FilmSkool — a free film school
The Graduate
A disillusioned college graduate finds himself torn between his older lover and her daughter.
1967 · Directed by Mike Nichols · 107 min · Drama · Romance · Comedy · Screenplay in the scene database · 18 frames
Tagline
This is Benjamin. He’s a little worried about his future.
Plot
After earning his bachelor's degree, Benjamin Braddock returns to his parents' home in Pasadena, California. During his graduation party, Mrs. Robinson, the wife of his father's law partner, asks him to drive her home. Once there, she reveals that she is an alcoholic and tries to seduce him. He resists her advances, but later invites Mrs. Robinson to the Taft Hotel, where he registers under the surname Gladstone. Benjamin spends the summer idly floating in his parents' swimming pool by day and meeting Mrs. Robinson at the hotel at night. During one of their trysts, Mrs. Robinson reveals that she and her husband married after she accidentally became pregnant with their daughter, Elaine. When Benjamin jokingly suggests that he date Elaine, Mrs. Robinson angrily forbids it.
Benjamin's parents and Mr. Robinson pester Benjamin to ask Elaine out. He reluctantly takes her out, but attempts to sabotage the date by ignoring her, driving recklessly and taking her to a strip club. She flees in tears, but Benjamin chases after her, apologizes and kisses her. They eat at a drive-in restaurant, where they bond over their shared uncertainty about their future plans after college, although Elaine has not yet graduated from UC Berkeley. After they visit the Taft Hotel for a late-night drink and the staff greet Benjamin as Mr. Gladstone, Elaine deduces that Benjamin is having an affair. Benjamin admits to having an affair with a married woman whom he does not name. He tells Elaine the affair is over and asks to see her again.
To prevent Benjamin from dating Elaine, Mrs. Robinson threatens to tell her about their affair. To thwart this, Benjamin goes to the Robinson home and tells Elaine that the married woman is her mother. Elaine throws Benjamin out of the house and returns to school at Berkeley. Benjamin follows her there, hoping to regain her affections. Elaine initially rejects him and briefly dates a medical student, Carl. When she learns her mother lied about Benjamin raping her, she reconciles with him. Benjamin pushes for marriage, but Elaine is uncertain. Mr. Robinson arrives at Berkeley and angrily confronts Benjamin. He informs him that he and Mrs. Robinson are getting divorced and threatens to have him jailed if he keeps seeing Elaine. Mr. Robinson forces Elaine to leave college to marry Carl.
Plot summary from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA.
Crew
- Screenplay: Calder Willingham, Buck Henry
- Cinematography: Robert Surtees
- Edited by: Sam O'Steen
- Production design: Richard Sylbert
- Produced by: Lawrence Turman
Cast
- Dustin Hoffman as Ben Braddock
- Anne Bancroft as Mrs. Robinson
- Katharine Ross as Elaine Robinson
- William Daniels as Mr. Braddock
- Murray Hamilton as Mr. Robinson
- Elizabeth Wilson as Mrs. Braddock
- Buck Henry as Room Clerk
- Brian Avery as Carl Smith
- Walter Brooke as Mr. McGuire
- Norman Fell as Mr. McCleery
Production
- Country: United States of America
- Language: English
- Studios: AVCO Embassy Pictures, Mike Nichols Productions, Lawrence Turman Productions
- Budget: $3,000,000
- Box office: $104,945,305
- Themes: love triangle, seduction, college, older woman seduces younger guy, romance, coming of age, los angeles, california, wedding, older woman younger man relationship, graduate
Own the film
FilmSkool earns a small commission from qualifying Amazon purchases, at no cost to you.
More by Mike Nichols
On this film
This is the plain index, shown because JavaScript is off. Every lesson here is a free video published by the channel credited on it and plays through that channel's own embed — FilmSkool hosts nothing.