Classic Movies: The Story of The Graduate on Sky Arts

 

Guess where the programme starts? At the very beginning of 1967's The Graduate, with Dustin Hoffman on the airport moving walkway accompanied by Simon and Garfunkel's "The Sound of Silence". I just had to laugh as it certainly is one of the most iconic scenes in movie history. (See it on You Tube). Ian Nathan correctly describes Benjamin as "a lost soul" and that "he doesn't know what he wants" (and I could add that goes for the very ending of the movie too) and that the film "defines an era". It's Derek Malcolm who tells us about the 1960's. Ian Nathan talks about "the astonishing script" by Buck Henry who adapted the 1963 book written by Charles Webb. Almost an autobiography. When we are shown clips from the wealthy family and their friends, I felt how different it was to my life in 1960's London, sharing that attic in Chiswick. 

The young untested producer, Lawrence Turman (who optioned the rights to the book) only wanted it directed by the relatively unknown Mike Nichols but all the studios turned him down. For them, it was a very difficult film to make. But all three, Henry, Turman and Nichols saw themselves in Benjamin Braddock and that he "spoke to a generation". In the end, after another two years, it was Joseph E. Levine from Embassy Pictures who brought in the finance. 

The casting of the film was one of the most interesting parts of this episode. They needed "a perfect loser" and despite his interest, Robert Redford was no loser. Dustin Hoffman was not the most obvious candidate to play Benjamin. He was 30 years old, playing a young man straight out of college, he was a stage actor and his screen tests were abysmal. But that was what they wanted. Anne Bancroft was equally difficult casting. She was 35 when Mrs Robinson is ten years older. So she and Hoffman were actually very close in actual age if not in the story. Ian Nathan called her "the dark heart of the movie" and that she was "world weary and bitter". Derek Malcolm thought the film "works because Hoffman is not very confident". Neil Norman talked about the "highly improbable ending", but who cares. I love it as Katherine Ross as Elaine looks across to Benjamin on that bus but he stares straight ahead. He is the sound of silence and you wonder if Elaine has made one huge mistake. 

So, how did they find Simon and Garfunkel. It was Mike Nichol's brother who suggested their music, it's the melancholy of their songs that suited the film so well. We hear about the title track "Mrs Robinson" and the huge hit that it became. Neil Norman said that this was a film for a new generation, that young people could identify with it's characters. Levine showed the movie first to a few college campuses. The reaction was initially lukewarm, but in the few cinemas in which it was released, it became a huge success. It's popularity grew, news programmes showed long queues as young people went to repeat viewings. Ian Nathan tells us it became one of the most profitable films of all time. I just wish I had seen the film on it's release in 1968. But now I must see it again.