Film Snail

7.6

The Graduate

PG·1967·106m

Drama

Romance

Comedy

Drama

Romance

Comedy

Summary

Benjamin, a recent college graduate very worried about his future, finds himself in a love triangle with an older woman and her daughter.

Cast

Anne Bancroft

Mrs. Robinson

Dustin Hoffman

Ben Braddock

Katharine Ross

Elaine Robinson

Murray Hamilton

Mr. Robinson

William Daniels

Mr. Braddock

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

Frank Baker

Hotel Guest (uncredited)

George Bruggeman

Church Member (uncredited)

Garrett Cassell

Hotel Guest (uncredited)

Buddy Douglas

Hotel Lobby Bellhop (uncredited)

Richard Dreyfuss

Boarding House Resident (uncredited)

Bob Eubanks

The Newlywed Game Host (voice) (uncredited)

Mike Farrell

Hotel Lobby Bellhop (uncredited)

Bob Folkerson

Bus Passenger (uncredited)

Elisabeth Fraser

Party Guest (uncredited)

Donald F. Glut

College Student (uncredited)

Laurence Haddon

Mr. Carlson (uncredited)

Harry Holcombe

Minister (uncredited)

Jonathan Hole

Mr. Singleman (uncredited)

Robert P. Lieb

Mr. Loomis (Party Guest) (uncredited)

Elaine May

Girl with Note for Benjamin (uncredited)

Eve McVeagh

Mrs. Carlson (Party Guest) (uncredited)

Lainie Miller

Night Club Stripper (uncredited)

Ben Murphy

Shaving Fraternity Brother (uncredited)

Stuart Nisbet

Birthday Party Guest in Yellow Shirt (uncredited)

William H. O'Brien

Hotel Guest (uncredited)

Sam O'Steen

Man on Bus (uncredited)

Robert Perry

College Student (uncredited)

Noam Pitlik

Gas Station Attendant (uncredited)

Anthony Redondo

Bus Passenger (uncredited)

Clark Ross

Waiter (uncredited)

Bernard Sell

Party Guest (uncredited)

Wayne Stam

Jeffrey Singleton (uncredited)

Hal Taggart

Hotel Guest (uncredited)

Tim Taylor

Wedding Guest (uncredited)

Kevin Tighe

Carter (Showering Fraternity Brother) (uncredited)

Arthur Tovey

Hotel Guest (uncredited)

Eleanore Vogel

Bus Passenger (uncredited)

Wally West

Bus Passenger (uncredited)

David Westberg

Valet Parker (uncredited)

Jay Dee Witney

Hotel Guest (uncredited)

Maris Wrixon

Welcoming Party Guest (uncredited)

Crew

Director

Mike Nichols

Novel

Charles Webb

Screenplay

Buck Henry

Screenplay

Calder Willingham

Reviews

Geronimo1967

February 10, 2023

Dustin Hoffman is great in this as the impressionable twenty-one year old "Ben" who falls prey to the wiles of the woman immortalised by Simon & Garfunkel. "Mrs Robinson" (Anne Bancroft) is married to the husband of his father's business partner. She is sexy, alluring, sophisticated - and he, well he is just young, naive and horny. Their assignations proceed with few problems but in parallel, his own family are trying to hook him up with her daughter "Elaine" (Katharine Ross). The plot thickens and poor old "Ben" finds him self more and more conflicted, Whom might he choose? Whom might he be allowed to choose? Can their secret stay just that? What, I think, keeps this stylish effort from Mike Nichols relevant fifty-odd years later is it's ability to expose the human, visceral, need for sex, for love, for "more" - without graphically demonstrating it! How characters evolve into more rounded, measured, less "instant" human beings - and Hoffman carries that development role off perfectly. Bancroft is simply a class act. She manages to morph from glamorous wife and mother to seductress and back again with a distinct panache and chic that is both menacing and tantalising in equal measure. You just know that the equilibrium, the balance of power and dependency between the two will change, it has to - but how? That's the question. At what cost - collateral, emotional, personal? The production standards are excellent, the dialogue potent and the chemistry between the initially hapless Hoffman and Bancroft palpable. Of course, a memorable soundtrack helps it along too and if you can see this on a big screen, then it's well worth the effort.