THE GRADUATE Week four of our âwalk of shameâ round has many asking how one of us hasnât yet seen this American Classic from 1967. As we take turns Queuing up films that (for some reason) we havenât gotten around to it, this one is at the top of the list. It goes a bit like this⦠Mentally adrift the summer after graduating from college, suburbanite Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman) would rather float in his parentsâ pool than follow adult advice about his future. But the pressure 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 his pool are all well and good until Ben is pushed to go out with the Robinsonsâ 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 â but to what?
The Graduate was met with positive reviews from critics upon its release and in 1996 was selected for preservation in the U.S. National Film Registry as being âculturally, historically, or aesthetically significantâ. Initially, the film was placed at #7 on AFIâs 100 Greatest Movies list in 1998. When AFI revised the list in 2007, the film was moved to number 17.
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