History Film / TheGraduate

* StalkingIsLove: Ben watches Elaine leave for Berkeley behind the bushes, then goes to Berkley to be near her, then chases a bus to bug her as she's on her way to a date with another guy, despite the fact that this entire time she kind of hates him. Eventually he succeeds in convincing her to like him again.

Also in the cast are Creator/WilliamDaniels and Elizabeth Wilson as Ben's parents and Murray Hamilton as the unsuspecting Mr. Robinson. Creator/RichardDreyfuss briefly appears in one of his first film roles; he has one line.

* SadTimesMontage: Set to Simon and Garfunkel, of course. Features mostly clips of Ben floating around in a pool and jumping into bed repeatedly with MILF Mrs. Robinson, one might think that this should be a GoodTimesMontage. However, the music is sad, Ben's facial expression almost never changes from one of lost boredom, and the general idea conveyed is that he's just drifting with no idea what to do with himself or his life, lost in a sea of easy-on-the-ears folk rock angst. (Another, even sadder one comes after Elaine discovers Ben's affair with her mother and leaves for Berkeley.)

** In another sequence when, at yet another party thrown by his parents, Ben is forced to display the scuba gear he recently received, despite his overall unwillingness to be there. The scene is shot from Ben's perspective inside the suit, making the voices and sight of the guests distorted and distant until Ben finally gets to the pool and is able to submerge himself, when it all goes silent, symbolising the disconnect he feels from his parents social environment and lifestyle, and his subtle wish to escape it all.

** Mrs. Robinson's first name is never revealed. FridgeBrilliance when you realize that she ''really is nothing more than Mr. Robinson's wife''.

** In the book, Benjamin has already slept with so many prostitutes he's lost count.

* BookEnds: Begins and ends with "The Sound of Silence".

* EstablishingCharacterMusic: Benjamin is introduced making his way through the Los Angeles airport after coming back home from college, to the strains of Music/SimonAndGarfunkel's "The Sounds of Silence" and Ben staring straight ahead while being transported by machinery.

* EstablishingCharacterMusic: Benjamin is introduced making his way through the Los Angeles airport after coming back home from college, to the strains of Music/SimonAndGarfunkel's "The Sounds of Silence".

* AdaptationalUgliness: In the novel, Ben is quite handsome, which makes Mrs. Robinson seem a good deal less desperate. In fact, movie-Ben's awkwardness in general is artistic license by Nichols and Hoffman; Ben's character in the book is a prototypical WASP golden-boy athlete brimming with confidence and charisma (Creator/RobertRedford was the original choice to play the role, only to be turned down because he was so successful with ladies, he had no idea what it was like to strike out with a girl). Dustin Hoffman's short stature, darker features, awkward clumsiness and insecurity (of which the affair with Mrs. Robinson is the chief catalyst in ridding him) are not present in the book.

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