The Graduate Journal

The Graduate Journal

1) Relate what was discussed in class or the text to the screening.

After WWII, Hollywood was not considered the “same old game in town,” due to the two major forces that changed the old Hollywood. First was the U.S. vs Paramount Pictures, Inc. case. The U.S. Monopoly laws caused legal intervention, which required studios to sell their theatres. They were no longer allowed to distribute, exhibit, or produce films. The second major force was television. Until 1956, no Hollywood film was allowed to appear on television. People would rather stay at home and watch T.V., and movies weren’t offering anything different than what was considered acceptable on T.V. Hollywood also needed color in their films to fight T.V., and T.V. did not go full color until 1964. Hollywood would ultimately cooperate with television, and sold its old movies to be put on T.V. More studios also began to produce T.V. series and commercials.

Other developments included the House of Un-American Activities (HUAC), which investigated Hollywood directors, writers, and actors as being affiliated with Communists. The HUAC also created a blacklist, which barred anyone from working in Hollywood. Hollywood’s response was bad publicity and low box office, along with lying off personnel and selling off their land and properties.

In order for Hollywood to bring back their audiences in their theatres, they created gimmicks like 3D glasses, which were costly to the theatre owners. The novelty would soon wear off. The only gimmick that lasted was the Cinemascope, or widening the screen without using cumbersome technology.

In 1962, Hollywood hit an all time low in the box office, and needed to find a new audience due to the old audience watching television. They fought back with spectaculars like Spartacus, and Ben Hur, and elaborated their trailers to gain publicity. Everything changed in the Miracle Case, when Italian director Rosselini attempted to distribute his film The Miracle in the United States with out the MPAA’s Seal of Approval. Rosselini sued and argued that the First Amendment as part of the nations press protected the film. The Supreme Court agreed with his argument, and thus granted the film freedom of speech protection. The code loosened up, and made many exceptions for adult material.

Having never seen The Graduate, I was prepared for what I was going to see in the screening in class. After seeing the film, I can see how different it was to the prior films I saw in class. It really raised the bar for the post-code era.   

2) Find a related article and summarize the content.  (On the film, director, studio, actor/actress, artistic content, etc.) You can use the library or the Internet.  Cite the article or copy the url to your journal entry. Summarize in your own words the related article but do not plagiarize any content.

Source: http://www.newrepublic.com/article/120348/stanley-kauffmann-reviews-mike-nichols-graduate

This article, a review of the film done by Stanley Kauffman, comes after the passing of Mike Nichols, the director of The Graduate.  Kauffman states that this film proves that Nichols is “a genuine film director, one to be admired and concerned about.” He also calls Dustin Hoffman, who is in his film debut, as an “exceptional talent.” Kauffman says that The Graduate “gives some substance,” to the idea that American films are “coming of age – of our age.”

Kauffman then gives a brief summary of the film, as well as his insights on the film. After giving his insights, he focuses more on Nichols, and how he is considered perceptive, witty, and imaginative. He also says that he has “a shrewd eye for beauty,” and has an innate sense of the manifold, or diverse. There are some positive and negative of Nichols’ directing ways. The positives that he lists come from the very first shot: “We see Ben’s face, large and absolutely alone. The camera pulls back, we see that he is in an airliner and a voice tells us that it is approaching Los Angeles; but Ben has been set for us as alone.” Nichols also understood sound as well, and uses sound as more of a clock time, creating more of a “subjective time.” Some negatives in Nichols’ directing come from the shots he uses as well, like the repeated use of splattering headlights and sunspots on the lens.

3) Apply the article to the film screened in class.   How did the article support or change the way you thought about the film, director, content, etc.?

This article supported how I felt about the film because it was so innovative, and brought in the new audience that Hollywood was looking for in a time where the box office sales were at a low point. Add on to the fact that the old audience didn’t want to leave their homes because they saw everything on television. It was a breath of fresh air, and it changed American films forever.    

4) Write a critical analysis of the film, including your personal opinion, formed as a result of the screening, class discussions, text material and the article.  I am less interested in whether you liked or disliked a film, (although that can be part of this) than I am in your understanding of its place in film history or the contributions of the director.

The Graduate" is a classic by our standards today but quite revolutionary when it was released in 1967. It touched on subjects that might have considered being taboo in the 1960s. A movie about a love affair between a student and an older woman, this was unheard of in the film industry. The directing (Mike Nichols) is astounding with great performances by Anne Bancroft and Dustin Hoffman. A good film about the confusion and alienation that young people can have and how feelings such as those are dealt.