The Graduate

“50 years after The Graduate, restless Benjamin Braddock still speaks to young men - and women.” —Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times

"A film that any lover of American Cinema should see." —James Luxford, BBC.com

Selected by Mitchell Kaplan

Pity Benjamin (Dustin Hoffman). Fresh out of college, he’s a little worried about his future. Even his relationship with Elaine (Katherine Ross) is on the rocks now that Elaine’s mom, a certain Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft), complicates his life even further. Arguably, no other movie of the 60s - not even Bonnie and Clyde or Easy Rider - turned counterculture angst into popular culture. The Graduate became the biggest box-office surprise of the decade, made Hoffman an overnight star and second-time-out director Mike Nichols an Oscar winner. After Simon & Garfunkel’s score, movie soundtracks were never the same. Even today, in its 50th anniversary 4K restoration, the movie plays like a baby boomer’s time capsule, moving seamlessly from one anthological scene to the next, all the way to its enigmatic close-up ending.

Check out the rest of our Movies We Love! Selected by Steven Krams & Mitchell Kaplan program!