The Graduate at 25

Graduate at 25, The (1992)

*** (out of 4)

Twenty-two minute documentary about the making of THE GRADUATE features interviews with producer Lawrence Turman, writer Buck Henry and actors Dustin Hoffman and Katharine Ross. Overall this is a pretty good documentary for when it was made but there's no question that a more definitive version is needed and especially when you consider that director Mike Nichols and star Anne Bancroft are not on hand for interviews. There's also not too much talk about various aspects of the production. What we basically get is a quick rundown of the events from the start of production when Turman paid $1,000 for the rights and how he hired Nichols first thing. Henry talks about reading the book and what he tried to get into the screenplay. There's also quite a bit of talk about the original cast as they were thinking about Doris Day, Robert Redford and Ronald Reagan so that should tell you where the production was going. Then we get to hear about why Hoffman got the role and as he explains his life was never the same again. We also get to hear about the style that Nichols went for and all the planning that the director did. The Ross interview is probably the least scene here as she opens up very little. Again, at such a short running time it's hard to get too detailed but what's here isn't too bad and it's certainly good to have it until something better comes along.