"Conventionally, that would make him the 'sensitive' one - the one who wants a meaningful relationship, rather than just uncomplicated rutting. But it comes across as cruel and heartless: He's too insensitive to sense her vulnerability, and too uncaring to try to figure it out. So, even in the New Hollywood, Benjamin is a traditionalist - opting for romance and conversation over sex and compartmentalization. Mike Nichols' genius was in finding the sweet spot where edgy sells, providing you smooth out all the rough stuff."
Writes Mark Steyn (on the occasion of the return of "The Graduate" to theaters on its 50th anniversary). (Can you see it in Madison? Yes. But only at 2:00, and it's a beautiful, warm day here. To go to the movies this afternoon would be like taking Elaine to a strip bar, no?)
April 23, 2017
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My 10th grade history teacher took me and a friend to see this movie when it was released. She knew the owner of the theater at the old Lenox Mall in Atlanta. When we left after the movie the owner expressed doubt that Dustin Hoffman would ever do anything after The Graduate.
I had a major crush on Katharine Ross - what a looker! When she followed up with Butch Cassidy and Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here, I thought she would be a major film star for a generation. Didn't happen. She is now 77 years old. Sigh.
Steyn is incorrect. Anne Bancroft's best performance is in "The Pumpkin Eater".
Plastics!
"I had a major crush on Katharine Ross - what a looker! When she followed up with Butch Cassidy and Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here, I thought she would be a major film star for a generation. Didn't happen..."
There's also Katharine Houghton, a completely different Katharine, though the 2 seemed like the same person. Pretty, in that 1967 way. But so bland and dull. There to look with wide eyes at the leading man. But that was a thing for a moment... in the Summer of Love.
I never could get into that movie. Benjamin was so boring, just reacting passively to things. Same with Harry Potter..I don't care for young inarticulate guys I guess.
Gotta spell that Katharine with an "a" in the middle if it's an actress — because of Katharine Hepburn.
Houghton was Hepburn's niece.
Why did Katharine Ross end up wanting Benjamin so badly? Just because her other boyfriend was so awful?
Elaine had to know what her mother was up to.
By way of explanation:
ELAINE
Carl Smith. He's a medical student. We've known him for years.
BEN
Why do you have to see him?
ELAINE
Well -- I said I might marry him.
BEN
How did he do it? Did he get down on his knees? He didn't get down on his knees, I hope.
ELAINE
No, Benjamin.
BEN
Well, what did he say? I'm curious.
ELAINE
He said he thought we'd make a pretty good team.
BEN
Oh no. He said that.
ELAINE
Shhhh.
BEN
Where did he do it? It wasn't in his car, was it?
Thanks for posting this, Ann. I'm a fan of Steyn's in general but enjoy his movie reviews even more than his political writing. He always seems to find angles that nobody else notices.
It's funny that Simon was considering calling the song "Mrs. Roosevelt." "What's that you say, Mrs. Roosevelt?" wouldn't have worked well, since in 1967, Eleanor wasn't saying much of anything.
To go to the movies this afternoon would be like taking Elaine to a strip bar, no?
That move totally worked!
it's raining here anyway
Benjamin was so boring, just reacting passively to things.
Not boring, but existential alienation and emptiness and nihilism.
Ever since, men have realized that being sensitive was just cruel, and changed their ways accordingly.
I never understood why Mrs. R. was the villain. Sex was probably the only thing Benjamin had to offer. And it's difficult to even imagine that.
[Dang, my right arm is in a cast. Hunting/pecking with my non-dominant hand is a bitch.]
Althouse, Amazon Prime has an excellent American Masters piece on Mike Nichols that I think you would enjoy.
Katharine Ross has been married to my favorite actor, Sam Elliot, since 1984 (after three other marriages) and they have one daughter, who stabbed her mother a few times with scissors.
Sam Elliot was in "Butch Cassidy" as a bit player. In 1978 he made "Lifeguard" which was a cult movie among my doctor friends. We had all seen it as a sort of early midlife crisis. The studio wanted to make him a sex symbol actor but he declined and did smaller bore stuff. He probably makes as much from Dodge commercial voice overs as acting.
Sam Elliot - season 6 "Justified".
I thought she would be a major film star for a generation
They tried to package her for that. Katharine Ross was very good looking, but not good at acting.
The Graduate is one of those movies I resist seeing again. When it came out, it was significant and impactful. I don't want to see it again, because I have a sneaking hunch I might have more sympathy for the guy who recommends plastics than for Benjamin.....Plus, there's the fact that Dustin Hoffman sexually harassed Katherine Ross during the making of this movie. I think all right thinking people should boycott this film and Dustin Hoffman.
1967 was a most excellent year for movies, The Graduate, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, Cool Hand Luke, In The Heat of the Night, Bonnie and Clyde, The Dirty Dozen, to name a few.
Sam Elliot - season 6 "Justified".
Sans mustache!
Sam Elliot ... Command Sgt Major in "We Were Soldiers Once-And Young."
...cowboy narrator in The Big Lebowski
Katherine Ross' best role and best moment in her best role was The Stepford Wives when she reappeared remade with a set of really marvy tits. Classic piece of cinema. Later in life I dated a woman similar in looks and height who had the identical long nippled appeal. I never asked he for any line readings, however.
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner remains unwatchable.
The Graduate, Cool Hand Luke, Bonnie and Clyde, The Dirty Dozen
Each one with similar themes character-wise.
I linked to a Mark Steyn article the other day and saw his website now lets you get notifications of new material. Excellent!
I cannot see Dustin Hoffman in The Graduate without thinking of his performance as an autistic in Rain Man and thinking it’s not really acting.
Taking Elaine to a strip bar instead of the Taft Hotel bar? Either way, the next obvious step is close at hand. Koo koo kachu, I am the egg man.
I cannot see Dustin Hoffman in The Graduate without thinking of his performance as an autistic in Rain Man and thinking it’s not really acting.
Yep, and the same character he played in Midnight Cowboy.
If they shot the movie today the last line "Plastics!!" would be replaced with "Gay Porno!!!!"
Katharine, you rock, baby! Don't listen to these twerps.
And I love how she makes Steve McQueen look bad.
That movie is awesome.
And here are the Zombies singing about her!
Punch it, baby!
Benjamin was so boring, just reacting passively to things.
We're all boring until we fall in love!
duh
I was 14, and taken with Simon And Garfunkel (I still know all the words to all the songs in Sounds of Silence). And I grew up on WFMT's Midnight Special, so Nichols and May were old friends. I loved the movie, so hip and clever in skewering the bourgeoisie.
I saw it again some 25 years later. My tastes and politics had changed. Except for Bancroft's performance, which is wonderful for all the reasons Althouse points out, I found the movie small-minded and mean-spirited, full of the kind of lefty virtue-signalling smugness that we have now grown so tired of.
The only great things about The Graduate are Bancroft's performance, Ross' face and the Alpha Spyder. The Alpha might be the only character Hoffman is taller than.
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