Wednesday's Classic Film Trailers is The Graduate from Mike Nichols. Released in the year that helped change Hollywood 1967, along with Bonnie and Clyde, and is the film that launched the career of Dustin Hoffman. The film presented the gap between two divided generations. The 50s were out and the 60s were in. The youth movement was not going down the road of corporate jobs and the desire to be doctors and lawyers. They were beginning to become and I am not saying this is a bad thing, but an overintellectualized individual. A young man coming to adulthood amidst the sexual revolution and worried about his growth and future, but doing little about in financial sense and focusing on personal pleasures. What to do? The education of sex, film and writing was blossoming away from conservatism and growing into rebellion. Civil rights and anti-Vietnam War protests were rampant and needed. The Graduate, though not a permanent political movement, presented life outside of the mainstream Eisenhower comfort and into showing sex, relationships and life in the observational, comedic way. I know that this film does not blatantly touch on many of fascinating and dynamic issues that were facing the country at the time, but the punch this film delivers and the mesmerizing performance from Hoffman set it apart as a definitive classic.
Ben Braddock (Hoffman) has recently graduated from college and upon returning home goes through a stage of denial and confusion on where his life should go. He reluctantly engages into an affair with Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft) who happens to be the wife of his father's business partner. At the same time, Ben falls in love with Mr. & Mrs. Robinson's daughter Elaine (Katharine Ross) and the trouble and humor ensues. The film is a fantastic piece of not only entertainment, but a film that was relatable to young people and the enormous gap between their parents and themselves. The world, and America, changed immensely during the 60s and The Graduate is a film that captures a moment in time that is unforgettable. The music from Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel is classic and Calder Willingham and Buck Henry's script is as about as perfect as it gets. The film was nominated for seven Academy Awards: Best Picture; Best Actor - Dustin Hoffman; Best Actress - Anne Bancroft; Best Supporting Actress - Katharine Ross; Best Cinematography - Robert Surtees and Best Adapted Screenplay - Calder Willingham and Buck Henry. It won Best Director for Mike Nichols. See this movie if you have not and enjoy the trailer.
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