The movies that make Jane Fonda cringe: “Terrible”
The 1960s gave rise to the sexual revolution, and its effects were quickly apparent on screen. Filmmakers depicted female sexuality in a way that hadn’t been done before, and Jane Fonda soon became one of cinema’s most prominent sex symbols, known for her roles in movies such as Cat Ballou, Barbarella and The Game Is Over.
However, as the women’s rights movement developed, Fonda immersed herself in more complex female characters, such as Bree Daniels in Klute, a call girl who becomes the victim of a mysterious stalker. For Fonda, playing nuanced roles has always been intrinsic to her craft due to her heavy involvement in feminist causes.
She once revealed how rife the film industry’s sexism was when she was starting out, telling Harvard Business Review, “I felt very judged by how I looked, and it made me extremely uncomfortable for a long time. […] Objectification and sexism were all around you in the movie business. There wasn’t a sense that you could do anything about it.”
Deciding that she “wouldn’t dress for men anymore,” Fonda cut her hair into the shaggy brown crop that is so distinctively associated with her character in Klute and refused to portray women who weren’t given thorough characterisation. Since then, Fonda has appeared in movies such as Tout Va Bien, 9 to 5, On Golden Pond and the television series Grace and Frankie.
However, despite her prolific career, Fonda has made several films that she prefers to forget, going as far as to consider them cringe-worthy. The first is Sunday in New York, Peter Tewksbury’s 1963 romantic comedy in which Fonda stars alongside Cliff Robertson and Rod Taylor. The movie was one of Fonda’s earlier roles and was received moderately well. Yet, speaking to Star Tribune, Fonda said, “But I’m surprised how many people say they love Sunday in New York. Why?”
In the same interview, Fonda called In The Cool of the Day, also released in 1963, “terrible”. Directed by Robert Stevens, Fonda hates the movie so much that she wishes it had never even been made. She explained, “John Houseman produced it. I can’t even remember the name of the director. It also starred Peter Finch and Angela Lansbury, and we shot it in Greece. I’m not even sure that it got released.”
In The Cool of the Day was, in fact, released, although it failed to be successful. Reviews of the film are largely negative, only reinforcing Fonda’s understandable dislike for the movie. Luckily for the actor, it didn’t take long for her to bag more prominent and acclaimed roles a few years later.
