The Graduate is a 1967 American independent[6] romantic comedy-drama film directed by Mike Nichols[7] and written by Buck Henry and Calder Willingham,[8] based on the 1963 novel of the same name by Charles Webb, who wrote it shortly after graduating from Williams College. The film tells the story of 21-year-old Benjamin Braddock, a recent college graduate with no well-defined aim in life who is seduced by an older married woman, Mrs. Robinson, but then falls for her daughter, Elaine.
The Graduate was released December 21, 1967, to critical and commercial success, grossing $104.9 million in the United States and Canada, making it the highest-grossing film of 1967. Adjusted for inflation (as of 2021), the film's gross is $857 million, making it the 22nd highest-grossing film in the United States and Canada, with inflation taken into account.[9]
It received seven nominations at the 40th Academy Awards, including for Best Picture and Best Director, the latter being the film's sole win.[10] In 1996, The Graduate was selected for preservation in the U.S. National Film Registry as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[11][12] It is currently (as of the 2007 rankings) ranked by the American Film Institute as the 17th greatest American film of all time, having been ranked 7th in 1997.
