Uh, Mrs. Robinson...

We had our monthly movie group yesterday, and we saw The Graduate. I don't think I've ever seen the entire movie. If I have seen it, it has been a long time. I enjoyed it. I knew Dustin Hoffman was just a bit too old for his part, but he's winning and earnest and it's easy to overlook it. Anyone who has graduated from college -- or has come to any fork in the road and needs to make a decision -- has felt what his character is going through. He has worked hard and he has graduated from college. The big question: what do I do now? Most of us knows what happens; he meets the wife of his father's business partner: Mrs. Robinson, superbly played by Anne Bancroft. She plays on so many levels. She is cunning, manipulative, seductive, aggressive, and yet, you sense her insecurity, her desperation, and her vulnerability. She is also jealous of her daughter, played by Katharine Ross. While Dustin Hoffman became a star with this film, Anne Bancroft's performance sticks with you.

Anne Bancroft was one of the top actresses of the last 50 years, and she had a fairly brief starring career in the 60s and 70s. She took a bit of a break in the early 70s, but had memorable performances in The Prisoner of Second Avenue and The Turning Point. I've always liked her tremendously. I first fell for her when I saw To Be or Not to Be on cable television. She and Mel Brooks sang "Sweet Georgia Brown" in Polish! I loved anything I saw her in. She won an Oscar for The Miracle Worker in 1962, reprising her Broadway role as Annie Sullivan, the tough but loving teacher and friend to Helen Keller. In a side note, the Oscar drama that year was intense. Bette Davis and Joan Crawford had just struggled through making their last big picture, the macabre-yet-amusing What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? without having any major blowups. Much to Joan's disappointment, she was not nominated, but Bette was. And Bette had made comments that Joan was a mere movie star while Bette was a real actress. And much to Bette's disappointment, Joan arranged to accept the Best Actress award if the winner couldn't be there, and Anne Bancroft won. Joan got to sail onstage at the Academy Awards, looking like a million bucks, and Bette went home empty-handed.

But back to The Graduate, which was the reason for this post. I think it's a movie that you have to be a certain age to appreciate. If you're just out of high school, you might not think much of it. But if you're the right age, you'll appreciate it and admire it for the stylish and moving film that it is.