The Graduate

For other uses, see The Graduate (disambiguation).

The Graduate
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Mike Nichols
Written by	Screenplay: Calder Willingham Buck Henry Novel: Charles Webb
Produced by	Joseph E. Levine Lawrence Turman
Starring	Anne Bancroft Dustin Hoffman Katharine Ross William Daniels Murray Hamilton
Cinematography	Robert Surtees
Edited by	Sam O'Steen
Music by	Score: Dave Grusin Songs: Paul Simon
Distributed by	Embassy Pictures (US) United Artists (non-US)
Release date	December 21, 1967 (1967-12-21)
Running time	105 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$3 million (est.)
Box office	$104,397,102

The Graduate is a 1967 American comedy-drama film directed by Mike Nichols. It is based on the 1963 novel The Graduate by Charles Webb, who wrote it shortly after graduating from Williams College. The screenplay was by Calder Willingham and Buck Henry, who makes a cameo appearance as a hotel clerk. The film tells the story of Benjamin Braddock (played by Dustin Hoffman), a recent university graduate with no well-defined aim in life, who is seduced by an older woman, Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft), and then proceeds to fall in love with her daughter Elaine (Katharine Ross).

In 1996, The Graduate was selected for preservation in the U.S. National Film Registry as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". It ranked as the seventh greatest film of all time on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies.

Adjusted for inflation, the film is #19 on the list of highest-grossing films in the United States and Canada.

Embassy Pictures distributed in North America, while United Artists handled the initial international release.

Plot summary

The soon-to-be 21 year-old Benjamin Braddock flies back to his parents' house in Southern California after graduating from a college on the East Coast. At his graduation party, all his parents' friends want to know about what he is going to do next, something Benjamin is clearly uncomfortable and anxious about. His parents ignore this and are only interested in talking up his academic and track successes and their plans for him to go to graduate school.

Mrs. Robinson, the wife of his father's business partner (they are law partners), asks him for a ride home from the party. She invites the nervous Benjamin in and attempts to seduce him, removing her clothing. Mr. Robinson arrives home but does not see nor suspect anything. A few days later Benjamin contacts her and clumsily organizes a tryst at a hotel beginning their affair. A now confident and relaxed Benjamin spends the summer drifting around in the pool by day and seeing Mrs. Robinson at the hotel by night. Benjamin discovers that they have nothing to talk about but he does learn that Mrs. Robinson was forced to give up college and marry someone she didn't love when she became pregnant with Elaine.

Mr. Robinson tells Benjamin he should relax and enjoy himself while he is young. Benjamin's parents however are keen for him to get on with his life. Both they and Mr. Robinson keep trying to set Benjamin up with Elaine, while Mrs. Robinson makes it clear that she wants him to stay away from Elaine. Benjamin eventually gives into the pressure from his parents and takes Elaine out but intentionally upsets her by taking her to a strip club. After seeing her crying, he relents and explains he was mean only because his parents forced him to ask her out. He awkwardly kisses her to try and cheer her up and they go and get a burger at a drive-in. He then proceeds to take her home where she offers to take him in for a cup of coffee and he states that he wouldn't want to wake anybody up. Benjamin says he would like to get a drink and Elaine proclaims that they have a bar at the Taft Hotel. When they arrive at the Taft Hotel Benjamin is uneasy as everyone recognizes him as Mr. Gladstone. Benjamin discovers that Elaine is someone he is comfortable with and that he can talk to her about his worries.

Mrs. Robinson threatens to reveal their affair to destroy any chance Benjamin has with Elaine so Benjamin rashly decides he has to tell Elaine first. An upset Elaine returns to UC Berkeley, refusing to speak with Benjamin. Benjamin decides he is going to marry Elaine and goes to Berkeley and stalks her. He contrives a meeting on a bus while she is on her way to a date with her classmate Carl. An angry Elaine later demands to know what he is doing in Berkeley after he raped her mother by taking advantage of her while she was drunk. Benjamin tells her it was her mother who seduced him, something Elaine doesn't want to hear, so Benjamin says he will go somewhere else. Elaine tells Benjamin not to leave until he has a definite plan. The next day, Elaine comes into Ben's apartment in the middle of the night and asks him to kiss her. The two hang out in Berkeley while Benjamin keeps pressing her to get blood tests so that they can get married. Elaine is unsure about this and says she had told Carl she might marry him.

Mr. Robinson, who has found out everything about Benjamin and his wife's affair, goes to Ben's apartment in Berkeley where he berates him for his adulterous role in the affair, in which Mr. Robinson is in the stages of divorce. Mr. Robinson then threatens to have him prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law should Benjamin ever come near Elaine or even think of her again. He also forces her to drop out of school and takes her away to marry Carl. Benjamin is left with just a note from Elaine saying that she loves him but that her father is really angry and it can never work out. Benjamin races back to Pasadena looking for Elaine but finds Mrs. Robinson instead. She tells him he won't be able stop the wedding and calls the police. Benjamin heads back to Berkeley and finds out from Carl's Theta Delta Chi Fraternity brothers that the wedding is in Santa Barbara. He then speeds off towards Santa Barbara, stopping only at a gas station for directions to the church. Benjamin is in such a hurry that he rushes off without refueling.

Consequently, Ben runs out of gas and must sprint the last few blocks. He arrives at the church just as the bride and groom are about to kiss. Thinking he is too late he bangs on the glass at the back of the church and screams out "Elaine!" repeatedly. Elaine turns around, hesitates by looking at her parents and her would-be husband, but then screams out "Ben!" and starts towards him. A brawl breaks out as everyone tries to stop her and Benjamin leaving. Elaine manages to break free from her mother, who claims "It's too late!", to which Elaine replies, "Not for me!" Benjamin holds everybody off by swinging a cross ripped from the wall, then using it to jam the outside door while the pair escape. They run down the road and flag down a bus. The elated and smiling couple take the back seat. But Benjamin's smile gradually fades to an enigmatic, neutral expression as he gazes forward down the bus, not looking at Elaine. Elaine seems unsure, looks lovingly across at Ben but notices his expression and turns away with a similar expression as the bus drives away.

Cast

• Dustin Hoffman as Benjamin Braddock
• Anne Bancroft as Mrs. Robinson
• Katharine Ross as Elaine Robinson
• William Daniels as Mr. Braddock
• Murray Hamilton as Mr. Robinson
• Elizabeth Wilson as Mrs. Braddock
• Buck Henry as Room Clerk
• Brian Avery as Carl Smith
• Norman Fell as Mr. McCleery
• Marion Lorne as Singleman party guest
• Alice Ghostley as Singleman party guest

Uncredited:

• Mike Farrell as a bellhop at the hotel
• Richard Dreyfuss as Boarding House Resident
• Ben Murphy as the shaving student in the fraternity house
• Kevin Tighe as Carter, Carl Smith's fraternity brother

Production

Filming locations

Many of the exterior shots of Benjamin on the campus were actually filmed on the brick campus of USC in Los Angeles, as the UC Berkeley campus features buildings with gray granite exteriors. Other scenes were filmed on the Berkeley campus, on Durant Avenue in Berkeley, and on Telegraph Avenue.

The Taft Hotel scenes were filmed at Ambassador Hotel.

The church used for the wedding scene is actually the United Methodist Church in LaVerne. In a commentary audio released with the 40th anniversary DVD, Hoffman revealed that he was uneasy about the scene in which he pounds on the church window, as the owner of the church had been watching the filming disapprovingly. The residence used for the Robinsons' house was located on North Palm Drive in Beverly Hills.

The scenes of Benjamin driving to Berkeley on the San Francisco Bay Bridge were filmed on the top level of the bridge — leading into San Francisco — the opposite direction of Berkeley.

Music

The Graduate Original Soundtrack album cover.

See also: The Graduate (soundtrack)

The film boosted the profile of folk-rock duo Simon & Garfunkel, whose soundtrack album The Graduate, on the strength of the hit single "Mrs. Robinson", rose to the top of the charts in 1968 (knocking off The Beatles' White Album). However, the version that appears in the film is markedly different from the hit single version, which would not be issued until Simon and Garfunkel's next album, Bookends. The actual film version of "Mrs. Robinson" does appear on The Graduate soundtrack LP.

According to a Variety article by Peter Bart in the 15 May 2005 issue, Nichols had become obsessed with Simon & Garfunkel's music while shooting the film. Lawrence Turman, his producer, made a deal for Simon to write three new songs for the movie. By the time they were nearly finished editing the film, Simon had only written one new song. Nichols begged him for more but Simon, who was touring constantly, told him he didn't have the time. He did play him a few notes of a new song he had been working on; "It's not for the movie... it's a song about times past — about Mrs. Roosevelt and Joe DiMaggio and stuff." Nichols advised Simon, "It's now about Mrs. Robinson, not Mrs. Roosevelt."

Reception

A. D. Murphy of Variety and Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times praised the film upon its release with Murphy describing it as a "delightful satirical comedy-drama" and Ebert claiming it was the "funniest American comedy of the year".

For the film's thirtieth anniversary reissue, Roger Ebert retracted some of his previous praise for the film. He, along with Gene Siskel, gave the film a mediocre review on the television program Siskel & Ebert.

Benjamin's 1966 Alfa Romeo Spider, a graduation present from his parents, becomes a plot device as the film progresses, and also gave the vehicle widespread popularity.

Awards and honors

Dustin Hoffman earned an Oscar nomination for his performance as did Bancroft and Ross.

Along with the acting nominations, the film received nominations for Best Cinematography, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Picture. Mike Nichols won the Academy Award for Best Director.

The film won the BAFTA Award for Best Film, as well as the BAFTA Award for Best Editing (to Sam O'Steen).

In 1996, The Graduate was selected for preservation in the U.S. National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant", and placed #19 on the list of highest-grossing films in the United States and Canada, adjusted for inflation.

American Film Institute recognition

• 1998: AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies #7
• 2000: AFI's 100 Years... 100 Laughs #9
• 2002: AFI's 100 Years... 100 Passions #52
• 2004: AFI's 100 Years... 100 Songs:
  • "Mrs. Robinson" #6
• 2005: AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movie Quotes:
  • "Plastics." #42
  • "Mrs. Robinson, you're trying to seduce me. Aren't you?" #63
• 2007: AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) #17

The movie is listed in the 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die book.

The movie is ranked #160 in IMDB top 250

Stage adaptation

John Reid produced a play in 2000, adapted from the movie, which was a hit both in London's West End and on Broadway and has toured the United States. There is a Brazilian version adapted by Miguel Falabella. Several actresses have starred as Mrs. Robinson, including Kathleen Turner, Lorraine Bracco, Jerry Hall, Amanda Donohoe, Morgan Fairchild, Anne Archer, Vera Fischer and Linda Gray. The Broadway production in 2002 starred Kathleen Turner, Jason Biggs, and Alicia Silverstone.

The stage production adds scenes of Benjamin hitchhiking across America, not in the novel or the original film. It also uses songs by Simon & Garfunkel not used in the film, such as "Baby Driver" as well as music from other popular musicians from the era such as The Byrds and The Beach Boys.

Possibility of sequel

Charles Webb has written a sequel to his original novel titled Home School, but initially refused to publish it in its entirety because of a contract he signed in the 1960s. When he sold film rights to The Graduate, he surrendered the rights to any sequels. If he were to publish Home School, Canal+, the French media company that owns the rights to The Graduate, would be able to adapt it for the screen without his permission. Extracts of Home School were printed in The Times on May 2, 2006. Webb also told the newspaper that there was a possibility he would find a publisher for the full text, provided he could retrieve the film rights using French copyright law. On 30 May 2006, The Times reported that Webb had signed a publishing deal for Home School with Random House which he hoped would enable him to instruct the French lawyers to attempt to retrieve his rights. The novel was published in Britain in 2007.

External links

• Official website
• The Graduate at IMDb
• The Graduate at Rotten Tomatoes
• The Graduate at Box Office Mojo
• Making of article in Vanity Fair magazine