The Graduate

For other uses, see The Graduate (disambiguation).

The Graduate
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Mike Nichols
Screenplay by	Calder Willingham Buck Henry
Produced by	Joseph E. Levine Lawrence Turman
Starring	Anne Bancroft Dustin Hoffman Katharine Ross William Daniels Murray Hamilton Elizabeth Wilson
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	Template:Film US
Language	English
Budget	$3 million
Box office	$104,901,839

The Graduate is a 1967 American comedy-drama motion picture 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 Buck Henry, who makes a cameo appearance as a hotel clerk, and Calder Willingham. 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". Initially, the film was placed at #7 on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies list in 1998. However, when AFI revised the list in 2007, the film was moved to #17.

Adjusted for inflation, the film is #21 on the list of highest-grossing films in the United States and Canada.

Plot

Benjamin Braddock, who will soon turn 21, returns to his parents' home in Southern California after graduating from a college on the East Coast. At his graduation party, all his parents' friends want to know about Benjamin's upcoming plans for graduate school or a career, something about which Benjamin is clearly uncomfortable and anxious. His parents ignore his anxiety and are only interested in talking about his academic and athletic successes and their plans for him to attend graduate school.

Mrs. Robinson, the wife of his father's law partner, asks Benjamin to drive her home from the party. She invites Benjamin inside and attempts to seduce him, removing her clothes. She tells Benjamin, who becomes increasingly nervous, that she finds him attractive and wants him to know that she is available to him anytime. Mr. Robinson arrives home but neither sees nor suspects anything. He advises Benjamin that he should relax and enjoy his youth while he still can. A few days later, Benjamin contacts Mrs. Robinson and clumsily organizes a tryst at a hotel, and the two begin an affair.

Benjamin spends the summer floating in a pool by day and meeting Mrs. Robinson at the hotel at night. Through their encounters, Benjamin discovers that they have nothing in common but also learns that Mrs. Robinson was forced to give up college and marry someone she did not love when she became pregnant with her daughter, Elaine.

However, under increasing pressure from his parents to begin a career or enroll in grad school, Benjamin is set up on a date with Elaine, whom Benjamin last saw in high school, by his father and Mr. Robinson. Although Mrs. Robinson has made it clear to Benjamin that he is to have nothing to do with Elaine, Benjamin eventually succumbs to the pressure and takes Elaine out on a date. During the course of their date, Benjamin goes out of his way to mistreat and be rude to Elaine, even going as far as taking her to a lewd strip joint, in order to sabotage the evening. As Elaine begins to sob, Benjamin explains his motives and that he only asked her out on a date as an obligation from each of their fathers. The two reconcile and each discover that they are able to discuss their current worries and their plans for future happiness.

Upon Benjamin's arriving at the Robinsons' home to take Elaine out again, Mrs. Robinson threatens to reveal to Elaine her earlier relationship with Benjamin. However, Benjamin preemptively blurts out the details of his affair to Elaine before Mrs. Robinson can make good on her threat. Upset and heartbroken, Elaine returns to Berkeley and severs all communication with Benjamin.

Benjamin resolves that he must marry Elaine, and follows her to Berkeley. There, he interrupts a date between Elaine and a classmate. Later that evening, Elaine confronts Benjamin, asking what he is doing there after having raped her mother while she was drunk. Benjamin reveals his side of the story to Elaine and that he was the one who was pursued by Mrs. Robinson, which further upsets Elaine. Benjamin tells Elaine he will leave her alone, but Elaine asks him to remain.

The following day, Elaine confronts Benjamin again and asks him to kiss her. Although Benjamin wants to marry Elaine and presses her to obtain a blood test so they can wed, Elaine laments that she has already told Carl that she might marry him. Mr. Robinson, who has learned about his wife's affair with Benjamin, goes to Benjamin's apartment in Berkeley and berates him, threatening to have him prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law should Benjamin ever come near Elaine again. He forces Elaine to drop out of school and takes her away to marry Carl. Elaine leaves Benjamin a note saying that although she loves him, her father's anger would never lead to Benjamin's acceptance as Elaine's husband.

Benjamin races back to Pasadena looking for Elaine but finds Mrs. Robinson, who tells him he cannot stop the wedding. Benjamin learns from Carl's fraternity brothers that the wedding is taking place in Santa Barbara. En route to the church, his car runs out of gas, forcing him to run the final few blocks to the chapel, arriving just as Elaine and Carl are about to kiss. Watching from the loft at the back of the church, Benjamin bangs on the glass window and screams, "Elaine!" several times, attempting to stop the ceremony. With some hesitation, Elaine returns a cry of "Ben!" and rushes toward Benjamin. A brawl breaks out as everyone tries to stop her and Benjamin from leaving. Elaine manages to break free from her mother, who claims "It's too late!", to which Elaine replies, "Not for me!" Benjamin and Elaine escape the chapel, by using a wooden cross on the double chapel doors, thereby, trapping the people in, and flag down a bus. After making their way to the back seat of the bus as it pulls away, Elaine in her wedding dress and Benjamin in tattered clothing, they both initially appear ecstatic about their dramatic escape. Gradually however, this exhilaration is replaced by a look of apprehension as they both become aware of the uncertainty of their future. In the closing shot, Elaine and Benjamin are shown through the rear window sitting at the back of the bus as it travels down the road.

Cast

• Anne Bancroft as Mrs. Robinson
• Dustin Hoffman as Benjamin Braddock
• Katharine Ross as Elaine Robinson
• William Daniels as Mr. Braddock
• Murray Hamilton as Mr. Robinson
• Elizabeth Wilson as Mrs. Braddock
• Buck Henry as Hotel 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
• Eve McVeagh as party guest
• Hamilton Camp as Second Hotel Clerk
• Donald F. Glut as College Student
• Elaine May as Girl with Note for Benjamin

Production

Casting

According to TCM host Robert Osborne, "Mike Nichols wanted Doris Day for Mrs. Robinson, Robert Redford for Benjamin Braddock and Gene Hackman or Ronald Reagan for Mr. Robinson. In addition, there were dozens of other actors who sought roles in the film, auditioned, or were considered by the filmmakers. Robert Redford tested for the role of Benjamin Braddock, but Nichols felt he wasn't right for the role. He asked Redford "Have you ever struck out with a girl?", and Redford responded "What do you mean?". Nichols remarked "Exactly what I mean", and then began looking for others to play Benjamin. Others who tested or were considered Brandon deWilde, Keir Dullea, Robert Duvall, Harrison Ford, George Hamilton, Steve McQueen, Jack Nicholson, George Peppard and Robert Wagner. Burt Ward got the role after auditioning, but was locked into the Batman TV show and the studio producing the show wouldn't let him film the movie even though they weren't shooting episodes of Batman at the time. Charles Grodin was offered the role of Benjamin but turned it down.Warren Beatty was a leading contender for the role but declined due to the filming of Bonnie and Clyde. For the role of Mrs. Robinson, even more actresses tested or were considered for the part. These actresses included Ingrid Bergman, Claire Bloom, Judy Garland, Rita Hayworth, Audrey Hepburn, Jennifer Jones, Deborah Kerr, Angela Lansbury, Geraldine Page, Eva Marie Saint, Simone Signoret, Jean Simmons, Lana Turner and Shelley Winters. Ava Gardner sought the role of Mrs. Robinson. She reportedly called Nichols and said, "I want to talk to you about this Graduate thing". Nichols never seriously considered her for the part, preferring to cast a younger woman but he did visit her hotel, where he later recounted that "she sat at a little French desk with a telephone, she went through every movie star cliché. She said, 'All right, let's talk about your movie. First of all, I strip for nobody.' Patricia Neal was offered the role of Mrs. Robinson but she had recently recovered from several serious strokes and did not want to take on a major role. Joan Crawford inquired as to playing Mrs. Robinson. Jeanne Moreau was actually Mike Nichol's first choice for Mrs. Robinson.The idea behind this was that in the French culture, the "older" women tended to "train" the younger men in sexual matters. For the role of Elaine Robinson, dozens of actresses were considered and screen tested. Among these were Ann-Margret, Caroll Baker, Candice Bergen, Joan Collins, Sally Field, Goldie Hawn, Carol Lynley, Sue Lyon, Shirley MacLaine,Lee Remick, Raquel Welch, Tuesday Weld and Natalie Wood. Jane Fonda turned down not only the part of Elaine, but also the part of Mrs. Robinson. Patty Duke turned down the role of Elaine as she did not want to work at the time. For Mrs. Robinson's husband, Mr. Robinson, Gene Hackman was the first choice. But, Nichols decided to recast him when he decided Hackman was too young. Marlon Brando, Brian Keith, Gregory Peck and Frank Sinatra were all considered for the part. For Benjamin's father, Mr. Braddock, Yul Brynner, Kirk Douglas, Robert Mitchum and Ronald Reagan were all in the running. The first choice for Mrs. Braddock was Susan Hayward.

There are considerable age discrepancies between the lead roles and the actors who portrayed them. Benjamin Braddock says, "next week I will be twenty-one"; at the time of filming Dustin Hoffman was thirty. Mrs. Robinson states, "Benjamin, I am twice your age." Anne Bancroft was thirty-six, only six years older than Hoffman. Mrs. Robinson's daughter Elaine is nineteen and was portrayed by Katharine Ross, who was twenty-seven at the time of filming.

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 La Verne. 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 minister of the church had been watching the filming disapprovingly. The residences used for the Braddocks' house and the Robinsons' house were located on North Palm Drive in Beverly Hills. The scene with Benjamin and Elaine at night in his car at the drive-in restaurant was filmed in Westwood Village in Los Angeles.

The scenes of Benjamin driving to Berkeley on the San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge were filmed on the top level of the bridge — leading into San Francisco — the opposite direction of Berkeley. In another scene as he drives south to Santa Barbara, his sports car is shown heading north through the Gaviota Tunnel, also the wrong direction.

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 had 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."

Critical evaluation

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.

Awards and honors

Anne Bancroft, Dustin Hoffman, and Katharine Ross earned Oscar nominations for their performances.

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 #21 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.

Alfa Romeo produced a "Graduate" edition Alfa Romeo Spider, the car Benjamin drives in the film.

Stage adaptation

Terry Johnson's adaptation of the original novel and the movie 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 several scenes that are not in the novel or the 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 French lawyers to attempt to retrieve his rights. The novel was published in Britain in 2007 but was poorly received.

Further reading

• J. W. Whitehead. Appraising The Graduate: The Mike Nichols Classic and Its Impact in Hollywood. McFarland, 2011. ISBN 978-0-7864-6306-0.

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