RSVP here: https://www.queer-art.org/rsvp-to-the-graduate
Streaming links here: https://www.queer-art.org/streaming-links-for-qaf-winter-2021
THE GRADUATE
1967. 106 min. Directed by Mike Nichols
In Mike Nichols’ groundbreaking 1967 classic, floundering college grad Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman) is seduced by a married female friend of the family (Anne Bancroft), but complications ensue when his parents pressure him to date her daughter (Katherine Ross). THE GRADUATE’s impact was monumental, making a star out of Dustin Hoffman, becoming the top-grossing film of the year, and scoring seven Oscar nominations and one win for Nichols’ brilliant direction. For acclaimed screenwriter Patricia Resnick (9 TO 5, 3 WOMEN, TALES OF THE CITY), who watched the film repeatedly while working at a movie theater, the film was deeply resonant. Resnick developed a teenage crush on Bancroft and deeply identified with Hoffman’s intense generational anxieties. Resnick writes, “I so related to the main character Ben’s feeling completely lost and adrift post college...Over the years I’ve gone back to THE GRADUATE, showing it to my nieces and nephews and then my own kids. They all loved it. I’ve found that it remains as funny and moving as it ever was and if anything the theme is even more apt for millennials than it was for boomers like me who had way more opportunities.”
Patricia Resnick on THE GRADUATE
“When I was sixteen, living in Miami Beach which I deeply hated, I went to work in a movie theater which was the closest I could get to my obsession: show business. One of the major perks was I got to see the movies playing there for free and some of them I watched over and over. Oh, I also got as much popcorn as I wanted and I got to take the movie one sheets home because back then, no one wanted them. They’re worth a lot now lol. One week a movie came to my theater. It was called THE GRADUATE. I watched it and then watched it again. And again, and again. Part of why I loved it was because I developed a huge crush on one of the actresses. Not Katherine Ross which would have made sense at 16 but the much older Anne Bancroft. But even more than that I so related to the main character Ben’s feeling completely lost and adrift post college. I had recently skipped the last two years of high school and started college at 16 sure that I wanted to be an actress since that was the only job I knew of that existed in show business. To my horror I quickly realized I didn’t like acting and I wasn’t any good at it. Like Benjamin, I was completely lost. For two years I struggled to find my way and thank god by 18 I got to visit on a movie set and I found out there were all sorts of other careers you could have working on movies. I went to film school and began working as a P.A. and then a writer. I even got to briefly work with Anne Bancroft in my twenties although, sadly, she was committed to Mel Brooks. Over the years I’ve gone back to THE GRADUATE, showing it to my nieces and nephews and then my own kids. They all loved it. I’ve found that it remains as funny and moving as it ever was and if anything the theme is even more apt for millennials than it was for boomers like me who had way more opportunities. I hope you enjoy the film.”
Patricia Resnick is an American writer and producer of films, television and theater. Resnick is best known for writing the original screenplay for 9 to 5, a comedy classic and one of the top-grossing films of all time. After graduating from USC, Resnick, under the tutelage of her mentor Robert Altman, co-authored A WEDDING (British Academy Award and Writer’s Guild nominations) and Quintet starring Paul Newman. Other films include MAXIE (Glenn Close) and STRAIGHT TALK, which reunited her with Dolly Parton. Resnick most recently served as co-executive producer on season 4 of BETTER THINGS for which she wrote two episodes. Prior to that, she wrapped a stint as co-executive producer on Armistead Maupin’s TALES OF THE CITY, which premiered on Netflix, starring Laura Linney and Elliot Page and won the Glaad Award for Outstanding Limited series. Other recent television credits include consulting producer on hour-long dramas like MAD MEN. She has written numerous pilots for television for networks including Showtime, CBS and FX and produced the made-for-television film, THE BATTLE OF MARY KAY, starring Shirley MacLaine and Parker Posey who both gave Golden Globe-nominated performances.