Oh... I thought that would be from the point of view of the Master, the character, not the actor. But it was cool anyway. (I feel dumb.)

ProphecyGirl16 | March 01, 23:22 CET

Someone needs to start that blog.

The Master Speaks: Classic American Cinema
The Glorificus Music Review
Warren Weighs In on...

Raggedy Edge | March 02, 00:42 CET

Are we having multiple simualtaneous "They ALways Confuse Me With the Character I Play" moments here?
Thing is, I couldn't tell if it was a negative or positive interview.


Darn I thought he was a professor, not a restauranteur. PRofs have office hours, and if I w as ever rich e nough to get my Buffy artifact made and travel a round to get it autographed, I wanted to get one from him.

DaddyCatALSO | March 02, 01:34 CET

Oh, Raggedy Edge. You are ON to something there. It's such fun writing in the voice of others for sport... also:

Gosh-Darnit, It's a Nice Day (to Eat You): Your Local Forecast with Mayor Wilkins
Surveying Snack Foods with Clem
Gardening At Night (And Other Things for Dollies to Do When They're Naughty) with Drusilla

barest_smidgen | March 02, 01:50 CET

I did not know he owned Libby Montana, which is not far from where my son used to live and where his girlfriend still does.

I enjoyed the review, which did not at all go anywhere you might expect.

Dana5140 | March 02, 02:02 CET

I enjoyed the review too. I think it was very positive, but the overall evaluation is less important here than analysis, and looking at how his emotional reactions change over the years. With a classic, seminal film like "The Graduate," there's so much that's been said that about the only way to approach it and be unique is to make it especially personal--not "what is in this film," but "how did this film affect me?" His observations on the camerawork (and Dustin Hoffman's ethnicity) are also pretty novel.

I too thought it would have been great to see The Master's review. And after all, the Master had a sense of humour.

(Favourite "The Graduate" moment: Dustin Hoffman decided, on a whim, to cup Anne Bancroft's breast when they were in the hotel room, and her ultra-professional *non-reaction* to his doing so made him start laughing, and so he went across the room and started banging his head against the wall in order to hide it. Brilliant improvisation, perfectly in character for both, and caught on film.)

WilliamTheB | March 02, 02:41 CET

For anyone who is interested, there's a really interesting article on The Graduate in the current Vanity Fair. It's not the Master's work, but . . . I didn't know that Dustin Hoffman, when he first met Katherine Ross, pinched her on the backside to try to lighten up the atmosphere. Good for her that her reaction was anything but light.

palehorse | March 02, 05:18 CET

Yeah, he wrote a good review. When I first saw this film I was barely a teenager, so to say I didn't understand what it was trying to express is an understatement. I got that it was about a confused guy, sort of out of his league, who wants girl, loses girl, gets girl back, and then ... huh? When I looked at in later years, what I enjoyed was the acting and how even though Nichols set up these archetypal characters, they had much more depth than that.

And Anne Bancroft is no stranger to actors pulling a fast one on her (God, did I love that woman). In The Turning Point, Shirley MacLaine conspired with the director to do something shocking during a scene without Bancroft's knowledge. She throws a drink in Bancroft's face during an argument which triggers a confrontation years in the making between the two characters. Bancroft's reaction was real without breaking stride.

Tonya J | March 02, 05:39 CET

What a fascinating article on the making of the movie. Thanks for the link. I love the idea that Mrs. Robinson is now recognized as "the most complex and compelling character in the film." When Ann Bancroft died not so long ago, one of the tributes I heard on the radio had a friend of hers describing how he said to her that Mrs. Robinson was the only character in the movie worth talking to, and she said "That's why I took the part."

I was just a kid when I first saw it - in fact it came out not long before the Hollywood rating system went into effect, and I wouldn't have been able to see it once they did, but I remember seeing it again years and years later and realizing with a shock that it was Mrs. Robinson I now identified with.

barboo | March 02, 10:57 CET

I think I agree that Mrs. Robinson is the only person worth talking to. That said, I identify with Benjamin, even if they're not necessarily characteristics I'm proud of.

WilliamTheB | March 02, 20:29 CET