On Golden Pond (1981)

On Golden Pond is a film that I never thought I would enjoy watching because as a young person, I never thought I could identify with the characters or story. But in recent months I've been seeking out films dealing with reconnecting with one's parents, as I've been faced with reuniting with my own birth-father after many years of estrangement (this may likely be a topic of another blog post or two in the future...). My reunion experience has been difficult for me to discuss with other family members; it was a very emotional experience. I have an older relative who has expressed disagreement with me reconnecting with my birth-father because of his abandonment of my mother and I. The difficulty I've had with communicating with certain family members has made me feel as if there's something wrong with me, and that I'm the only one who has trouble communicating with family members; this personal experience has affected me so much that I've even had to take some time off from blogging for a long time as well.

I knew of some of the main themes of On Golden Pond, including reconnecting with your elderly parents/relatives, but it's only been in recent days that I felt ready to watch the film.

The main character, Norman Thayer, played by Henry Fonda, has a cranky, stubborn, and blunt personality that rubs people the wrong way; that becomes clear as we see him interact with several characters at the start of the film. For many of us, if we meet someone like that, we might likely not want to be friends with them. However, one person who loves him dearly is his devoted wife of over 40 years played by Katherine Hepburn. Her character is very interesting and ultimately inspiring because she demonstrates by example how to have to patience with him, and we understand through her character that the Fonda character has flaws, and is not perfect. He's having memory problems, and is slowing down, and at one point almost accidentally burns their New England summer cottage down, their cottage on the lake "Golden Pond". I have relatives that live near a lake in suburban Chicago, and it's not too unlike Golden Pond, so I could imagine what life is like for the characters.

The other characters in the film all have to deal with Norman in their own way, including his daughter Chelsea (Jane Fonda), who is very busy with her career in Los Angeles yet finds the time to come to visit her parents at the cottage after many years. After she arrives, Norman, always an overbearing father, makes her feel like a child again. I've felt the same way when I visit older relatives. I have a relative who is 87 and can say some embarrassing and hurtful things, and can make me feel like a child at holiday gatherings.

There's a poignant scene in the film where Chelsea has a heart-to-heart talk with her mom, saying how she wishes to be friends with her father, and wishes they could be more compatible. But her mom reminds her that Norman is a man of 80 years old, and that we need to accept him as who he is and tries to encourage her to not be so disagreeable with her past. "Life goes on", she says. "Get on with it."  It's a reminder to me when I relate to my own older family members, as their personalities are theirs and will not change.

There's also a great sequence in the film where Norman takes Chelesa's soon-to-be-stepson out on the lake to go fishing, and they have a great time trying to catch a legendary elusive fish. Norman isn't really such a bad guy after all; he's really a hero to the members of his family.

I was really amazed to learn that the film (and the play it was based on) was written by a young man (Ernest Thompson) who was in his 20s at the time. That's fascinating to me because the characters are much older, and complex.

All of the characters in On Golden Pond are ones I could either identify with or are ones that remind me of real people in my own life, and after watching the film I now feel as if I'm not alone in my familial plight. For these reasons, I consider the film to be a very inspirational one to me personally, and I hope you have a chance to enjoy it sometime too if you haven't seen it.

12 Angry Men (1957) and a real-life jury duty experience

Earlier this month, I had my first experience as a trial juror. It was like watching a stage play: the judge, the lawyers, and the witnesses seemed as if they were all actors performing right in front of us. I had seen Witness for the Prosecution live on stage before - it was like that, like live theater.

When you're on a jury, you have the freedom to look around the room at anyone or anything at any time. When the lawyers were speaking, you could look at the judge or the defendant.

The accused was on trial for attempted murder.

During the course of the trial (two full days), seven witnesses testified, including several police officers, a prisoner, and the young man who was shot and full of scars.

The evening following the first day of jury selection, I went home and watched the 1957 version of 12 Angry Men for some inspiration.  I think it's the only movie ever made about a jury. I immediately felt a connection with the character played by John Fieder --- in the beginning of the film he tells Lee J. Cobb how excited he is to be a first time juror. I felt the same; it was all so new to me, too, and exciting. It felt good to be a part of the justice system.

Cobb's character then talks about being on many juries before. In our group, we also had some veteran jurors. Most of us, though, were first-timers.

To break the awkward silence, I tried to find things in common with other people just like one of the jurors does in 12 Angry Men.  It was a cramped space, and uncomfortable. The jury room in the movie was much larger than the one we were put into! Also in the movie, Jack Warden's character was so anxious to get out of the jury room and go home. That was how just about all of us felt! We all wanted to go home. Some people had an hour commute to the courthouse.

Another part of the movie that rang true was when Lee J. Cobb said how some of the lawyers went on and on talking "about nothing". Honestly, that's what it really felt like! Some of the lawyers just talked and talked and it was all seemed meaningless, certainly a waste of time. At one point, one of the witnesses - a police officer -  got so aggravated at the questioning from one of the lawyers. And public defenders kept asking the judge for time-outs, which meant more waiting for us, the jury.

I took lots of notes. The prosecuting attorneys brought forth some very good evidence. Four eyewitnesses all pointed to the defendant as the shooter. This appeared to be an "open-and-shut case",  as  Lee J Cobb referred to his case in the movie.

At times I got the feeling that the public defenders didn't always know how to defend him. This issue was touched upon in the movie, too.

After the lawyers gave their closing statements, it was time to go to the jury room to deliberate. The two alternate jurors were sent home (just like in the beginning of the movie). We chose a presiding juror (Martin Balsam in the movie).  And just like in the movie, we started with a secret ballot to see where everyone stood.

Believe it or not, the initial vote was 11-1 in favor of "guilty" ..just like the movie! No, it wasn't me who was the odd-man out, like Henry Fonda. It was the youngest person on jury. After about 25 minutes of deliberation, we all voted again, and unanimously agreed the defendant was "guilty" of attempted murder.

When the verdict was read in court, there was a loud scream from the visitor's section, which might have been the defendant's mother. There was also some clapping and cheering by some other people. It was eerie to hear that in real life (vs. on TV or in the movies).

When the trial ended, it was past 6 PM. And dark outside.

The jurors were given a police escort out of the courthouse to our cars in the parking lot.

After spending three days with all the other jurors, it was kind of a bittersweet feeling to say goodbye.

One of the men in our group was a recent immigrant from the Philippines; he became a citizen just two years ago, and now he and his wife are raising a family. I recommended he watch 12 Angry Men, and told him how much it was like our jury, with one major difference being that we couldn't smoke in our jury room.

Eventually we all parted ways, never to see each other again, just like the end of the movie.

Midway (1976)

Midway was shown on American network television in June of 1992, and I remember watching it and really enjoying the battle scenes, and learning a little about the battle of Midway.

Toshiro Mifune plays Japanese Admiral Yamamoto and Henry Fonda plays American Admiral Chester Nimitz. The battle is planned and executed.

There is a subplot involving American naval captain Charlton Heston and his son played by Edward Albert, whose girlfriend is Japanese. The interracial romance was reflective of the times and relevant to the audiences of the 1970s but otherwise the film isn't  too remarkable.

It's an all star cast, so if you know your classic movie stars, you can play the game "Oh look it's .....". James Coburn, Glenn Ford, Robert Wagner, Dabney Coleman, Pat Morita, Erik Estrada, Robert Mitchum, Hal Holbrook, Tom Seleck, Cliff Robertson and more.

Read another review from the blog Mike's Take on Movies here. 

Sex and the Single Girl (1964) w/ Natalie Wood & Tony Curtis

Before there was Sex and the City, we had Sex and the Single Girl - a best selling dating/career advice book by Helen Brown published in 1962.

Hollywood wanted to jump on the Single Girl bandwagon; the book was very popular--- and this was the swinging 60s after all. So in 1964, a film of the same name was nade, but was more about the phenomenon of the book more than anything else. The film doesn't attempt to be biographical nor is it based on any real event.

The real Helen Brown worked in advertising during the 50s and later became the editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan magazine for over 30 years. She has been married to Oscar-winning producer David Brown (Jaws, The Sting) for over 50 years.


The writers turned the film version into a wacky mistaken-identity comedy. Natalie Wood plays a fictitious Helen Brown: a single twenty-something clinical psychologist whose book is a hit until a sleazy tabloid's scurrilous cover story tarnishes her reputation. Determined to fully expose Brown as a fraud, a writer from the tabloid (Tony Curtis) poses as married man and signs up for counseling sessions -- only to expose her real love life, or lack thereof.


During the faux counseling sessions, they begin to fall for each other.

Curtis' ruse begins to backfire when his girlfriend (Fran Jeffries) and married next-door neighbors (Henry Fonda and Lauren Bacall) get involved, leading to a madcap car chase on the California highway.

With Mel Ferrer, Count Basie and his orchestra, and Edward Everett Horton as the Editor in Chief of a sleazy tabloid magazine.

Young Mr. Lincoln (1939)

Henry Fonda (unrecongnizable in his makeup) plays Lincoln in his very early days of his career in John Ford's reverent, Black-and-white biographical/courtroom drama. Lincoln is shown to be as he was, an amibitous man with dreams to serve the people. The movie starts off in the early 1930s in Kentucky, when Licnoln begins to take up an interest in law. The film shows him riding a mule up to Springfield Illinois to begin his practice, and the last three-quarters of the movie is a courtroom drama, with some terrific comedy relief (Lincoln calling one of the witnesses - named Jack Cass - a Jackass) Though most of he details of the trial have been changed, the event is based on one of Lincoln's "Duff Armstrong/Full Moon" trial, where Lincoln established himself as a star defender, and debater. In the film, Lincoln also has a few brushes with characters who would play major roles in his real life (though not depicted in the movie) his future political opponent - Steven Douglas, and his wife, Mary Todd. Screenwriter Lamar Trotti was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Story. Co-starring Ward Bond, who is great in his supporting role as a witness-turned-murder suspect.