Benjamin dates Elaine,against Mrs Robinson's wishes,and finds in her some idea of a future he can stand. You could call it a love triangle. Except there is no love between Benjamin and Mrs Robinson,just sex and sad,stilted conversation.
The movie was released in Australia 50 years ago,in 1968. It was a massive success,despite its arthouse sensibilities. Producer Lawrence Turnell bought the book option for $1000."It had a Pinter-esque quality in that it's funny and it makes you nervous at the same time,"he said. Mike Nichols directed,Calder Willingham and Buck Henry adapted. Benjamin,a blond and blue-eyed WASP in the book,was reconfigured by hesitant,shabby,Dustin Hoffman in his second movie role.
The film was released at the point when"old"Hollywood was tipping into"new",a time of garish colours,and 30-year-old teenagers,when everyone looked sweaty and men had lives and women had children. As a cultural artefact it highlights just how grim things were for women back then – retrospectively,some see Mrs Robinson as the true rebellious anti-hero of the film for refusing to stay in her box,but she is discomfitingly predatory.
By comparison,Ben's rebellion is less conscious – he knows something's wrong but he doesn't know what. For much of the film he is punching in the dark,which makes his determined pursuit of Elaine all the more intense. Elaine's"escape"is a fate better than her mother's,but it is also leap into the unknown.The Graduate is one of those films where the ending feels more like a beginning.
Finacom's tour is the result of meticulous research,re-watches and hot tips,and camera angle comparisons to determine just what was filmed where. The mysteries will be harder to solve as time passes,as building codes relax,and progress progresses.
Our stopping-off points are non-linear:from Sproul Plaza,we mosey to the frat house of Elaine's fiance,Carl. Along the way Finacom points out sites of architectural significance and changes in the built environment. The tour group consists of people who love the film and people who love Berkeley,although not so much Berkeley now as then:when it was still funky and affordable,before developers started nibbling at the edges.
We stop outside The Graduate Hotel – modelled after LA's Taft Hotel,the site for Ben and Mrs Robinson's assignations,and mill in a quadrangle of mid-level high-rises;student housing,where Elaine would most likely have lived. Some women in the group who were at Cal-Berkeley during the 1960s confirm the strict social codes of the time. They tell stories about single-sex dorms,the all-powerful Dean of Women,having to"dress"for dinner,and creative ways around curfew.
There are,of course,places we can't get to without the magic of editing,such as the Monkey House at San Francisco Zoo (though Finacom recommends a visit),but we have People's Park and Telegraph Avenue,Moe's Books,and the now-closed Caffe Mediterraneum. Our final location is a handsome Victorian – Ben's temporary"digs",where Elaine finally comes around,where Richard Dreyfuss has his first screen line,where the landlord asks Benjamin if he's an"outside agitator",and Mr Robinson expectorates from the doorway,"I think you're filth! I think you're scum!"
When the tour is over and the group disperses,I almost expectThe Sound of Silence to come over the soundtrack,but then I remember we're not in a movie,we're just in the world. I wait for my ride and wish myself back to 20-something – what if I just got on a bus now,any bus,destination unknown?
Everyone knows where Dustin Hoffman ended up. But what of Charles Webb? Richard Lei's fascinating article,"The Dropout"(The Washington Post) picks up the story:Webb married his own"Elaine",Eve,(who later changed her name to Fred),gave away his $20,000 movie profits and went on to live a very unconventional life.
For 50 years the couple have divested themselves of worldly things. They homeschooled their two sons,and live their best outside the system. Webb continues to write. His sequel toThe Graduate,Homeschool – in which Mrs Robinson reprises her role as relentless seductress and Agent of Change – was published in 2007 to little fanfare.
berkeleyhistoricalsociety.org
washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1992/12/20/the-dropout/b90ccd01-4bab-48b7-9801-77092aa1c943/?utm_term=.49f292abccc9