Dear Jodie - O is for On Golden Pond

Dear Jodie,

Jane Fonda wanted her father to win an Oscar. She had won two, and Henry Fonda, as great as he was, had not won a single one. She bought the rights to the Ernest Thompson play On Golden Pond for her father to portray the crusty, curmudgeonly Norman Thayer Jr. She secured the brilliant Katharine Kepburn to play Ethyl.  She, herself, would play their daughter Chelsea.

I love this movie, in particular the developing friendship between the old man Norman and the boy Billy played by Doug McKeon.  So well done.  Dabney Coleman rounds out the small cast. Which brings me to that wonderful scene he had with Norman about sleeping with Chelsea in the same room.

This whole movie is about relationships, isn't it, Jodie? Norman's and Ethyl's, solid and eternal.  Norman's and Chelsea's, fragile and wounded.   Chelsea's and Ethyl's, strong yet the occasional victim of divided loyalties.  Norman's and Billy's, a dual-sided mirror to Norman's past and Billy's future.

The most important relationship story in this movie was the one between Jane Fonda and Henry Fonda.  They had never had the best of personal relationships, but they managed to work through a lot of it with the wisdom of Katharine Hepburn.

Sounds like the movie, doesn't it?

Watch this three minute interview of Jane Fonda.

Hepburn, in fact, helped Jane Fonda with her performance. Watch!

What do you think, Jodie?

Read Jodie's review here!

Check out our Facebook page Dear Rocky Dear Jodie: The Actor and The Writer At The Movies.