The Graduate is a 1967
American romantic comedy-drama film based on the 1963 novel of the same name by
Charles Webb, who wrote it shortly after graduating from Williams College. The
story follows its protagonist's transition into adulthood, as it tells the
story of 21-year-old Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman), a recent college
graduate with no well-defined aim in life, who is seduced by an older woman,
Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft), and then falls in love with her daughter Elaine
(Katharine Ross).
The stage production adds several scenes that are not in the novel or the
film, as well as using material from both film and novel. It also uses songs by
Simon & Garfunkel not used in the film, such as "Bridge Over Troubled
Water" as well as music from other popular musicians from the era such as
The Byrds and The Beach Boys.
The Broadway production opened at the Plymouth Theatre in 2002 and closed in
2003 after 380 performances. The play featured the cast of Jason Biggs as
Benjamin Braddock, Alicia Silverstone as Elaine Robinson, and Kathleen Turner as
Mrs. Robinson.
Synopsis
Benjamin Braddock, aged twenty-one, has earned his bachelor's degree from
Williams College and has returned home to a party celebrating his graduation at
his parents' house in Pasadena, California. Benjamin, visibly uncomfortable as
his parents deliver accolades and neighborhood friends ask him about his future
plans, evades those who try to congratulate him. Mrs. Robinson, the neglected
wife of his father's law partner, insists that he drive her home. Benjamin is
coerced inside to have a drink and Mrs. Robinson attempts to seduce him. She
invites him up to her daughter Elaine's room to see her portrait and then
enters the room naked, making it clear that she is available to him. Benjamin
initially rebuffs her but a few days later after his scuba demonstration on his
birthday, he clumsily organizes a tryst at the Taft hotel.
Benjamin spends the remainder of the summer drifting around in the pool by
day, purposefully neglecting to select a graduate school, and seeing Mrs.
Robinson at the hotel by night. He discovers that he and Mrs. Robinson have
nothing to talk about. However, after Benjamin pesters her one evening, Mrs.
Robinson reveals that she entered into a loveless marriage when she
accidentally became pregnant with Elaine. Both Mr. Robinson and Benjamin’s
parents encourage him to call Elaine, even though Mrs. Robinson makes her
disapproval clear.
Benjamin takes Elaine on a date but tries to sabotage it by ignoring her,
driving recklessly and taking her to a strip club. After Elaine runs out of the
strip club in tears, Benjamin has a change of heart, realizes how rude he has
been to her, and discovers that Elaine is someone with whom he is comfortable.
In search of a late-night drink they visit the Taft hotel but when the staff
greet Benjamin as "Mr. Gladstone" (the name he uses during his
rendezvous with Mrs. Robinson) Elaine correctly guesses that he has been having
an affair with a married woman and accepts his assurances that the affair is
now over. To preempt a furious Mrs. Robinson, who threatens to tell Elaine her
version of their affair, Benjamin tells Elaine that the married woman was her
mother. Elaine is distraught and returns to Berkeley. Benjamin pursues her
there and tries to talk to her. She reveals that her mother's story is that he
raped her while she was drunk, and refuses to believe that it was in fact her
mother who seduced Benjamin. After much discussion over several days, Benjamin
begins to make inroads with Elaine. However, Mr. Robinson arrives at Berkeley
after learning about the affair, confronts Benjamin at his rooming house, and
threatens to put him behind bars if Benjamin sees his daughter again. Mr.
Robinson then forces Elaine to drop out of college and takes her away to marry
Carl, a classmate with whom she had briefly been involved.
Returning to Pasadena in search of Elaine, Benjamin breaks into the
Robinson home but encounters Mrs. Robinson. She tells him he will not be able
to stop the wedding and then calls the police claiming that her house is being
burgled. Benjamin visits Carl’s fraternity brothers who tell him that the
wedding is in Santa Barbara, California that very morning. He rushes to the
church and arrives just as Elaine is married. He bangs on the glass at the back
of the church and screams out "Elaine!" repeatedly. After a brief
hesitation, Elaine screams out "Ben!" and starts to run toward him. A
brawl ensues as guests try to stop Elaine and Benjamin from leaving together.
Elaine manages to break free from her mother, who then slaps her. Benjamin
manages to keep the guests at bay by jamming a large cross into the doors of
the church. Both he and Elaine then run into the street to flag down a passing
bus and take the back seat. Although initially elated at their victory, the
pair become increasingly uncomfortable as they journey towards an uncertain
future.
