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The Graduate

Saturday, Sep 16, 7:30 pm
Runtime: 106 min 
Rating:  PG

"One word: plastics."

Our Spectacular, Spectacular Film Series of Visually Stunning Films continues with The Graduate (1967).

50TH ANNIVERSARY 4K RESTORATION

Mentally adrift the summer after graduating from college, suburbanite Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman) would rather float in his parents' pool than follow adult advice about his future. But the exhortation of family friend Mr. Robinson (Murray Hamilton) to seize every possible opportunity inspires Ben to accept an offer of sex from icily feline Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft). The affair and the pool are all well and good until Ben is pushed to go out with the Robinsons' daughter Elaine (Katharine Ross) and he falls in love with her. Mrs. Robinson sabotages the relationship and an understandably disgusted Elaine runs back to college. Determined not to let Elaine get away, Ben follows her to school and then disrupts her family-sanctioned wedding. None too happy about her pre-determined destiny, Elaine flees with Ben -- but to what? Directing his second feature film after Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Mike Nichols matched the story's satire of suffocating middle-class shallowness with an anti-Hollywood style influenced by the then-voguish French New Wave. Using odd angles, jittery editing, and evocative widescreen photography, Nichols welded a hip New Wave style and a generation-gap theme to a fairly traditional screwball comedy script by Buck Henry and Calder Willingham from Charles Webb's novel. Adding to the European art film sensibility, the movie offers an unsettling and ambiguous ending with no firm closure. And rather than Robert Redford, Nichols opted for a less glamorous unknown for the pivotal role of Ben, turning Hoffman into a star and opening the door for unconventional leading men throughout the 1970s. With a pop-song score written by Paul Simon and performed by Simon & Garfunkel bolstering its contemporary appeal, The Graduate opened to rave reviews in December 1967 and surpassed all commercial expectations. It became the top-grossing film of 1968 and was nominated for seven Oscars, including Best Picture, Actor, and Actress, with Nichols winning Best Director. Together with Bonnie and Clyde, it stands as one of the most influential films of the late '60s, as its mordant dissection of the generation gap helped lead the way to the youth-oriented Hollywood artistic "renaissance" of the early '70s. 

Director: Mike Nichols

Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Anne Bancroft, Katharine Ross, William Daniels, and Murray Hamilton.

Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes

The music, the performances, the precision in capturing the post-college malaise -- The Graduate's coming-of-age story is indeed one for the ages.

Austin Trunick | Under the Radar

Every element seemed to align for Mike Nichols, from perfect casting and honest performances, to ... that iconic Simon & Garfunkel soundtrack.

Tom Huddleston | Time Out

Feels as sly, modern and bracing as it must have in 1967.

Film Prices:

Lincoln Theatre Members get a $2 discount on the following prices:

General: $10.50
Seniors, Students and Active Military: $9.50
Children 12 and under: $8.00

*All prices include a $1.50 Preservation Fee that goes directly into our capital account for preservation of the Lincoln Theatre and its programs. 
 
Members have benefits: Click here for details.
 
Film dates and times are subject to change and extended runs. Please check back here, or our phone message at 360.336.8955, day of show.