Wednesday, January 14, 2026

The Stars Shine ‘On Golden Pond’ 1981

Henry Fonda & Katharine Hepburn as Norman & Ethel Thayer, the devoted couple
facing old age, in 1981's drama, "On Golden Pond." Fonda's hat belonged to
Spencer Tracy, a gift to Hank from Kate!

I have been revisiting movies of my youth that I haven't seen since their initial release, to see if they live up to my memory. I watched On Golden Pond for the first time since I saw it in a theater shortly after its Dec. 4, 1981 release. It was interesting to see On Golden Pond now, as a 66 year old, from when I was 22 years old. Talk about perspective!

I enjoyed On Golden Pond back in the day as a sentimental tale starring two Hollywood legends. Even as a '70s teen, I loved classic movies and older people. I watched all the older stars from Hollywood's heyday in their golden era glory on the afternoon movies, like Henry Fonda and Katharine Hepburn.

"On Golden Pond" was a modestly successful play that became a sleeper hit movie.

As an adult, I lived in Traverse City, MI for three decades. Eventually, I moved up on a hill in a neighborhood adjacent to the Traverse City Country Club. All the houses were built post-war and nearly of the original owners still lived up there. Most of the residents were retirees and I had just turned 30!

Most of those wonderful neighbors are gone now, but I have very fond memories of them. One of my favorites was Claire Nixon, who I always called "The Katharine Hepburn of Traverse City." I was her and husband Don's neighbor for many years. For those who find On Golden Pond phony, I beg to differ. Claire and Don were Traverse City's version of On Golden Pond. Claire was very much Kate's Ethel Thayer, full of energy and good-natured bossiness. She was also very outdoorsy, on Cedar Lake in the summer and downhill skiing around northern Michigan in the winter. Don was the guy who was always working on something, his garage as organized as an Ace Hardware store. Don could be a curmudgeon, but he was really a stand-up guy. As a neighbor, he was most helpful to this guy, who didn't know how to fix anything! Of the two, Claire outlived Don, until age 90. Like the Thayers, Claire and Don bickered, but were totally devoted.

Me at Claire Nixon's funeral in 2015. A favorite picture of Claire & Don, they were right out of "On Golden Pond!" Claire was the Kate Hepburn of Traverse City.

On Golden Pond is a very mainstream and simple story, but it's not simplistic. From Ernest Thompson’s play, the story focuses on a senior couple whose semi-estranged daughter comes to visit them at the family cottage at the title location. She brings her fiancee and his son. They leave the son with her parents for a month, while they go off to Europe to marry. Their interaction with the boy shines a light onto the family dynamic. When the daughter returns, the stage is set for reconciliation.

Katharine Hepburn is Super Kate as Ethel Thayer in 1981's "On Golden Pond."

Jane Fonda as daughter Chelsea maybe be dysfunctional, but has a bod to die for,
in 1981's drama, "On Golden Pond."

I think all three of the stars' performances are well-done, but their individual persona presentation is telling. Katharine Hepburn is at her most Kate, while Jane's focused a bit much on looking fab at 40-something. On Golden Pond really gets much of its resonance from Henry Fonda's honest portrayal of a difficult man, not unlike himself. Fonda was the classic buttoned up man of his era, warm and charismatic on film, cool and taciturn off-camera. Though he has his share of grumpy old man humor, Fonda presents himself as he actually was at the time, old and frail. The scene where Henry looks at himself bemusedly in the mirror, next to a photo of his handsome young self, is wistfully touching. Fonda's scenes as cranky Norman baiting daughter Chelsea's boyfriend (Dabney Coleman) then getting called on the earnest dentist, is honestly played. The same later, where he's taking digs at the prodigal daughter. When she finally snaps back, he looks surprised. And there are several scenes where Norman's increasingly revealed frailty are brave choices for an actor long renowned as a tower of strength. There's no vanity or preservation of image from Henry Fonda here, unlike his female co-stars. His Oscar win, long overdue, was most deserved.

Henry Fonda as Norman Thayer, looking at his current self with resignation,
in 1981's "On Golden Pond."

I like the fact that Henry Fonda or On Golden Pond’s story doesn't gloss over Norman's irascible nature. Though I found Jane Fonda presenting herself a bit too much as the fit movie star (next year she would launch herself as the workout queen), her performance as the perennially disappointed daughter rings true. The scenes of Jane’s Chelsea opening up to Fonda’s prickly father feel painfully real.

Kate Hepburn's Ethel is empathetic to Jane Fonda's Chelsea, but seems to place
all the blame for the bad blood with father Norman (Henry Fonda) on her.
From 1981's "On Golden Pond."

Katharine Hepburn's "get up and get over it" attitude rings true as Ethel Thayer, if not correctly. After all, why is it up to the daughter to make up with a less than wonderful father? Then again, this was the era when these issues were first being publicly discussed. Hepburn was famous for her both doting and dysfunctional relationship with alcoholic Spencer Tracy. Hepburn's devoted admiration toward Fonda's Norman is very similar to how she doted on Tracy in their movies, especially Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?

Katharine Hepburn as Ethel gives Henry Fonda's Norman the "you're my knight
in shining armor" pep talk, a lovely moment, from 1981's "On Golden Pond."

Hepburn does her hale and hearty bit, playing to the public perception of her as superhumanly indomitable. And when Kate's Ethel Thayer isn't hauling wood, manning a boat, or jumping in the water, she's imparting wisdom to her grumpy old husband and daughter with a chip on her buff shoulder. When the movie is at its most serious, Hepburn is direct and appealing, as when she's lifting her diminished husband up and cheering him on. Ethel Thayer was Kate’s best film role since The Lion in Winter, bringing star power and skills, and winning her a fourth Oscar.

Kate Hepburn's rendition of "Happy Birthday" is one you will never forget,
in 1981's "On Golden Pond."

It is interesting how age perception has changed. Kate was 74 and Fonda 76 when On Golden Pond was released. By today's standards they seem a decade older, in behavior and ailments. In the film Hank's character turns 80 and Kate is 70ish. Fonda died less than a year later, whereas Hepburn lived until 2003.

Hank Fonda & Kate Hepburn were in they're mid-70s when they made 1981's
"On Golden Pond." He died later the next year; she lived for 22 more years.

The music was by Dave Grusin, whose music has been the soundtrack to many baby boomers' entertainment lives, from The Graduate to The Goonies, from themes like The Name of the Game to Good Times. And Billy Williams beautiful and detailed photography is memorable (he's lensed everything from Women in Love to Ghandi). Mark Rydell, an actor himself, was a director great with actors, especially high-powered ones, from Steve McQueen to Bette Midler, and here On Golden Pond, the Fondas and Katharine Hepburn.

On Golden Pond may be a modest work, but it has genuine merit. The film version brings the story to another level because of what Henry and Jane Fonda’s willingness to convey in their father-daughter roles and Katharine Hepburn’s strength of character. That all makes this pond worth reflecting on.

Norman & Ethel Thayer bid farewell to the loons, in 1981's "On Golden Pond."

Kate Hepburn, "The Philadelphia Story."

Here's the role that redefined great Kate's image, Tracy Lord in The Philadelphia Story. After a near-decade of many duds mixed with a few gems, Kate came back to Hollywood, delightful in the film version, w/ Cary Grant, Oscar winners James Stewart & Ruth Hussey. My look at '40s screen Kate:

https://ricksrealreel.blogspot.com/2025/06/kate-hepburns-signature-role-tracy-lord.html