but it was cold enough that the pair had to wear wetsuits under their clothes. Hepburn, on the other hand, dove into the water without the aid of the wetsuit because she wanted the scene to keep its authenticity. Scenes in which Billy takes the boat out on his own were filmed on nearby Lake Winnipesaukee. While filming the scene where Fonda and Hepburn were watching the loons on the lake, the speedboat that zoomed by and disturbed them was so forceful it overturned their canoe in one take; Fonda was immediately taken out of the water and wrapped up in blankets as his health was fragile by that time. The speedboat was piloted by the screenwriter, Ernest Thompson.

When visiting Holderness, New Hampshire, one can take a boat tour of Squam Lake and view the filming sites from the movie. There is also a restaurant called "Walter's Basin," which is named after the trout called "Walter" that Billy catches with Norman. For filming, "Walter" was brought in from a trout pond at the nearby Castle in the Clouds estate. He was released after his capture back into Squam Lake. Leftover footage of Fonda and Hepburn driving through the New Hampshire countryside, as seen in the opening credits, was later used for the opening of the CBS television sitcom Newhart.

The studio behind the film was ITC Entertainment, the famous British company presided over (until late 1981) by Lord Grade, the television and film 'mogul'. It was Lord Grade who largely raised the finance for the film.

With a box office take of $119,285,432, On Golden Pond was the second highest grossing film of the year, following Raiders of the Lost Ark, which earned $209,562,121.

Cast

• Katharine Hepburn - Ethel Thayer
• Henry Fonda - Norman Thayer Jr.
• Jane Fonda - Chelsea Thayer Wayne
• Doug McKeon - Billy Ray
• Dabney Coleman - Bill Ray
• William Lanteau - Charlie Martin

Critical reception

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times said "On Golden Pond was a treasure for many reasons, but the best one, I think, is that I could believe it. I could believe in its major characters and their relationships, and in the things they felt for one another, and there were moments when the movie was witness to human growth and change. I left the theater feeling good and warm, and with a certain resolve to try to mend my own relationships and learn to start listening better . . . watching the movie, I felt I was witnessing something rare and valuable."

In his The New York Times review Vincent Canby said, "As a successful Broadway play, On Golden Pond was processed American cheese, smooth, infinitely spreadable and bland, with color added by the actors . . . the movie . . . still American cheese, but its stars - Henry Fonda, Katharine Hepburn, Jane Fonda and Dabney Coleman - add more than color to this pasteurized product. On Golden Pond now has the bite of a good old cheddar . . . Mr. Fonda gives one of the great performances of his long, truly distinguished career. Here is film acting of the highest order . . . Miss Hepburn . . . is also in fine form. One of the most appealing things about her as an actress is the way she responds to - and is invigorated by - a strong co-star . . . she needs someone to support, challenge and interact with. Mr. Fonda is the best thing that's happened to her since Spencer Tracy and Humphrey Bogart . . . an added pleasure is the opportunity to see Dabney Coleman [in] a role that goes beyond the caricatures he's usually given to play . . . On Golden Pond is a mixed blessing, but it offers one performance of rare quality and three others that are very good. That's not half-bad."

TV Guide rates it 3½ out of a possible four stars, calling it "a beautifully photographed movie filled with poignancy, humor, and (of course) superb acting . . . there could have been no finer final curtain for [Henry Fonda] than this." Channel 4 sums up its review by stating, "Henry Fonda and Katharine Hepburn both shine in an impressively executed Hollywood drama. [It] has its mawkish moments but there's a certain pleasure in that, and writer Thompson's analysis of old age is sensitive, thought-provoking and credible."

Not all reviewers were impressed, however. David Kehr of the Chicago Reader called the film "the cinematic equivalent of shrink-wrapping, in which all of the ideas, feelings, characters, and images are neatly separated and hermetically sealed to prevent spoilage, abrasion, or any contact with the natural world . . . Mark Rydell's bright, banal visual style further sterilizes the issues. The film exudes complacency and self-congratulation; it is a very cowardly, craven piece of ersatz art." Time Out London says, "Two of Hollywood's best-loved veterans deserved a far better swan song than this sticky confection." Mad magazine satirized the octogenarian-themed film in their typical unsubtle manner, titling it On Olden Pond.

American Film Institute recognition

• AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies - Nominated
• AFI's 100 Years... 100 Passions - #22
• AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movie Quotes:
  • "Listen to me, mister. You're my knight in shining armor. Don't you forget it. You're going to get back on that horse, and I'm going to be right behind you, holding on tight, and away we're gonna go, go, go!" - #88
  • "Come here, Norman. Hurry up. The loons! The loons! They're welcoming us back." - Nominated
• AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores - #24
• AFI's 100 Years... 100 Cheers - #45
• AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) - Nominated

Accolades

Academy Awards

• Academy Award for Best Actor (Henry Fonda, winner)
• Academy Award for Best Actress (Katharine Hepburn, winner)
• Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay (Ernest Thompson, winner)
• Academy Award for Best Picture (nominee)
• Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress (Jane Fonda, nominee)
• Academy Award for Best Cinematography (nominee)
• Academy Award for Best Director (nominee)
• Academy Award for Best Film Editing (nominee)
• Academy Award for Best Original Score (nominee)
• Academy Award for Best Sound (Richard Portman and David M. Ronne, nominee)

BAFTAs

• BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role (Katharine Hepburn, winner)
• BAFTA Award for Best Film (nominee)
• BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Henry Fonda, nominee)
• BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Jane Fonda, nominee)
• BAFTA Award for Best Direction (nominee)
• BAFTA Award for Best Screenplay (nominee)

Golden Globes

• Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Drama (winner)
• Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama (Henry Fonda, winner)
• Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay (Ernest Thompson, winner)
• Golden Globe Award for Best Director - Motion Picture (nominee)
• Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama (Katharine Hepburn, nominee)
• Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture (Jane Fonda, nominee)

Others

• Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures (nominee)
• Grammy Award for Best Album of Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or Television Special (nominee)
• Writers Guild of America Award for Best Drama Adapted from Another Medium (winner)