Monday Night at the Movies "On Golden Pond"

Henry Fonda plays brusque, cantankerous Norman Thayer, a one-time college professor approaching his 80th birthday with a mixture of anger, cynicism and fear as he shows signs of losing his faculties.  Katherine Hepburn is his wife, Ethel, a loving, pragmatic anchor devoted to Norman.  Their only child, Chelsea (Jane Fonda) has long estranged herself from the family, unable to come to terms with her unhappy, unhealthy relationship with her father.  She shows up with a fiance before they go off to Europe together leaving his son with Norman and Ethel.  Gradually communication and trust lead to understanding and reconciliation among the family. "On Golden Pond" was nominated for 10 Oscars with wins for both Henry Fonda and Katherine Hepburn.