KATHERINE HEPBURN as Ethel Thayer in ON GOLDEN POND

KATHERINE HEPBURN

KATHERINE HEPBURN as Ethel Thayer in ON GOLDEN POND

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. When she has a vehicle to herself, she seems to lose her discipline, if not her way. Performances in her earlier work would drift off into mannerisms and inflections. 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.

Katharine Hepburn, whose luminous presence and quiet dignity carries ON GOLDEN POND. In Hepburn’s performance, her character’s love for her husband and her exasperation with him are two sides of a coin. Hepburn uses the part to communicate many of the conflicting feelings of old age: the joy of living, the fear of being alone, disappointment in one’s children, and acceptance of the past, present, and future.

In signature moment in the film has one of my favorite lines that Katherine Hepburn used all the time herslef … Chelsea (Jane Fonda) returns without Bill who has gone to California. She announces that they got married in Europe. During a heart-to-heart talk with Ethel ( Kate) about her estrangement from Norman, she is advised to forget the past and get on living in the present. “Get on with it Chelsea!” Kate hadn’t work for years before ON GOLDEN POND. She hated watching the way she shook, it bothered her. She didn’t mind doing Theatre again but having that permanent record of her trembling really bothered her. It doesn’t seem to bother anyone but her – if anything it shows us the fragility and temporality of life and all that she has accomplished in film.

Jane Fonda said she was able to cry in this movie because at the time of shooting, Ms. Hepburn was hiding in the bushes shaking her fists at Jane to get her to emote Also, an interesting memory thing I remember reading is that, Katherine Hepburn was supposed to have a stunt double perform her "dive-in" scene for her, but instead she insisted on doing it herself. She dove into the frigid water without a wetsuit.

"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!" Crazy sentimental dialogue, but Hepburn personalizes and gives it an honesty and thrust that only the Great Kate could do. Barbara Stanwyck and Frances Sternhagen were on call in case Katherine wasn’t able to start shooting when they wanted her. Henry called a week before to make sure she was coming… glad he did.

Another story I always loved from Sandy Meisner was that in the early thirties when the Group Theatre first starting gathering and performing in the winters in New York . I think GOLDEN BOY was on Broadway at the time. Ms. Hepburn went to class with a all the greats and the great teachers were all there: Sandy, Lee Strasberg, Stella Alder, Bobby Lewis, Harold Clurman…all of them. After Lee lead the class doing all those ‘feel the cold, feel the wind…walk in sand’ exercises. Lee turned to Kate Hepburn who had already won an Oscar for MORNING GLORY and asked her what she thought. Sandy said she had got up and thanked everyone for their time but said “this stuff looks like a bunch of Whooie – I’m going to go back to Hollywood and be a Movie-Star” and so she did.