“A
naïve young graduate returns home
to spend his time mindlessly working
out what he wants to do in life, but slips
into an affair after he is propositioned
by the sexy wife of his father’s business
partner — a mistake that leaves him
with a difficult decision when he
becomes infatuated with their daughter
in the classic 1967 romantic comedy The Graduate, now released on home
entertainment in a special 50th
Anniversary Edition...”
RETURNING HOME TO CALIFORNIA after his graduation, twenty-year-old Benjamin
Braddock (Dustin Hoffman) is uncomfortable with the reception his lawyer father
(William Daniels) and mother (Elizabeth Wilson) have thrown for him at their
luxurious home in Beverly Hills.
Unsure of his future and overwhelmed by the unwanted attention, Ben escapes
to the safety of his bedroom only to be pursued by his father's partner's wife,
the attractive and forceful Mrs Robinson (Anne Bancroft), who demands that he
drives her home in the Alfa Romeo sports car he was given as a graduation present.
“Amusing
and well-observed,
The Graduate
is highly enticing with
a remarkable cast
and is a fascinating piece
of movie history...”
Cleverly
attempting to seduce Ben but making him feel foolish for thinking that she was,
she makes a proposition to him, which he rejects until after his 21st birthday,
when his parents arrange another embarrassing party for him.
Ben and Mrs Robinson begin their clandestine liaison, but when her daughter
Elaine (Katharine Ross) returns from university her father and Ben's parents
throw them together. Ben humiliates Elaine and then regrets he has hurt her,
taking her to the same hotel he visits with her mother where, thanks to an indiscreet
hotel worker, Elaine guesses he is seeing a married woman.
Attempting to stop the affair, Ben is horrified when Mrs Robinson threatens
to tell her daughter her version of events and tells Elaine, with whom he has
become infatuated, first; however, her mother insists that Ben took advantage
of her while she was drunk.
But her father forbids Elaine to see Ben, pushing her towards former boyfriend
Carl Smith (Brian Avery), whom she agrees to marry, and a devastated Ben attempts
to find her to stop the marriage.
A sensation on its original release, The Graduate was a unique cinematic
portrait of America that perfectly captured the undercurrent of disaffected
youth beneath the laid-back veneer of Sixties California.
Mike Nichols earned a Best Director Oscar and took the wonderfully evocative
music of Simon & Garfunkel out to a wider audience. The Graduate contains
one of the most famous seductions in movie history and an iconic final scene.
The young Dustin Hoffman was introduced as the naïve and confused Benjamin and
could not have been more perfect for the role. Anne Bancroft is a masterful
cougar.
Described as visually imaginative and impeccably acted, with a witty, endlessly
quotable script, The Graduate had the rare kind of cultural impact that
comes along just once in a generation. Amusing and well-observed, The Graduate
is highly enticing with a remarkable cast and is a fascinating piece of
movie history.
The Graduate also features: Scriptwriter Buck Henry as The Room Clerk;
Walter Brooke as Mr McGuire; Norman Fell as Mr McCleery; Alice Ghostley as Mrs
Singleman; Marion Lorne as Miss DeWitte; and Eve McVeagh as Mrs Carlson. Interesting
to see television actor Ben Murphy (Alias Smith & Jones) as Shaving Student.
Music is by Paul Simon; Score by Dave Grusin; Featuring the Music of Simon &
Garfunkel; Director of Photography is Robert Surtees; Screenplay by Calder Willingham
& Buck Henry, Based on a 1963 novel The Graduate by Charles Webb; Executive
Producer is Joseph E Levine; Produced by Lawrence Turman; and Directed by Mike
Nichols.
*The Graduate is one of the most loved American films of all time and,
fifty years after its theatrical release in 1967, STUDIOCANAL celebrates this
anniversary with a brand new Special Edition DVD, Blu-ray and EST release in
the UK on 14 August 2017. Note that this 50th Anniversary 4K restoration was
created from the 35mm original camera negative by the Criterion Collection.
Special Features — Mike Nichols: An American Master | Interview with Producer
Lawrence Turnman | The Graduate: Looking Back | Analysis of Seduction
Scene | About The Music | Screen Tests | Meeting with Author Charles Webb |
Interview with Dustin Hoffman | Audio Commentary with Mike Nichols and Seven
Soderbergh | Audio Commentary with Dustin Hoffman and Katharine Ross | Audio
Commentary by Professor Thomas Koebner | The Graduate at 25.
The Special Edition includes a booklet featuring a brand new essay written by
Time Out Global Film Editor Dave Calhoun and exclusive on-set photographs
by the legendary Hollywood photographer Bob Willoughby. Artwork is designed
by the award-winning Mondo artist Rory Kurtz.
"Amusing and well-observed, The Graduate is highly enticing with a remarkable
cast and is a fascinating piece of movie history"
— Maggie Woods, MotorBar
“A
naïve young graduate returns home