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The Graduate film image; man looking at a woman's stockinged leg just out of frame

Dustin Hoffman was one of those “overnight sensations”, an Actors Studio grad who struggled for 12 years before he got a break. For a spell he roomed with Gene Hackman, another unglamorous character actor who would become a star in the 1970s when he was well into middle age. Hoffman was 30 years old when Mike Nichols cast him as 20-year-old Benjamin Braddock in The Graduate, a character where Ryan O’Neal might have been a no-brainer. Nichols saw something he wanted – “a pole-axed quality” – and moviegoers recognized it too. Here was someone who seemed to reflect the bewilderment of those times. Two years later his unrecognizable Rizzo Ratso in Midnight Cowboy confirmed he was an actor of range and ambition.

In The Graduate Benjamin comes home from college and is surprised to be seduced by the wife of his father’s business partner, Mrs Robinson (Anne Bancroft). Life becomes even more complicated when he falls in love with Elaine (Katherine Ross), his lover’s daughter. The movie, which still feels fresh, imprinted itself on the popular imagination almost before it came out. But it’s only with time that you realize it’s really Mrs Robinson’s film.

A very nasty film, and a very, very funny one.

Tom Cox, Telegraph

Director

Mike Nichols

Cast

Dustin Hoffman, Anne Bancroft, Katherine Ross

Credits
Country of Origin

USA

Year

1967

Language

English

19+
106 min

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Friday July 18

6:20 pm
Hearing Assistance
VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema
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Saturday July 19

7:30 pm
Hearing Assistance
VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema
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Sunday July 20

2:15 pm
Hearing Assistance
VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre
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Credits

Producer

Lawrence Turman

Screenwriter

Calder Willingham, Buck Henry

Cinematography

Robert Surtees

Editor

Sam O’Steen

Original Music

Simon & Garfunkel

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