47 Fun Facts About The Graduate

At Benjamin's graduation party in The Graduate, what does Mrs. Robinson persuade him to do?

Drive her home is her request, and once there Mrs. Robinson reveals that she is an alcoholic and tries to seduce him.

In The Graduate's famous seduction shot, which part of Mrs. Robinson frames Benjamin?

Her leg frames him in the shot, which Kingpin later parodied by framing Woody Harrelson through his landlady's leg.

Which actress plays Mrs. Robinson?

Anne Bancroft later complained that Mrs. Robinson overshadowed the rest of her work, even her Oscar-winning role in The Miracle Worker.

Who plays Elaine Robinson?

Katharine Ross got the part on the recommendation of Simone Signoret, her co-star in the thriller Games.

The Graduate was the first novel by which young author?

Charles Webb turned down his wealthy father's inheritance and gave away most of what he owned, living in campgrounds and trailer parks.

Which Simon & Garfunkel song plays in The Graduate?

Scarborough Fair was one of the duo's existing songs that Nichols first used only as a stand-in while editing, until he decided new music couldn't beat it.

In which California city do Benjamin's parents live?

Pasadena is also where the novel's author grew up, and he admitted modeling Benjamin on himself.

At the Taft Hotel, what makes Elaine realize Benjamin has been having an affair?

Staff greet him by an alias, Mr. Gladstone, the name he checks in under, and Benjamin then admits an affair with a married woman he won't name.

While sleeping with Mrs. Robinson, how does Benjamin spend his summer days?

Floating idly in his parents' swimming pool, he walks toward the house, and one smooth cut lands him in the hotel room with Mrs. Robinson.

What is Mr. Robinson's professional relationship to Benjamin's father?

His law partner is Mr. Robinson, who joins Benjamin's parents in pushing him to date Elaine, a match Mrs. Robinson angrily forbids.

Why, according to Mrs. Robinson, did she marry her husband?

She accidentally became pregnant with Elaine, a secret she shares only after Benjamin insists that during their trysts they actually have a conversation.

How does Benjamin try to sabotage his first date with Elaine?

He takes her to a strip club, but when she flees in tears he chases her, apologizes and kisses her, and they bond at a drive-in.

Which Los Angeles hotel, where Robert Kennedy was later shot, stood in for The Graduate's Taft Hotel?

The Ambassador Hotel was torn down to make way for a public school campus, despite a long fight to preserve it.

What lie does Mrs. Robinson tell Elaine about the affair?

That Benjamin raped her is the lie; once Elaine hears his side she realizes her mother was lying, and Benjamin soon pushes her to marry him.

What is Carl, the man Elaine is set to marry, studying?

Medicine is Carl's field; Mr. Robinson pulls Elaine out of college to marry him, and the wedding turns out to be in Santa Barbara.

What happens to Benjamin's car as he races to Elaine's wedding?

It runs out of gas short of the church, so Benjamin sprints the rest of the way and arrives just as the ceremony is ending.

What does Benjamin use to bar the church doors so he and Elaine can escape?

A large cross is what he swings at the guests before jamming it through the door handles to trap everyone inside.

How do Benjamin and Elaine leave the church?

On a city bus, their ecstatic smiles slowly fade into uncertain looks, because the camera kept rolling longer than the actors expected.

What car does Benjamin drive in The Graduate?

Alfa Romeo later sold a US model from 1985 to 1990 called the Spider Graduate in tribute.

What single word of career advice does Mr. McGuire give Benjamin at the party?

Plastics went on to become a byword for dreary conformity and phony commercialism.

What does Benjamin reluctantly model for the guests at his 21st birthday party?

A scuba diving outfit was his birthday present, and he escapes the chattering guests by sinking out of sight underwater.

Which actor screen-tested for Benjamin but was rejected because he lacked an underdog quality?

Robert Redford insisted he could play a loser, but Nichols doubted the star had ever struck out with a girl.

At Elaine's wedding, what does Benjamin pound on while shouting her name?

A glass window, and Hoffman was uneasy filming it because the church's minister disapproved.

Which actor was cast as Mr. Robinson but fired during rehearsals?

Gene Hackman was let go as too young for the part, yet his role in that year's Bonnie and Clyde earned him an Oscar nomination.

In The Graduate's opening shot, what is Benjamin riding at the airport?

A moving walkway carries him through LAX, a shot Quentin Tarantino recreated with Pam Grier to open Jackie Brown.

Which Mel Brooks film did Dustin Hoffman give up to screen-test for The Graduate?

The Producers' director Mel Brooks let him go, expecting him back, but Hoffman landed the role of Benjamin instead.

After a long search, where did Nichols find the actor to play Benjamin?

New York's theater scene is where Nichols found a 29-year-old praised Off-Broadway, whom he saw as the outsider Benjamin needed.

Which improv comedian with no screenwriting experience did Nichols pick to write the script?

Buck Henry's script replaced Calder Willingham's discarded draft, yet Willingham won shared screen credit through Writers Guild arbitration.

Which future star has two lines about calling 'the cops' as a boarding-house tenant?

Richard Dreyfuss's lines come after Elaine's screams in Benjamin's rented room rouse the boarding house.

Which star of TV's Batman was informally offered the role of Benjamin?

Burt Ward had to pass because he was already committed to playing Robin.

Which Oscar-winning cinematographer, who had shot Ben-Hur, photographed The Graduate?

Robert Surtees said the job took everything he had learned in 30 years, because Nichols 'went in for a lot of camera'.

The song 'Mrs. Robinson' started life under what working title?

Mrs. Roosevelt, as in Eleanor, was the working name until the song was renamed to fit the film's character.

Which Grammy did 'Mrs. Robinson' win in 1969?

Record of the Year went to 'Mrs. Robinson', a song Simon played for Nichols only after the director rejected his first new offering.

Which Yankees legend is named in the song 'Mrs. Robinson'?

Joe DiMaggio later told Simon he hadn't gone anywhere, since he'd just done a Mr. Coffee commercial; Simon's own favorite player was Mantle.

Which Academy Award did The Graduate win, its only Oscar from seven nominations?

Best Director went to Nichols, a Broadway star who was still unknown in Hollywood when every studio turned the project down.

Which film beat The Graduate and Bonnie and Clyde to Best Picture at the 1968 Oscars?

In the Heat of the Night won at a ceremony postponed after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.

Made on a modest budget, The Graduate took roughly what at the North American box office?

$105 million made it 1967's top-grossing film, and its success boosted sales of Simon & Garfunkel's earlier albums.

Why did The Graduate's novelist make nothing from the film's huge success?

He sold the rights outright for $20,000 and made nothing more, and he later gave the novel's copyright to the Anti-Defamation League.

What was the title of the novelist's sequel to The Graduate, published in Britain in 2007?

Home School finds Ben and Elaine about a decade on, determined to teach their two children at home, as the novelist did with his own sons.

Why did The Graduate's novelist hold back his follow-up novel?

The film rights covered sequels, so Canal+ could have filmed it without him, and he published only when facing eviction.

Which actress starred as Mrs. Robinson when The Graduate opened in London's West End in 2000?

Kathleen Turner's nude scene caused a sensation in London, and the production became infamous for its nudity.

Which producer, famed for importing Hercules films, financed The Graduate after every studio turned it down?

Joseph E. Levine backed it partly because Elizabeth Taylor had chosen Nichols to direct Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Before The Graduate, how did 'The Sound of Silence' first become a hit?

A producer added electric backing without the duo's knowledge, turning their folk recording into the No. 1 hit that made them famous.

Which screen legend declined to play Mrs. Robinson, finding the part offensive to her values?

Doris Day left films in 1968 for her own TV sitcom and later devoted herself to animal welfare.

Which future Jaws actor played Mr. Robinson in The Graduate?

Murray Hamilton stepped in after Nichols fired the actor first cast as Mr. Robinson during rehearsals.

Which Los Angeles campus stood in for Berkeley in The Graduate's exterior shots?

USC doubled for Berkeley, where Benjamin pursues Elaine, hoping to win her back.

Which 1993 comedy sequel parodies The Graduate's wedding finale?

Wayne's World 2 opened for the 1993 holidays but took less than half of what the first film earned in North America.