Who directed the 1967 film 'The Graduate'?

Mike Nichols directed the 1967 film The Graduate. His sharply controlled direction helped turn a story about post-college uncertainty into one of the defining films of its era.

The movie stars Dustin Hoffman as Benjamin Braddock, a recent graduate who feels directionless after returning home. He begins an affair with Mrs. Robinson, played by Anne Bancroft, before falling in love with her daughter Elaine, played by Katharine Ross. The uncomfortable triangle gave the film its mix of romance, satire, and generational conflict.

Nichols used unusual framing, abrupt shifts in scale, and carefully timed silences to show Benjamin’s emotional isolation. The soundtrack, featuring songs by Simon & Garfunkel such as “The Sound of Silence” and “Mrs. Robinson,” became equally important to the film’s identity.

A frequent mix-up is confusing the film’s director with its writers. Calder Willingham and Buck Henry wrote the screenplay from Charles Webb’s 1963 novella, while Nichols directed the finished movie. He won the Academy Award for Best Director, and the film was later selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.