The Graduate (1967)

Director:

Mike Nichols

Writers:

Calder Willingham (screenplay) and
Buck Henry (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

22 December 1967 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance | Comedy

Tagline:

The Movie That Became A Legend [Video Australia]

Plot:

Recent college graduate Benjamin Braddock is trapped into an affair with Mrs. Robinson, who happens to be the wife of his father's business partner and then finds himself falling in love with her teenage daughter, Elaine.

Plot Keywords:

Love | Graduate | College Graduate | Gorilla | Neurotic

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 19 wins & 13 nominations

Cast

Anne Bancroft	...	Mrs. Robinson
Dustin Hoffman	...	Ben Braddock
Katharine Ross	...	Elaine Robinson
William Daniels	...	Mr. Braddock
Murray Hamilton	...	Mr. Robinson
Elizabeth Wilson	...	Mrs. Braddock
Buck Henry	...	Room Clerk
Brian Avery	...	Carl Smith
Walter Brooke	...	Mr. McGuire
Norman Fell	...	Mr. McCleery
Alice Ghostley	...	Mrs. Singleman
Marion Lorne	...	Miss DeWitte
Eddra Gale	...	Woman on Bus
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Buddy Douglas	...	Bellhop in Hotel Lobby (uncredited)
Richard Dreyfuss	...	Boarding House Resident (uncredited)
Mike Farrell	...	Bellhop in Hotel Lobby (uncredited)
Elisabeth Fraser	...	Second Lady (uncredited)
Donald F. Glut	...	College student (uncredited)
Harry Holcombe	...	The Minister (uncredited)
Jonathan Hole	...	Mr. Singleman (uncredited)
Lainie Miller	...	Night Club Stripper (uncredited)
Ben Murphy	...	Shaving Student (uncredited)
Noam Pitlik	...	Gas Station Attendant (uncredited)
Kevin Tighe	...	Extra (uncredited)

Directed by
Mike Nichols

Writing credits
Calder Willingham		(screenplay) and
Buck Henry		(screenplay)
Charles Webb		(novel)

Produced by
Lawrence Turman	....	producer
Joseph E. Levine	....	executive producer (uncredited)

Cinematography by
Robert Surtees		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Sam O'Steen

Production Design by
Richard Sylbert

Set Decoration by
George R. Nelson		(as George Nelson)

Costume Design by
Patricia Zipprodt

Makeup Department
Sydney Guilaroff	....	hair stylist
Harry Maret	....	makeup artist
Sherry Wilson	....	hair dresser

Production Management
George Justin	....	production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Don Kranze	....	assistant director
Lynn Guthrie	....	second assistant director (uncredited)
Gene Marum	....	dga trainee (uncredited)

Art Department
Joel Schiller	....	assistant production designer
Gene Lauritzen	....	construction coordinator (uncredited)
Harold Michelson	....	storyboard artist (uncredited)

Sound Department
Jack Solomon	....	sound

Stunts
Carol Daniels	....	stunts (uncredited)
Lee Faulkner	....	stunt double (uncredited)
Loren Janes	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Albert Bettcher	....	camera operator
Richard Borland	....	grip
Earl Gilbert	....	gaffer
George Gordon Nogle	....	camera operator (as George Nogle)
Bob Rose	....	key grip: second unit (uncredited)
Robert Willoughby	....	special still photographer (uncredited)

Casting Department
Lynn Stalmaster	....	casting consultant

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Patricia Zipprodt	....	costumes executed by
Robert Fuca	....	wardrobe supervisor (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Bob Wyman	....	assistant film editor

Music Department
Dave Grusin	....	composer: additional music
Mike Deasy	....	musician (uncredited)

Other crew
Joseph E. Levine	....	presenter
Meta Rebner	....	script supervisor
Harry Winston	....	special jewelry
Wayne Fitzgerald	....	title designer (uncredited)
Jeff Kanew	....	trailer (uncredited) (unconfirmed)
Harold Lloyd	....	supervisor: final sequence (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Embassy Pictures Corporation
• Lawrence Turman

Distributors

• Embassy Pictures Corporation (1967) (USA) (theatrical)
• Asociace Ceských Filmových Klubu (ACFK) (2002) (Czech Republic) (theatrical)
• Chapel Distribution (1997) (Australia) (theatrical) (35mm print re-issue)
• Seven Films (2008) (Greece) (theatrical)
• United Artists Corporation (1970) (UK) (theatrical)
• United Artists (1969) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• United Artists (1968) (France) (theatrical)
• United Artists (1968) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1973) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• Criterion Collection, The (19??) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Kinowelt Home Entertainment (2001) (Germany) (DVD)
• MGM Home Entertainment (1999) (USA) (DVD)
• Momentum Pictures Home Entertainment (2001) (UK) (DVD)
• Nelson Entertainment (1987) (USA) (VHS)
• PolyGram Video (199?) (USA) (VHS)
• Sandrews (2007) (Sweden) (DVD)
• Studio Canal
• Universal Pictures Nordic (2009) (Sweden) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Maximilian  furs by
• Solters & Digney  publicity (uncredited)

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (Westrex Recording System) | Mono (35 mm optical prints)

Certification:

UK:15 (video rating) | UK:AA (original rating) | USA:Approved (original rating) | USA:PG (re-rating) (1972) | Iceland:L | South Korea:15 | Portugal:M/12 | Brazil:14 | Argentina:16 | Australia:M (re-rating) | Australia:R (original rating) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Chile:18 | Finland:K-16 | Italy:VM14 | Netherlands:AL (original rating) | Netherlands:MG6 (re-rating) | Norway:15 | Singapore:PG | Sweden:15 | West Germany:12 | West Germany:16 (original rating) | Canada:R (Nova Scotia)

Filming Locations:

Alumni Park - 3551 Trousdale Parkway, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Embassy Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

Two interesting camera techniques are used in the film. In the scene where Benjamin is running, he is shown at some distance running straight at the camera, an effect which makes him look as if he getting nowhere as he's running. (This technique is accomplished with a very long telephoto lens, which foreshortens distances in relation to the camera.) In another scene, Benjamin is walking from the right side of the screen to the left, while everyone else in the scene is moving from left to right. In western culture, things that move left to right seem natural (think of the direction you read words on a page), those that move right to left seem to be going the wrong way. These two visual techniques echo the themes of the film, Benjamin is going the wrong way, and getting nowhere in life.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the "What are you so scared of" scene towards the beginning, Mrs. Robinson has her shoulders slouching to the left. In the next shot, from the reverse, they are slouching to the right.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Pilot: Ladies and gentlemen, we are about to begin our descent into Los Angeles. The sound you just heard is the landing gear locking into place. Los Angeles weather is clear; temperature is 72. We expect to make our 4 hour and 18 minute flight on schedule. We have enjoyed having you on board, and look forward to seeing you again in the near future.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Red Dust (2004)

Soundtrack:

Scarborough Fair/Canticle

A Bridge Over Troubled Waters

The Graduate (1967/Mike Nichols)

If ever a song were more appropriate for a film, besides 'All Along the Watchtower' for "Apocalypse Now", it is 'The Sounds of Silence' preformed by Simon & Garfunkel in Mike Nichol's "The Graduate". The song, nearly word for word, describes the inner turmoil that the characters of "The Graduate" face. They are lost and confused, stuck on the bridge of life, two crossing into adulthood, and one into old age. And that's just one way to look at it.

"The Graduate" is one of the best films I have ever had the pleasure to witness, and I only wish I were alive when it was first released. Dustin Hoffman, in his first major film role, plays Benjamin Braddock: the epitome of the confused and isolated young adult male. He sits in his room and does nothing. He lies around in his parent's pool for hours on end. Ben, who has just graduated from college, is home for the summer. Then, after an awkward sexual encounter with a friend of his parents named Mrs. Robinson, a one night stand turns into a summer romance. But betrayal soon follows as Benjamin falls for Mrs. Robinson's daughter, Elaine.

Nichol's directorial genius (he won an Oscar for the film) really shows in the opening party sequence celebrating Ben's arrival home. There is a close-up of Ben's face as he stumbles his way through the event, listening to advice and shaking hands with the faceless (much like his future) masses. The camera moves in such a way that a feeling of claustrophobia comes over the viewer. They are overcome by what is going on around them, much like Benjamin is at this crossroads in his life. Another example is when Ben first arrives at the fateful hotel where he meets Mrs. Robinson for sex. He walks around the lobby, suspicious that the desk clerk is on to him, and then he attempts to walk into a room. Only a large group of the elderly walks out, and Benjamin stands there holding the door for them. Then he proceeds inside, only to be passed by a group of high school students. This image once again reinforces the crossroads that Ben is at in his life.

After finally viewing this classic, I realized that many of my favorite directors to emerge from the 90's (mainly Wes Anderson) were greatly influenced by this film. What's more interesting is that "The Graduate" was a landmark film for American cinema and the decade in which it was released, sharing the same themes that Benjamin experiences throughout the film. Most of American cinema was very conventional up until the 60's. Nothing extremely scandalous was shown in a film, and many serious topics were not widely addressed through cinema…yet. "The Graduate" is the perfect mix of old and new. It's the 'bridge' that separates the standard American films from the more experimental ones that would emerge all throughout the 1970's.

The same can be said for the decade of the 1960's. America lost its innocence the day Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963. For the next five years, the country went through a spiral of events that led to the sexual revolution of the late 1960's. And "The Graduate" separates the white picket fences of the 50's and early 60's from the Rock and Roll and drugs of the late 1960's and early 70's. It's a crossroads in the middle of the most turbulent time in American history. In one of the films most ironic images, a tired and lonesome Benjamin slumps on a bench on the Berkley campus (an important place for the sexual revolution) under an American flag blowing in the wind. The flag still waves, but Benjamin is beat. He represents the fall and eventual metamorphosis of the American dream.

But aside from all its serious themes and deeper meanings, "The Graduate" is a comedy at its heart. It contains one of the funniest and most exciting climaxes in cinema. And the final image is a knockout. It shows Benjamin and Elaine sitting at the end of a bus filled with elders, looking ahead blankly, at the road and at their future. Then the bus drives off in the distance. They do not know where their future is headed, or where the bus is even going. It was the same circumstance for America in 1967. The film closes with the same song it opened with: "The Sounds of Silence".