ON GOLDEN POND was the second highest grossing film of 1981

I don’t know why, but it was very meaningful to me as a 16 year old at the time. Maybe because my family was outdoorsy, we had a cabin on the Appalachian Trail in a state park with a lake. There weren’t very many examples of those types of families in the media. And also that wanting to be accepted by ones parents that gay people have. As much as I would like to watch it again I don’t think I will as it won’t live up to my memory.

I don’t know, these two leads were t exactly spring chickens...

What a beautifully filmed but ultimately boring film.

It was a bad movie then, it's a bad movie now.

It would have been better if Chelsea and Ethel had had frank discussions of anal sex.

Always thought it was weird to just up and dump some kid off on a bunch of geezers he's not even related to so you can go traipse around fucking his dad. Selfish cunt

I enjoyed it. I was eighteen and saw it the first weekend in NYC and the theater was full. I am a huge classic film fan, so I was eager to see Henry Fonda and Katharine Hepburn. I really loved Jane Fonda and Dabney Coleman in "9 to 5" and I loved "Coming Home" a few years earlier. My own grandparents lived on a pond in New Hampshire at the time. It was right up my alley!

I was in 5th grade and I loved it. Told everyone at school about it to blank stares. Such a little fagola I was!

I adore "On Golden Pond". I can appreciate the fact that Jane Fonda's real life relationship with her father is mirrored in the plot. My favorite part of the film is Gruisin's score...particularly the opening/main theme. I always watch this film during August, as I do with Rob Reiner's "Stand By Me". I can watch them at any time of year, but I ALWAYS watch both of these films at the end of the summer. They're "end of summer" films for me.

People today are shocked when they see Fonda and Hepburn swept the acting awards for OGP in '81, but it was a HUGE hit and audiences loved it.

I saw it twice, first with my teenager friends, then with my parents as a bonding type experience and both times the theater was packed.

As it happened, it wasn't shocking at all when both won the lead acting awards.

My friends and I (as well as others) were more shocked Dunaway was snubbed that year for MD.

It was gross

It’s interesting that Jane Fonda is now older than Hepburn was in the movie.

2019's Top 10 list of highest-grossing films is downright depressing.

R12 And that Hepburn had already looked older than she does twenty year earlier. Our whole idea of what old age looks like has been so warped and transformed.

To this day I still affectionately call it On Goldie Hawn.

Jesus. That IS depressing, R13.

Jane Fonda’s stories about making the movie are so much more interesting then the film itself.

I loved it and I was still in h.s. at the time. A movie like that will never be made today.

Watch it again, OP. It depicts each and every character fully, and is acted very well by all. I think they could’ve done better without Dabney Coleman and Fonda Jr, but like all families likely were meant to be idiotic.

I was a year old when it was in theaters. Years later I remember watching it with my family (all prudish Evangelical Republicans...vomit I know..) on TV and listening to their commentary. My grandparents were vocal and no fans of Jane Fonda (again, ignorant people) after the Vietnam protests but my dad who had year before just escaped having to serve in war (likely due to Jane and others who turned the tide of politics) had no issues with her and always found her attractive. He loves attractive actresses to this day (who doesn't?) but rarely has much of a vocal opinion on much else. My mother bitched non-stop about the foul language and found the movie to be unsuitable; we all ignored her protests. My grandparents really liked Henry Fonda and settled on that being the only positive commentary. Personally, I was just bored to tears but found the musical score appealing (my only memory really). I saw the film again as an adult about 10 years ago and found it to be charming in bucolic way. The family dynamics were interesting and I thought it was a touching story - if not terribly complex . Jane's character was weak but she made the best of it; you could tell that this was a vehicle that she was pushing for her father and not for her. Katharine was fine - she never wowed me in any of her movies but always gave a commendable showing. I would give the movie a solid B.

Jane Fonda talked about it on the You Must Remember This podcast and it adds resonance to the making of the film.

Driving Miss Daisy was also a hit eight years later.

All the hits today are mostly IP-based. The "movie star" is dead. Etc. We can trace the shift in taste back to 1975 with Jaws. It wasn't IP, but it was a summer blockbuster, which set the stage for Star Wars and other action films like Indiana Jones, Rambo, etc. That's when we really saw the proliferation of the sequel and the growth of the comic book film. Moviegoing went from an activity for all ages to one geared towards teenagers. But adults today also have dumbed down tastes.

On Golden Pond wasn't an intellectual feast and I probably wouldn't even care for it on rewatch, but it did focus on the human story sans bells and whistles (it did have loons though!). It touched on emotions, relationships, family dynamics in ways that people are no longer interested in exploring on the big screen. They find it in other places like Netflix series, etc.

We are also so inundated with visual stimulus these days, that, unless we make conscious attempts to escape them, they lose their power. I'm guilty of this. I watch a lot of cable news.

My nostalgia for yesteryear is based in part on bias. I grew up in the 1980s.

I rather love the film and find it holds up well.

Some may not be aware that it was adapted from a Broadway play, and let’s face it if there was ever a play to be opened up and expanded into a movie so that the setting could feel authentic this is it. I didn’t realize that Frances Sternhagen was in this and she won the Tony for it. Though she seems to always be typecast as stern New Englanders, I always like her when she pops up in films and think she’s underrated. I think she played Michael J. Fox’s boss in Bright Lights, Big City.

It looks like Sternhagen was the only Tony winner, but when it was off Broadway it swept the Drama Desk Awards for play, actress, actor and costume and set design. There was an all black revival with James Earl Jones and Leslie Uggams that didn’t fair well with his health issues. There was also a live television version in 2001 reuniting Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer, which I vaguely recall.

Marvel shit shows and the rise of the Deplorables can't be coincidence.

For what it is it's fine. I'm no great fan of the film but its serviceable enough.

What is really depressing is that films like On Golden Pond, Kramer vs. Kramer, Ordinary People, The Colour Purple, etc could never be hits now. It's all pretty much mindless empty GCI efforts now.

I loved it, even more so as I grow older.

As r9 mentioned, the score is beautiful.

My family has a lake cottage in Northern Ontario, so I always related to that aspect of it, especially as a child. The scenery is very similar. And the loon ... it's one of those sounds that becomes inextricably tied to a place.

Now that my mother has Alzheimer's, I relate to that part of the film as well.

Good films are kind of like good novels. They never change, but as we move across our lives, our relationship to them changes.

Today's kids never heard of Treasure Island.

It needed something to liven it up...a car chase, a Hepburn and Henry Fonda sex scene with full frontal, a murder, a montage set to a Nik Kershaw song...

The Oscar that year belonged to me - and I had to put up with Susan Sarandon, who was already crazy back then.

- Burt Lancaster

I saw it as a college freshman and remember crying my eyes out at the end when KH is begging HF not to die. “You old poop!”

I was still crying 10 minutes after the movie had ended. I’m not sure what did me in.

The only other movie that killed me like that was Brokeback Mountain.

Does Norman die at the end? I thought he did but Wikipedia doesn’t agree.

When my parents first got cable (HBO & WHT! The movie channels!) this and Superman 2 were on all the time!

r8, I was also in 5th grade when it was released and have always liked it. Plus Doug McKeon in his swimsuit made me gay.

r31 no, the last scene shows them leaving the lake house at the end of the summer

It's weird if you look back in time isn't it? Things that were really popular like A Patch of Blue which has clips up on YouTube, would probably be in the indie category today. All we get are highly promoted block buster super hero films.

The film lost me with "suck face" and went off the cliff with Henry Fonda's brittle, mean performance. Like most of his performances.

R30 considering your age, perhaps you were coming to grips with mortality for the first time. That's about the age many of us begin to lose our grandparents.

What was he so bitter about? That he never won an Oscar?

How well publicized was Fonda's illness and the fact that he was one strong sneeze away from dying back then? Did it have anything to do with him winning an Oscar over Lancaster (who won most critics' awards that year)?

R32 Don’t look at a recent photo. You’ll stop being gay.

Billy Ray sure isn't an angelic blonde twink no more.

[quote] are so much more interesting then the film itself.

Oh, dear!

Oh, OP, you old poop.

Not nearly as good as “on golden blonde”

R40 he kind of looks like Michael J Fox’s older brother.

Henry Fonda had never won a competitive oscar, so there was a big push to give him one. It was not a surprise when he won. He was very beloved by the public.

Katharine Hepburn, however, was a huge surprise, as Diane Keaton and Meryl Streep were considered the frontrunners.

Atlantic City is a terrible film, altho I appreciate the cinematography of decayed, abandoned AC as the backdrop and the use of my favourite opera aria from Norma (Casta Diva). So I agree with the Oscar going to Fonda and not Lancaster.

^^If there was ever any doubt you were gay....

[quote] It looks like Sternhagen was the only Tony winner, but when it was off Broadway it swept the Drama Desk Awards for play, actress, actor and costume and set design.

Sternhagen was only nominated for a Tony; she didn't win. The production also did not win any Drama Desk awards, though it was nominated for a handful.

[quote] Atlantic City is a terrible film

I'm so glad I don't know you in real life, you tasteless fool. AC is one of the greatest films ever made. It's also probably the only non-US film ever made to be selected for the Library of Congress' National Film Registry.

It’s me you old fool!

KH’s 4th Oscar. She beat Meryl Streep, Susan Sarandon, Marsha Mason, and Diane Keaton.

I hate Jane Fonda. Not for her politics, not for her lacquered helmet of Republican hair, but because she's a bad actress.

The film is cloying and her performance the same as always.

R51 I liked all those performances but Meryl was the best in that category. Kate played old shaky Kate-the only thing she's ever been able to play even when she was young. Meryl, Diane, Kate, Marsha, Susan in that order.

Atlantic City was an amazing movie!

Great gritty crime drama, great story and script, very well directed and top notch performances by Lancaster and Sarandon (even though I hate this phony cunt) and a great supporting cast.

R54 I think what makes the film so special is that it doesn't take itself too seriously, so despite its grittiness it also feels kind of light-hearted and almost comic at places. The only other film I've seen that manages to combine gritty crime drama with comedic elements so well was Costa Gavras' "Z".

And I fucking love that crazy scene where Robert Goulet serenades SS.

Inspired by this thread, I just watched this for the first time. I was two when it was released.

Very charming and simple movie. The word "bucolic" as used by r20 is apt. I like that it never strained to be more than what it is and wasn't bogged down by lots of exposition to over explain the dynamics of the various relationships.

Jane Fonda was gorgeous in this (at 43) and I liked Katherine Hepburn here more than anything else I've ever seen her in.

The teen actor was the weakest link for me, but then again, he wasn't the center of the story, which he probably would be if it were made today.

All in all, it was better and more engaging than I had expected.

There's a lot of irony in Atlantic City, because somehow you know Lancaster and Sarandon won't stay together. He's old and bit pathetic and she's cut throat ambitious.

It's a very untypical story, not relying on storytelling cliches at all. And yes there's humour too.

Great movie!

The only thing I remember about Atlantic City is Susan rubbing lemon juice on her big tits.

Did Doug McKeon and Philip McKeon have lusty sleepovers?

Boring story. Once good actors being reduced to playing ancient assholes who cuss too much on screen.

It was such a boring movie! My arteries hardened during it

Yes R57. AC was so...original and atypical.... Esp how it centres around a flaccid old sad sack lusting after a nubile young women... Zzzz 😴 And R49 FYI it was added to the National Film Registry precisely because of the shots of crumbling and decayed AC as the film was made right before many of those bldgs and the boardwalk were demolished forever. That's why it's culturally significant. Not for the bloody story. Or the 🍋 🍋

Just because that's all you noticed doesn't mean the movie as a whole wasn't great, R62.

But whatever, I guess complex story telling is not your thing.

I loved Atlantic City, Burt Lancaster and yes, even Susan Sarandon were excellent. Lancaster had an endless career of wonderful performances. I really like him in everything, he never really coasted like so many older actors. He managed to find substantial roles to play.

I saw the National Tour of On Golden Pond, and the leads were played by Sada Thompson and James Whitmore, both were superb.

My straight friend in high school was out of his mind at Jane Fonda in her bikini.

R63 Just because I don't agree with you doesn't make me wrong and you right. Art is subjective.

Damn, I never knew how hot the guy who wrote the play (and also won an Oscar for his screenplay) was when he was younger. Me likey!

Still a sexy daddy!

Oh, and he was still in his 20s when he wrote the play. That's a bit odd too.

Yes R64 Lancaster had a very interesting and also versatile career. He got himself involved, as an actor as well as a producer in many, many excellent movies.

Lancaster was also rumored to be extremely difficult to work with. He made headlines when he punched Margot Kidder in the face on the set of Little Treasure a year or two after this oscar ceremony.

Fonda, by contrast, was beloved by his peers, despite not having won an oscar.

No talk on Burt is complete without a link to his pre-fame naked pics. I love me some bushy dick!

Burt made his living posing in 'meat magazines' during his meager circus days. He had a gay assistant for years.

Atlantic City will always hold a special place in my heart. I thoroughly enjoyed the story.

But the reason I remember it so fondly is because it was the last film to play at an aging movie theater before it shut down permanently.

I spent a lot of time in that theatre, watched many movies there. It was just coincidence that Atlantic City was the final film the theatre played, but it was such an appropriate film to be the final one.

R74 Your post made me sad a bit (there's nothing I find as depressing as the thought of decaying movie theatres is). Where was that theatre located?

Funny how a thread about On Golden Pond turned into a thread on the far superior Atlantic City. But understandable given how much better and interesting Atlantic City is. I have lost count of the number of times I have watched Atlantic City. I never tire of this perfectly flawless film.

Burt Lancaster and the now annoying Susan Sarandon should have best actor and actress, the film picture, screenplay and director for Louis Malle.

I can honestly say that I have never seen the film Atlantic City despite flipping past it a million times. After all of these rave posts - it's now on my shortlist for the next week or so with The Swimmer! I love being inspired by an obscure or previously apathetic topic on DL; it doesn't happen all that often, but I am grateful when it does. I suppose that a Lancaster marathon is in order LOL.

There was a straight porno made a couple of years after On Golden Pond called On Golden Blonde. Never saw it but hopefully it didn't star a bunch of geriatrics.

On Piss Pond

[quote] I suppose that a Lancaster marathon is in order LOL.

You won't regret it R77, I promise!

Sweet Smell of Success

Come Back, Little Sheba

Trapeze

Sorry Wrong Number

The Killers

The Leopard

The Crimson Pirate

Kiss The Blood Off My Hands

All My Sons

The Unforgiven

Separate Tables

The Swimmer

Vera Cruz

The Rain Maker

Brute Force

A Child Is Waiting

Playwright John Guare of Six Degrees of Separation fame wrote Atlantic City. He’s in his 80’s and lives in the Village. I see him walking his pugs.

On Golden Pond was the perfect movie for young gaylings like myself growing up in the 80s. Hollywood legends, Diva worship (crusty old Hepburn almost a self-parody at that points, Hanoi Jane at her most abrasive), simplistic, sentimental story, hot young blond eye candy (Doug McKeon in the swim trunks, yes), etc. Watched the movie again years later and could no longer claim it's any good, but it still has its charms (props to those who gave a shout-out to Dave Grusin's score).

Now, Atlantic City. A movie that simply went beyond me when I watched when younger, but having seen it again multiple times, truly ages like a fine wine. Lancaster is sublime. He made many brave and enterprising choices as an actor, especially as he got older (two wonderful Viscontis -The Leopard and Conversation Piece - and 1900). And Louis Malle was an extraordinary director, criminally looked down on by hard core cineastes, but he made many, many masterpieces.

It’s been awhile since I’ve seen Atlantic City. I have it on my DVR to watch a second time. There was some surprise that Sarandon ended up in the lead actress field in the Oscar nominations.

OGP is really a perfect film. A lot of people hate the syrupy sentiment of it but I thought a lot of the scenes were extremely moving and powerful. The knight in shining armor speech when Henry Fonda has his hand over his face, realizing its all slipping away, still brings tears to my eyes. Hepburn brings all her star charisma to the role. You really felt they were an aging couple. Well deserved Oscars.

OP, why are you presenting us with that photo of Melania Trump and claiming it's Jane Fonda?????

EEES JOKE???!?

[quote] And that Hepburn had already looked older than she does twenty year earlier. Our whole idea of what old age looks like has been so warped and transformed.

They all have sandblasted and lacquered faces now, it is kind of jarring to see older movies where the actors from back then actually looked their ages.

It would've been a better film with Bette Davis instead of Hepburn.

I can't really see Davis in this particular role, but I thought "Right of Way" with her and James Stewart was actually a more engrossing film about old people than "On Golden Pond" (though it was much darker in tone). I've seen it only once, ages ago, and it's still stuck with me today. It's just a shame it was a TV movie, not a theatrical one, because I hate that cheapo look of 1980s TV cams.

R80 you forgot “The Rose Tattoo”

I enjoyed the film but it often sounded like a play that they had "opened up" with mixed results. I was not surprised to later learn this was true as some of the film remained stagey.

R88 That's for the best because it's an awful film, thanks mostly to Lancaster's clownish overacting.

I'm loving all this Atlantic City/Burt Lancaster talk!

R87 Bette loved working with Jimmy. After Dark Victory I think this was her favorite film along with Strangers her Emmy win.

Yes Lancaster ruined Rose Tatoo, I agree. He was perfectly cast in The Rainmaker, but the exuberance didn't work in RT. I know a lot of people see The Rainmaker as one of his lesser movies, but I thought it had a great script, beautifully written dialogue and wonderful performances, esp from Burt, Earl Holliman and Wendell Corey. The musical score was great too.

I've never seen The Rainmaker but most of the reviews I've read mentioned Hepburn being at least a decade too old for her role.

She was a bit too old, yes, her performances was good, but with everything Katherine Hepburn, she's never not Katherine Hepburn in any of her movies.

For anyone who is interested, here is the complete live 2001 Julie Andrews/Christopher Plummer version. It has its charms, but the numerous live TV gaffes (Julie says “How was I so far?” on a hot mic off-camera in the first minute alone) adds to the entertainment value.

R58, you've imagined it. She's naked at least above the waist, but she rubs the lemon on her arms because they remove the smell of fish. She was clothed during her shift, so she didn't end up with fish smell on the breasts.

SS's lemon juice scene is on Xhamster. Yeah, she rubs most of it on her arms but she definitely puts some on her big Bernie-loving titties as well.

The first Lancaster movie I ever watched was Elmer Gantry on TCM. What a hunk! And tortured too! Just the way I like them. Then From Here to Eternity and then a trapeze. Goddamn I do love a good circus/ carny movie!

Trapeze was incredibly homoerotic (and not just because of those tight outfits). Lollo's character was totally unnecessary, because that whole film was about sparks flying between Curtis and Lancaster. It was obvious their characters wanted to hatefuck each other's brains out.

Shelley Winters God love her, had a long affair with Burt Lancaster. I’m not sure if she dated Henry Fonda.

[quote][R80] you forgot “The Rose Tattoo”

And "Local Hero"

R101 So Shelley claims. I love Shelley and enjoyed both her books but they are largely works of fiction.

I'm not buying those Shelley stories either. Why would a man like Burt, who could have any woman he wanted in his bed with a swish of his hand, settle for a hefty crazy wench like Shelley?

But then again, she was married to Vittorio Gassman and Tony Franciosa, and they were both a lot more attractive than she was. There obviously was something about her that made hot men attracted to her (she was probably a tigress in bed or something).

Shelley was attractive when she was younger. And in middle age too. Obviously she gained weight and some men like more cushion for the pushin. I can see Burt fucking her.

She had a hot body when she was younger but even then she had a face of a Mitteleuropean peasant (and an awful matronly hairdo which did her no favors). I know she was considered some sort of a minor sex symbol until she got fat but I could never understand what that was all about.

Burt liked women who were adventurous in bed, Shelley was no timid wallflower.

You have to remember the times. Shelley was probably down for anything, including anal. Lots of women weren't going to do certain things back in those days.

Straight guys love a straight up freak, even if she's no beauty.

Shelley Winters getting fucked in the ass is definitely not the mental image I expected to rock myself to sleep to tonight.

She liked getting bukkaked too and slurping it all up r109!

I'm not very big on the film, but all this talk about how movies for adults and people with brains are no longer made for theaters really depressed me. Every now and then, one sneaks in, but it really is mostly crap that plays in theaters and all the good stuff is on TV or streaming. I hope that changes.

The loons! The loons!

They're on this thread! It's supposed to be a thread about me and Henry and the lovely little movie that brought us both Oscars.

It's been taken over by the loons who took it everywhere from Golden Pond to Atlantic City to Shelly Winters getting fucked in the ass!

The loons! The loons!

I thought this thread was about On Golden Pond and what crotchety old pains in the asses Henry and Kate were, not the long-forgotten Atlantic City movie.

I love this thread!

- Shelley .... panting

I love this thread!

- Shelley .... panting

Poor Shelly Winters. She and Liz both porked up and looked like HELL in the 70's. Funny enough, I never even considered that she was ever a sex symbol at any age. Famous - yes. Talented - certainly. Sexy - ummmmmm....well...if you can't say anything nice..

It's interesting when you look at the original (and replacement and touring) casts of On Golden Pond, and the TV version and realize that these characters aren't actually supposed to have 1 1/2 feet in the grave. I only really knew the movie, where Hepburn looked 90 and Fonda looked exhumed, so I always thought of Ethel and Norman to be written as ancient and on death's doorstop.

Back in those days people in their 70s looked absolutely ancient, it was like they were 100. Bette Davis and Jimmy Stewart in their 70s at around the same time at the link. Remember Lucille Ball in the 80s?

And these people were celebrities. The average 70something person looked even OLDER if you can imagine. It was nothing like it is today, people that age now look much better.

[quote] Back in those days people in their 70s looked absolutely ancient, it was like they were 100. Bette Davis and Jimmy Stewart in their 70s at around the same time at the link. Remember Lucille Ball in the 80s?

I understand that, but I'm not talking about today. I was talking about back in 79 with the casts on Bway and touring, which were Frances Sternhagen and Tom Aldredge and Sada Thompson and James Whitmore.

The all back cast got it somewhat closer with James Earl Jones and Leslie Uggams, at least in looks, but both of them still had a lot of fire and energy onstage.

[quote] Frances Sternhagen and Tom Aldredge and Sada Thompson and James Whitmore.

They were all many years younger than Fonda and Hepburn. I guess the story works with elderly actors and late middle-aged actors.

Yes, I know, thank you. That was my whole reason for posting my original comment, which was - I thought the characters had been originally written and frail, very elderly, about to croak from old age because I had only seen the movie and never knew that they weren't supposed to be so infirm. Clearly they amended things for Fonda and Hepburn because no other cast, before or since, was like that.

This turned out out to be a pivotal moment in Oscar history. Meryl was the favorite to win but lost to Hepburn. Presuming Meryl's wins would have played out like they did it would be Meryl with 4 and Kate with 3. (or they at least would be tied.)

Always thought it was odd how the Academy liked to reward her even though she'd reject them and not show up.

Listen to the gasps when Kate wins. Poor M.

I wonder if Meryl would still win for Sophie's Choice if she was the BA winner in 1981. That would mean three Oscars for M in four years...There's no way the Academy is that generous!

Maybe that would mean an Oscar for Jessica Lange in Frances the following year, which also means she wouldn't get the consolation prize for Tootsie. And that would probably mean a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for G in The World According to Garp. So I guess Glennie has Katharine Hepburn to blame for still being Oscar-less.

R13 Proof of the dumbing down of society.

Jane and her dad had a notoriously difficult relationship, not unlike their characters. At the 1:00 minute mark, she describes how during a pivotal scene, she improvised grabbing his arm. She knew it would elicit a real emotion from him and that it was possibly her only chance to have such a moment with him.

I hated the sappy movie, but thought Dabney was really sexy.

R124 I've wondered if M. would still have won for Sophie's Choice and I've come to the conclusion that she would have. Her performance was something of a critical juggernaut and she would have created Academy history by winning 3 Oscars at such a young age. If it had worked out like that I don't think she would have won for The Iron Lady. She would still be waiting for no. 4.

Frances Sternhagen, to me, projects as someone who seemed old even in her 20s.

TL;DR. Burt Lancaster was in another all-time favorite Local Hero (1983).

It was so generous of me to allow old Kat a last hurrah, especially at such a young age. As is quite clear, I have 5 locked up by the final curtain. As the kids say “Catherine (sic) who?”

Uplifting twaddle.

Shelley had a ton of personality, was certainly attractive enough when she was younger, had two extremely handsome husbands, was a movie star and wouldn’t have made all of that up without being challenged in public

She was bragging all over town, in her books, and on TV for years about her conquests. I bet they’re 100% true.

For context Natalie Wood and Bill Holden died in 1981.

I thought that was Linda Cardellini in OP’s pic.

R135 Linda Tortellini and Fonda are both wops (Fonda is an old Italian surname) so the resemblance is not accidental.

Because all Italians look alike *rolls eyes*

In any other year, Jessica Lange would have one for Francis. Unfortunately for her, she was up against one of the most memorable performances by an actress of the last 50 years. Meryl deserved it for Sophie‘s choice, but I think Jessica was only a step behind.

Periodically, there's a film that appeals to older audiences that's a big hit. Cocoon was another.

R139 I have a hard time believing it was only old people who watched it in cinemas, given its high box-office sales.

Everyone went to see it in theaters. It was somewhat of an "event".

This would be a Netflix movie today, and the lifted and Botoxed actors playing the parents would look as young as the daughter.

Looks like Miley Cyrus at OP's photo.

On Golden Blonde is a funny porn title.

PRON

The emotional heart of the movie is between the father and daughter, of course. Jane Fonda really found some emotional truth and she dragged her father to his Oscar win. Hepburn’s role us very much a supporting part. She’s lovely when she comforts him after he admits to being lost. Young Doug McKeon did a good job with an a poor part. He’s very good in the scene with the capsized boat. Dabney Coleman was good as expected. He was terribly typecast wasn’t he? I don’t think I could watch it again.

I saw this movie as a kid in the 80s and really loved it. Also loved the opening score with the filming the lake - so beautiful. I still listen to it sometimes.

The father character reminds me of my father. Didn’t realize it as a kid (or maybe a part of me did).

One of my favorites.

Here's the film's iconic "knight in shining armor" scene...DUBBED IN TURKISH!

I agree that Meryl would have won back to back Oscars if she had won for French Lieutenant's Woman.

Critics went wild for Sophie's Choice some saying it was the greatest performance by an actress ever. The Academy would have had to give it to her.

[quote] Critics went wild for Sophie's Choice some saying it was the greatest performance by an actress ever.

They went wild for Streep's performance, not the film. The film itself got some pretty mixed reviews, with many calling it overlong and over-sentimental mess. The same thing happened with The Iron Lady decades later - the film was totally panned by the critics but Streep still got an Oscar for it, simply because she was "overdue" for her third one. So I think if Streep won in 1981 the Academy voters would probably be a bit more nit-picky about the film's shortcomings and the chances of someone else taking home the BA Oscar would have been far greater...Oh who the fuck am I kidding?! Of course she'd still win - it was an Oscar-baity role in a Holocaust-themed film. That was definitely her year.

Lange would have been handicapped also since Frances the film got really bad reviews. Lange was said to be good in spite of the film. It's actually kind of surprising in retrospect that she even got nominated for Tootsie. They must have pushed that double nominee narrative pretty hard and voters couldn't resist.

Looking at the Golden Globe nominations it seems that Cher and Lanie Kazan (how gay!) were in contention for a spot .

Streep would have won back-to-back Oscars like Spencer Tracy and Jason Robards before her and Tom Hanks after her. She would NOT have won for The Iron Lady because no actor at that point would have four Oscars (for performances) and Streep would have been in the rare group of three time winners (Bergman, Brennan, Hepburn, Nicholson and DDL).

In reality, Hepburn deserved only one of her Oscars (The Lion in Winter, in which she truly knocked it out of the park and should have bested Streisand). I can't really speak for any actresses in '33 who were left off the nominations list, so I won't quibble too much over Morning Glory, but Guess Who's Coming to Dinner and On Golden Pond were ridiculous Oscars. My choice would have been Audrey Hepburn, but for Two for the Road, not Wait Until Dark. Of those nominated, I think Bancroft should have taken her 2nd Oscar, though I feel that Mrs. Robinson is really a supporting role. (Of course, it would have been great had Bette Davis won for Baby Jane, thereby guaranteeing Bancroft a win for The Graduate.)

Bette Davis should've won for Baby Jane. That was a fucking fearless performance that no other actress at that time would've dared to give.

Davis was unlucky that she usually got nominated in unfortunate years, because 1950 and 1962 both had super strong best actress categories.

And speaking of 1962, I actually think that should have been Hepburn's year. 3/4 of Hepburn's Oscars were a joke but she'd totally deserve to get one for "Long Day's Journey into Night", which was probably the performance of her career.

Davis and Swanson should've tied in 1950. It's been said that if Anne Baxter had been nominated in Supporting instead of Best Actress, Davis probably would've won.

Yeah, Baxter was a total cunt for insisting on being in the lead category and killing BD's chances. But I can't stay mad long at a woman who gave us one of the campiest performances of all time a few years after that.

P.S. Notice her areolas on display in the screenshot below.

Meryl has said she doesn't really like her performance in The French Lieutenant's Woman. She says when she hears it she feels she messed it up a bit. Not sure if she meant the accent or the whole performance. She said it on Graham Norton. (She may just be bitter since the director would later betray her by promising her Sweet Dreams and then suddenly giving it to Lange.)

R152 - Actresses who were left out back in 1933 - actually, in early 1934 the Oscars covered the previous year and a half' beginning in July '32 and ending in December '33 - were Garbo for here signature role in Queen Christina, Miriam Hopkins in Troubles in Paradise, Irene Dunne in Back Street, Helen Haye, better in Farewell to Arms than in the one she won a year earlier, and Hepburn herself in Little Women. And, as I say every time the 1967 lineup is discussed, iconic and great as Bancroft or Dunaway (or even A. Hepburn) might have been, Edith Evans in The Whispers was in her own superior league that year.

Add Local Hero to that list.

R127.. i agree! i thought dabney coleman was quite sexy in the movie with his thick groomed beard and snug polo shirts and khaki pants! hairy "daddy" vibe and look totally!..

Isn't Coleman a staunch republican? That's a huge turn-off.

Is Coleman still alive? He belongs on that one thread.

R163 Yup, still alive and still working at 88.

And Mark Rydell, the film's director, is still alive too (he's 91). I actually blame his lackluster direction for On Golden Pond not being a better movie and feeling so Lifetime-y. Looking at his filmography, it seems he mostly specialized in Oscar bait films with strong female leads. He also directed Bette Midler in both of her Oscar-nominated performances (and For the Boys has to be one of the worst movies I've ever seen).

And apparently Rydell tried to become a singer too once upon a time. Unfortunately I can't seem to find his music anywhere online.

This was the probably the last oscar show where a majority of the acting winners were no shows.

And ALL the acting winners were over 50, with three of them being over 70. That would never happen today.

R165 Did Lifetime even exist then for him to emulate?

I never understood Bancroft winning for The Miracle Worker. It was a decent performance, nothing more. The Academy must have had it in for Bette, because not only is the performance phenomenal, but the film was a smash and it basically resurrected Bette's career AND showed there was still a lot an older actress could do. Either they hated Bette or they were disgusted at having to give an Oscar to a common horror film (which Baby Jane is anything but).

And yes, Hepburn was great in Long Day's Journey Into Night.

I feel the big shocker of '62 was the dearth of nominations for Lolita. That film should have score noms for Best Picture, Director, Lead Actor and both Peter Sellers and Shelley Winters should have WON the supporting Oscars. Instead it got a screenplay nod.

Director Mark Rydell got his start as an actor.

He played Jeff Baker on As The World Turns from 1956-1962. He was wildly popular because he was paired withe Penny Hughes (Rosemary Prinz). Jeff and Penny were the very first soap "supercouple" ever. The two had incredible chemistry and for a while, the show was written with their characters as the very center. They were the Luke and Laura of their day. The public adored their love story and it propelled both actors to national stardom.

R170 I guess that explains why his single (the one whose cover I posted above) was called "Penny".

Bette Midler was fantastic in For the Boys. If the film had been released the following year, she would have won the Oscar.

She just had the poor luck of going against Jodie Foster, and the Thelma and Louise girls. She certainly would have been better than Emma Thompson or any of the other nominees the next year.

[quote] Bette Midler was fantastic in For the Boys. If the film had been released the following year, she would have won the Oscar.

No way. Thompson won pretty much every major film award for Howard's End the following year. Bette wouldn't stand a chance against her. The only reason the craptacular For the Boys is worth watching is to see that terrible old-age makeup. Just thinking about it makes me giggle.

R173, there’s no apostrophe in Howards End.

Nobody cares r174.

I'm actually grateful to R174 for correcting me because I never even realized the title was "apostropheless".

[quote]Thompson won pretty much every major film award for Howard's End the following year.

Bette Midler's a better actress.

Wow, r148. Without her trademark voice and not understanding the language you really concentrate on their faces and eyes. Two experts at the art of cinematic acting.

Katharine Hepburn was a good actress, but she's always been overrated imho. Bette Davis was better, and had a much wider range. Davis could play anything, from royalty to white trash, grand ladies to disturbed psychotics.

Piss pond

R169 Bancroft was outstanding in TMW. Even on datalounge with all these jaded queens, there was a poll a few months ago asking to pick best actress of 1962 and Anne beat Bette. I love Bette in Baby Jane, but the voters probably considered it too low brow and campy. Bette swears that just about everyone was convinced in Hollywood she would win, but Joan interfered with her winning. Bette probably told herself this to blunt the hurt of losing. TMW was an esteemed film, not Grand Guignol like Baby Jane. I’m thinking Bette probably came in second as more of a show of respect for her career than Baby Jane itself.

I adore them both, r179. Especially Bette, but she really couldn't do comedy.

R182 Baby Jane?

For The Boys was absolutely awful with some of the worst make up I've ever seen on film. Armie Hammer in J Edgar coming a close second. She was lucky just be nominated. Mimi Rogers was far more deserving that year.

And Bette's son in that film was played by Rydell's bulging-eyed son Christopher, who was not only wooden as hell but also looked absolutely nothing like Midler and James Caan.

Rydell also had a small role in On Golden Pond (actually, most of his filmography seems to consist of films directed by his daddy), playing Sumner. The name of his character was probably a tribute to Spencer Tracy, who played a character with a last name like that in Desk Set with Hepburn.

Mark Rydell is gay, no? Back in those times people appeased society and married/kids/etc.... but his son was very hot. It’s always interesting to look at those situations and if/when the adopted child turned out gorgeous... you’re Woody.

He certainly pings to high heaven in his pics. And his body of work (being some sort of a George Cukoresque "woman's director") is also typical of homosexualists.

So if Rydell is gay, that means that three out of four Hepburn's Oscar-winning performances were directed by gay men, because Anthony Harvey and Lowell Sherman also licked the other side of the stamp.

R189 Well I suppose that is appropriate given Kate was a dyke.

Katherine Hepburn was always Katherine Hepburn on screen. Not very humble as an actress.

Henry Fonda should have gotten his Oscar for 12 Angry Men, he was good in that movie.

That scene where he pulls out the knife and tells the other jurors that he bought it for 6 dollars the night before while walking around the neighborhood where the murder happened, was one of the most iconic scenes in the history of cinema.

With her mug and voice, r190, one was never going to forget they were watching Kate. Same with Bette. That's what set them apart. Also in Kate's favor, her stage forays were more successful than Bette's.

Fonda should have won in 1940 too. The Grapes of Wrath is without a doubt one of the greatest American films ever made.

1940 acting Oscar winners were such a travesty: Peachfuzz Rogers, Jimmy Stewart and Walter Brennann...What a joke! Miss Jane Darwell was the only one who deservedly won.

That is a great movie. My mom was friends with the people who own the island in the opening shot. They didn't film on it though.

Here's Squam Lake in NH where most of the film was shot. It looks so purty!

And other scenes were filmed on nearby Lake Winnipesaukee. This one's purty too. The scenery looks very Nordic to me.

^ thanks Jane

Speaking of 1940 that was another year Bette Davis should've won, for The Letter. Why the fuck did they give the Oscar to Ginger Rogers, of all people?

Isn't the general consensus that 1940 should have been Joan Fontaine's year and that the Academy made up for it by giving her one a year later for a much inferior performance?

But I thin ole' Peachfuzz won that year because the Academy loves to hand out Oscars to big box office attractions who decide to dabble in dramatic roles for a change (it's the same reason actresses like Sandra Bullock and Julia Roberts managed to win).

[quote]Isn't the general consensus that 1940 should have been Joan Fontaine's year

No.

Better should have won for The Little Foxes.

Are we supposed to know who ole’ Peachfuzz is?

R202 It's Lela Rogers' baby girl; she was famous for giving the movie makeup artists some major headaches with all the peachfuzz they had to cover on her face.

R190 Is M. Click, click, click.

some Kate stories from the cinematographer Billy Williams

R203 right on!