By Steven Suskin
10 Sep 2007

MGM has released a "Fortieth Anniversary Edition" of The Graduate, giving that uproarious and unlikely blockbuster the treatment (and widescreen upgrading) it deserves. Broadway director Mike Nichols was already known to be a comic genius at the time, although his only prior film was that rollicking romp "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" Anne Bancroft was not especially known for comedy; after six years or so in (mostly) bad movies, she came to Broadway with stunning performances in Two for the Seesaw (1957) and The Miracle Worker (1959). The latter won her a Tony and, for the 1962 film version, an Oscar. (Absent from the ceremonies, Bancroft's statuette was accepted by — Joan Crawford.) In a career-full of highlights, though, Bancroft is probably best remembered for her Mrs. Robinson.

And then there's Dustin Hoffman. A quirky and admittedly unusual actor, he had weathered a decade of failure; his only steady Broadway job before Nichols picked him to play Benjamin Braddock had been as an assistant stage manager (and understudy to Martin Sheen) on The Subject Was Roses. Needless to say, Hoffman — who was already 30 years old — turned star overnight with "The Graduate." He quickly returned to Broadway, with name over title, in 1968 in the Murray Schisgal play Jimmy Shine. The following year came "Midnight Cowboy," by which time Hoffman was in a position to pick and chose his projects. Broadway audiences were lucky to get two chances to see him in the 1980s, as Willy Loman and Shylock; who knows, the fancy may strike him to return once more.

"The Graduate," needless to say, is a wonderful film that holds up to repeated viewings. (Among its facets are performances by William Daniels and Elizabeth Wilson, as the hero's parents.) With a markedly improved transfer; a handful of extras, including commentaries by Nichols, Hoffman, Katharine Ross and others; and an accompanying bonus CD with Simon & Garfunkel's "Here's To You, Mrs. Robinson," "The Sounds of Silence" and "Scarborough Fair," this 40th anniversary DVD of "The Graduate" is most welcome.