In 1967 Dustin Hoffman starred in the racy movie The Graduate. Hoffman was not the first choice for the lead role of Benjamin in The Graduate but he had that awkward presence to him that director Mike Nichols was looking for. Originally auditioning for the role was Hollywood super hunk Robert Redford but Mike Nichols knew right away that Redford would be no good for the role of Benjamin. When Redford inquired as to why he did not get the role Nichols told him it was because Redford had no idea what it was like to get turned down by a girl. That kind of honesty just in the casting was important because the story of The Graduate takes on some very touchy themes and subjects and back when it came out in 1967 it was considered just short of pornography even though it didn’t resemble porn at all. But what allowed The Graduate to be successful was that this was the era that was enjoying movies like Barbarella and Deep Throat and The Graduate helped to pave the way for all of those movies that were either thrust into the spotlight because of their real pornographic content or for the movies that were just downright sexy and that is what people in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s wanted to see. It could be said that The Graduate set a standard that few movies since it was released have even come close to touching in the naïve but yet deeply cynical way that The Graduate attacks these topics.

The Graduate is about a young man named Ben, played by Dustin Hoffman, who has just graduated from college and is fighting hard to avoid getting caught up in the very successful family business that his father wants him to become a part of. At his graduation party Ben meets his father’s business partners wife Mrs. Robinson played by Anne Bancroft. Mrs. Robinson decides that she has an attraction to Ben and begins seducing him. This provokes one of the most popular lines in movie history when Ben asks Mrs. Robinson “Mrs. Robinson, you’re trying to seduce me. Aren’t you?” This kind of naïve play by Ben against the backdrop of the very experience, and very eager, Mrs. Robinson creates a story that is just full of all kinds of energy. There is tension, lust, nervousness, inexperience, and even a touch of macho in there all though it is debatable as to which character winds up displaying the most macho. In the end Ben and Mrs. Robinson call it off but it doesn’t end there. Ben begins dating, and falling in love with, Mrs. Robinson’s daughter Elaine who is played by Katharine Ross. From there the sparks really start to fly and Ben quickly begins to wish he was back in college again.

The Graduate was a huge box office success and made a star out of Dustin Hoffman. The movie had 7 Oscar nominations which included a nomination for Dustin Hoffman as best actor in a leading role and Anne Bancroft as best actress in a leading role. In the end Mike Nichols won the Oscar for best director and The Graduate when on to be recognized as one of the greatest movies of all time. Not to mention it also has a catchy song written by Simon and Garfunkel for it which to this day many people can still not get out of their heads.