Mrs. Robertson

I bet you didn’t know The Graduate was a book! The Graduate is one of the best American films to come out of the 1960s, standing amongst such classics as The Apartment, Rosemary’s Baby, and In The Heat of the Night.

Tom
June 09, 2023

Good morning Consumers. This is Please Consume, the Film newsletter that loves you more than Ben Affleck loves being from Boston.

The Graduate (1967)

I bet you didn’t know The Graduate was a book!

The Graduate is one of the best American films to come out of the 1960s, standing amongst such classics as The Apartment, Rosemary’s Baby, and In The Heat of the Night.

But what it did more than any of those other films was capture the attention of America’s youth.

How could it not? Every young adult knows some form of that feeling of coming home from college, surrounded by your parent’s friends, longing for the stability they exude but not wanting to obtain it exactly the same way they did.

It’s really a generational feeling that almost everyone goes through, meaning it continues to resonate with viewers even almost 60 years later.

Webb vs Nichols

One thing that stands out when talking about the book and the film is the difference of outcomes for author Charles Webb and director Mike Nichols.

The Graduate was Webb’s first novel and his biggest success. But that success was short-lived and unwanted. He sold the rights to The Graduate for only a thousand dollars, missing out on potentially tens of millions. However, Webb maintains that the money would have made him unhappy and he was content with what he had.

Webb was never one to compromise his vision. He and his wife sold most of their possessions, including all of their wedding presents, even divorcing but staying together in a protest against marriage. They lived in near poverty for most of their lives but wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.

For Mike Nichols, on the other hand, The Graduate had the opposite effect. It earned him his first of five Oscars and solidified him as an auteur. His other films include Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Catch-22, and The Birdcage, which we covered last week.

Nichols would go on to become an EGOT!

Isn’t it strange how these two men were affected so differently by the same story?

You’re Trying To Seduce Me

This is one of those scenes where you know exactly what’s going on, in the plot and between characters, and it allows you to just sit back and watch excellent art unfold.

We have two amazing actors at the forefront here playing their characters to their very best.

Anne Bancroft is chilling in her faux indifference that only we know is an act. We watch her cross and tie the strands of her web around Dustin Hoffman so nonchalantly that we can’t help but be impressed at her adultery.

Hoffman is so oblivious to the entire situation, although not completely oblivious because he’s nervous for a reason. Even when he airs his concerns about her seduction, the slightest bit of reassurance is all he needs to relax.

Watch Hoffman closely in this scene. He’s doing so much with so little. Random hand movements, standing still and yet twitching a little bit, he’s the epitome of anxious.

Mike Nichols reports that Hoffman was so funny that he had to either be removed from set or stuff a handkerchief in his mouth to keep from laughing.

We agree, Mike. We agree.

Today’s Scene

Stream It

If you want to watch The Graduate at home, you can find it here.

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