Search - The Graduate [Special Edition]

"Just one word: plastic." "Are you here for an affair?" These lines and others became cultural touchstones, as 1960s youth rebellion seeped into the California upper middle-class in Mike Nichols' landmark hit. Mentally adrift the summer after graduating from college, suburbanite Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman) would rather float in his parents' pool than follow adult advice about his future. But the exhortation of family friend Mr. Robinson (Murray Hamilton) to seize every possible opportunity inspires Ben to accept an offer of sex from icily feline Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft). The affair and the pool are all well and good until Ben is pushed to go out with the Robinsons' daughter Elaine (Katharine Ross) and he falls in love with her. Mrs. Robinson sabotages the relationship and an understandably disgusted Elaine runs back to college. Determined not to let Elaine get away, Ben follows her to school and then disrupts her family-sanctioned wedding. None too happy about her pre-determined destiny, Elaine flees with Ben -- but to what? Directing his second feature film after Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Nichols matched the story's satire of suffocating middle-class shallowness with an anti-Hollywood style influenced by the then-voguish French New Wave. Using odd angles, jittery editing, and evocative widescreen photography, Nichols welded a hip New Wave style and a generation-gap theme to a fairly traditional screwball comedy script by Buck Henry and Calder Willingham from Charles Webb's novel. Adding to the European art film sensibility, the movie offers an unsettling and ambiguous ending with no firm closure. And rather than Robert Redford, Nichols opted for a less glamorous unknown for the pivotal role of Ben, turning Hoffman into a star and opening the door for unconventional leading men throughout the 1970s. With a pop-song score written by Paul Simon and performed by Simon & Garfunkel bolstering its contemporary appeal, The Graduate opened to rave reviews in December 1967 and surpassed all commercial expectations. It became the top-grossing film of 1968 and was nominated for seven Oscars, including Best Picture, Actor, and Actress, with Nichols winning Best Director. Together with Bonnie and Clyde, it stands as one of the most influential films of the late '60s, as its mordant dissection of the generation gap helped lead the way to the youth-oriented Hollywood artistic "renaissance" of the early '70s. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide

Dustin Hoffman - Benjamin Braddock
Anne Bancroft - Mrs. Robinson
Katharine Ross - Elaine Robinson
William Daniels - Mr. Braddock
Elizabeth Wilson - Mrs. Braddock
Murray Hamilton - Mr. Robinson

1968	Best Picture (winner)	British Academy of Film and Television	Mike Nichols
1968	Best Editing (winner)	British Academy of Film and Television	Sam O'Steen
1968	Best Screenplay (winner)	British Academy of Film and Television	Calder Willingham
1968	Best Screenplay (winner)	British Academy of Film and Television	Buck Henry
1968	Most Promising Newcomer (winner)	British Academy of Film and Television	Dustin Hoffman
1967	Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Com (nominee)	Golden Globe	Dustin Hoffman
1967	Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or C (winner)	Golden Globe	Anne Bancroft
1967	New Star of the Year - Male (winner)	Golden Globe	Dustin Hoffman
1967	New Star of the Year - Female (winner)	Golden Globe	Katharine Ross
1967	Best Director (winner)	Golden Globe	Mike Nichols
1967	Best Screenplay (nominee)	Golden Globe	Buck Henry
1967	Best Screenplay (nominee)	Golden Globe	Calder Willingham
1967	Best Actor (nominee)	Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie	Dustin Hoffman
1967	Best Actress (nominee)	Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie	Anne Bancroft
1967	Best Adapted Screenplay (nominee)	Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie	Calder Willingham
1967	Best Adapted Screenplay (nominee)	Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie	Buck Henry
1967	Best Cinematography (nominee)	Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie	Robert Surtees
1967	Best Director (winner)	Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie	Mike Nichols
1967	Best Picture (nominee)	Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie	Lawrence Turman
1967	Best Supporting Actress (nominee)	Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie	Katharine Ross
1967	Best Director (winner)	New York Film Critics Circle	Mike Nichols

Originally released as a Polygram DVD title before the company sold its catalogue to MGM, =The Graduate was eventually re-released as an MGM disc with all of the supplements of the original Polygram release. Featuring an anamorphic 2.35:1 widescreen transfer and boasting a newly created digital stereo sound track, =The Graduate is another case for DVD's importance in reviving the picture and sound quality of older films. The image is sharp, the colors are rich, and the widescreen restores the inventive framing and cinematography that earned director Mike Nichols an Academy award. The disc also features a few supplements originally produced for the film's 25th anniversary home video release in 1992, including an older theatrical re-release trailer. The short documentary "The Graduate at 25" provides most of the important and unknown information about the film's production, and touches upon its legacy as well. Also included is an extended interview with Dustin Hoffman used for the documentary. While the actor shares some interesting and insightful memories about making the film, the interview's static camera shot makes it somewhat boring and hard to get through. While lacking the freshly produced supplements the film deserves on DVD, the quality of =The Graduate's presentation makes it an essential disc. ~ Oliver Thornton, All Movie Guide

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2	The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
1	Sleuth (PG)
S	Pauline at the Beach (R)
6	Husbands and Wives (R)
4	The Lady from Shanghai (NR)
24	The Piano (R)
2	Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (R)
4	Out of the Past (NR)
3	Jules and Jim (NR)
3	My Life to Live (NR)
49	Much Ado About Nothing [Widescreen/Fullscreen] (PG-13)
S	Boudu Saved from Drowning [Criterion Collection]
33	Hamlet (PG)
8	Gilda (NR)
S	L' Innocente (NR)
9	Clean and Sober (R)
4	Private Life of Henry VIII
1	Smiles of a Summer Night [Criterion Collection]
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2	The Starlite Drive-In Theater: Pom Pom Girls/The Van (R)
82	Sixteen Candles [Widescreen] (PG)
3	Private Lessons [25th Anniversary Edition] (R)
20	Valley Girl (R)
5	Rambling Rose [Special Edition] (R)
82	Fast Times at Ridgemont High (R)
53	Risky Business (R)
4	Out of the Blue [Collector's Edition] (R)
24	Revenge of the Nerds [Panty Raid Edition] (R)
8	A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon (R)
1	Twist and Shout/Zappa
15	Johnny Be Good (R)
3	36 Fillette (NR)
97	Footloose (PG)
13	Vision Quest (R)
5	Foxes (R)
10	Porky's the Ultimate Collection (R)
60	Pump up the Volume (R)
These movies share cast/crew with The Graduate [Special Edition]...
11	Catch-22 (R)
9	Heart Burn (R)
26	Postcards from the Edge (R)
4	Eating Raoul (R)
S	Is There Sex After Death? (R)
5	Torch Song Trilogy (R)
8	The Owl and the Pussycat (PG)
39	Honeymoon in Vegas (PG-13)
4	Fatso (PG)
S	If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium (G)
S	The Happy Hooker Trilogy (R)
1	The Prisoner of Second Avenue (PG)
75	Jaws [Widescreen] (PG)
2	Straight Time (R)
S	Hexed (R)
2	Don't Bother to Knock [Diamond Collection] (NR)
S	The Day of the Dolphin (NR)
These movies are similar to The Graduate [Special Edition]...
33	American Graffiti [Collector's Edition] (PG)
1	Baby It's You! (R)
7	Carnal Knowledge (R)
16	Harold and Maude (PG)
3	The Heartbreak Kid [Fullscreen] (PG)
8	A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon (R)
53	Risky Business (R)
14	The Pallbearer (PG-13)
35	Rushmore (R)
6	Tadpole (PG-13)
18	The Apartment (NR)
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