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Dom Robinson reviews
The Director’s Chair Collection
Momentum Pictures
- Cert:
- Cat.no: MP043D
- Running time: 101 minutes
- Year: 1967
- Pressing: 2001
- Region(s): 2, PAL
- Chapters: 24 plus extras
- Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 (Stereo), Mono
- Languages: 4 languages available
- Subtitles: 6 languages available
- Widescreen: 2.35:1
- 16:9-Enhanced: Yes
- Macrovision: Yes
- Disc Format: DVD 9
- Price: £17.99
- Extras: Trailer, One on One with Dustin Hoffman, The Graduate at 25, Photo Gallery, Exclusive 60-page companion book
Director:
- Mike Nichols
(Biloxi Blues, The Birdcage, Carnal Knowledge, The Graduate, Primary Colors, Regarding Henry, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf ?, Wolf, Working Girl)
Producer:
- Lawrence Turman
Screenplay:
- Calder Willingham and Buck Henry
Music:
- Simon and Garfunkel
Cast:
- Mrs. Robinson: Anne Bancroft
Ben Braddock: Dustin Hoffman
Elaine Robinson: Katharine Ross
Mr. Braddock: William Daniels
Mr. Robinson: Murray Hamilton
The Graduate stars Dustin Hoffman in the title role as a young man about to step out into the big, wide world, but one who is far from ready to do so. Guests at his graduation party want to offer him jobs in industry but it’s not for him, but what is?
Taking one of his mother’s friends home, Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft), is about to give Ben a life-changing experience. Old enough to know better, she starts flirting with him making him feel very uneasy, especially when she strips naked in front of him. From initial bed-romps to booking a room in a hotel for the night, they go about their affair without gaining attention from anyone. Problems are abound when her daughter Elaine (Katharine Ross) returns home and Ben is persuaded to take her out. The question is – how long can he string along a girl he begins to love while carrying on with her mother before the truth comes out?
In his first major film role, Hoffman is totally convincing as the naive young graduate entering a new playground where the rules are different, while Bancroft plays it cool as the married woman doing what she shouldn’t be doing while maintaining a facade when other people are around. The script is also first-rate with clever turns of phrase and witty one-liners, such as when Ben arrives at the hotel ahead of Mrs. R. :
- Receptionist: “Can I help you, sir ?”
Ben: “What? No.. I’m just..”
Receptionist: “Are you here for an affair, sir ?”
Ben (shocked): “What ?!?”
Receptionist: “The Singleman party, sir ?”
Ben (relieved): “Oh, yes. The Singleman Party!”
Receptionist: “It’s in the main ballroom.”
Ben: “Ah, thank you. Hmm.”
Benjamin realised there was still more learning to be done after graduation. When first released on DVD two years ago, BMG put out a non-anamorphic print with the original mono soundtrack. This time round we’ve been treated to a striking anamorphic version that may have the occasional minor print fleck, but I’m giving Momentum full marks in that dept. for doing a bang-up job of treating the film with the presentation it deserves.
It is presented in its original widescreen ratio of 2.35:1 which is the only way to watch this film. Director Mike Nichols utilises the full widescreen frame to great effect throughout the whole of the film and to even crop it to 16:9, the preferred ratio of the TV industry these days even though it’s not to everyone’s taste to crop a film, would destroy many an excellent composition. The average bitrate is 6.5Mb/s, often peaking over 9Mb/s.
The soundtrack has been remade in stereo which does perfect justice to the tunes of Simon and Garfunkel and includes songs such as Scarborough Fair, The Sound of Silence and Mrs Robinson (no relation).
The extras begin with a 3½-minute theatrical trailer, itself presented in 16:9 (approx). Be warned, though, that this reveals many of the film’s key plot-points as well as the ending. I’d actually never seen the film before I watched this DVD so if you’re in the same boat, I’d advise you not to watch until you’ve watched the whole film. The Photo Gallery contains 14 stills, some from the film and some featuring various film posters from around the world.
The Graduate at 25 runs for 22 minutes and features chat from all the industry bigwigs involved, plus a number of film clips in the original 2.35:1 widescreen ratio, albeit non-anamorphic. One on One with Dustin Hoffman is a near-five-minute interview with the man, including speculations on a possible sequel, although it’s more a set of soundbites filmed at the same time as the main featurette.
Finally, comes the Exclusive 60-page companion book, which provides plenty of info about the film and its director, Mike Nichols, given that its title is “Mike Nichols in Perspective”, as well as a foreward by the current on-stage Mrs Robinson, Amanda Donohoe.
The DVD contains animated and scores menus, with the sounds of S&G, 24 chapters covering the 101 minutes of the film, dialogue in stereo for the English soundtrack, plus mono options for German, Spanish and Italian. There are subtitles in 6 languages: English, German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and Turkish, which scores points over the previous release’s complete lack of subs.
Benjamin still hadn’t got the hang of ’69’s. After the non-anamorphic mono version released in 1999, it’s so good to have this film looking just as it should with some decent extras including the wonderful accompanying book.
DVD Trivia: William Daniels, who plays Ben’s father, was the voice of KITT the car in Knight Rider.
PICTURE QUALITY
SOUND QUALITY
EXTRAS
OVERALL 
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.