ALAMY
to take a pass. For Henry, The Graduate was
the “best pitch I ever heard” and he ripped
much of the dialogue directly from the novel,
although the classic advice dispensed to
Benjamin by Mr Robinson (Murray Hamilton)
— “One word: plastics!” — is all Henry. “Buck
has a wry sense of humour and The Graduate’s
comedy is sort of off-centre,” adds Turman.
“It’s like Pinter: it’s funny but it makes you
nervous at the same time.” But nailing the
screenplay was easy compared to finding
the cast.THE GRADUATE
In Webb’s novel, Benjamin Braddock was the
archetypal blond-haired, blue-eyed WASP. Back
in the early ’60s, that meant Robert Redford.
Having worked with Nichols on Broadway in
Barefoot In The Park, Redford seemed a shoo-in
but Turman had one reservation: “I loved Bob,
but who in the world would believe he would be
insecure around a girl — nobody!”
Not giving up, Nichols invited Turman to
dinner, only to blindside the producer by also
inviting Redford to explain why he wouldn’t castthe actor. “I said, ‘Mike, you are so naughty but
let’s test him. I want to be proved wrong.” A screen
test was hastily arranged opposite Candice Bergen
— ‘Candy’ to Turman — as Elaine. “Halfway
through the test, Nichols turns to me and says,
“Turman, you son of a bitch, you’re right.”
Also screen tested for Benjamin were Charles
Grodin (“A wonderful reading”), Tony Bill and
Dustin Hoffman, who auditioned opposite the
eventual Elaine — Katharine Ross. Hoffman was
earning rave reviews on Broadway for British
farce Eh? but had never made a film before. He
felt out of his depth as a young Jewish actor
playing the ultimate WASP, was so intimidated
by Ross’ beauty he pinched her derrière to
lighten the mood (it didn’t) and left the
hours-long audition deflated.
“After all the tests, Mike and I sat in the
screening room in silence and I said, “You know
what? I’d be okay with Dustin and Katharine,”
says Turman. “We walked back to our offices in
silence until Mike said, ‘I think I would be too.
Let’s use them.’ I’m sure people felt we must have
shouted ‘Eureka’. It was much more casual than
that.” However lightly the decision was taken, it
became significant: Hoffman was funny, nervy
and sublime, paving the way for the De Niros,
Pacinos, Stallones and Allens to be leading men.
“You can’t fight history,” Turman says. “We must
have done something right.”THE ROBINSONS
Turman had one name on the top of his wish list
for the predatory Mrs Robinson — the virginal
Mrs Doris Day. “I like to cast against type,” he
says. “I thought her blonde, perky, all-American
Pepsi-Cola quality was 180 degrees opposite
from the darkness of the character. However, she
was married to her manager [Martin Melcher]
and he hated the book. He refused to give it to
her.” Nichols’ candidates included Ava Gardner,
Jeanne Moreau and Patricia Neal, who would
have got the role if she hadn’t suffered a serious
stroke. It was Nichols who then came up with
Anne Bancroft. “Annie was very close to Patricia
Neal, they both had a darker, more mature, more
serious quality. I jumped on board with that and
she proved to be wonderful.”
Coming from a theatre background, Nichols’
insisted on a three week rehearsal period that paid
dividends in numerous ways. It familiarised the
cast with the material to the point they could have
taken The Graduate on the road. But it also
weeded out a mistake in casting. “Gene Hackman
was cast as Mr Robinson and at the end of the
three weeks Mike fired him,” says Turman. “I was
stunned.” The consensus of opinion was that
Hackman, then 36, was just too young to play Mr
Robinson but Turman thought differently. “I never
understood it until I produced a film [Full Moon In
Blue Water] with Gene,” says Turman. “The father
in The Graduate was sort of a weak, defeated man.
Gene has a very tough, strong quality.”
The decision was even tougher given that
the newbie Hoffman and Hackman were close
friends. “We thought it would shake DustinClockwise left: Here’s
to you, Mrs Robinson
(Anne Bancroft) and
Ben (Dustin Hoffman);
Filming the iconic
wedding interruption;
Ben with Elaine
(Katharine Ross)...;
... And the pair
fleeing the church.�