United States

For Ethel (KATHARINE HEPBURN) and Norman (HENRY FONDA) Thayer, it is their 48th summer on Golden Pond. Their New England home is cluttered with memorabilia, reflecting their long and deep love affair, as well as the evolving pattern of family life with their daughter, Chelsea (JANE FONDA). Norman surveys the passage of time as an enemy. His obsessive preoccupation with his own mortality is expressed with caustic humour, and he shadow-boxes his fears in spirited exchanges with the witty, buoyant Ethel. It becomes a summer of head-on conflict between three generations when Chelsea - now a 40ish divorcee and deeply distanced emotionally from her father - comes to visit with her new lover, Bill (DABNEY COLEMAN), and his young son, Billy (DOUG McKEON), who has his own tough, chip-on-the-shoulder attitude. Norman and Ethel find themselves in the roles of surrogate grandparents when the young couple take off for a holiday in Europe, leaving the boy at the lake.