Go Behind the Scenes of ‘The Graduate’ With 9 Rare Photos From the Making of the ’60s Classic

Here, Bancroft and Hoffman share a laugh during the filming of a bedroom scene. While the complex dynamics of their age-gap relationship were key to the film (and “Mrs. Robinson, you're trying to seduce me,” remains one of the best-known movie quotes), in real life, Bancroft was just six years older than Hoffman.

The Graduate was only Mike Nichols’ second film, but he made a splash with his 1966 debut, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, and the combined success of these two movies made him one of Hollywood’s most in-demand directors. The filmmaker, seen here on the set of The Graduate, went on to make films like Carnal Knowledge (1971), Silkwood (1983), Heartburn (1986), Working Girl (1988), The Birdcage (1996) and Primary Colors (1998) before his death at 83 in 2014.

In The Graduate’s famed opening, Hoffman solemnly goes through the airport to his family’s home in California as Simon & Garfunkel’s “The Sound of Silence” plays. Here, Nichols directs the star during the making of a scene that would perfectly set the tone for the film.

The Graduate is the rare film that has opening and closing scenes ranked among the most legendary in movie history. In the film’s final moments, Hoffman crashes Ross’ wedding in the nick of time, and the young couple runs off and hops on a bus together, only to soon have their smiles give way to more contemplative expressions as they realize the magnitude of their impulsive act. Here, the crew films Hoffman as he prepares to make his over-the-top entrance into the church where the wedding is taking place.

There’s a lot of drama in the relationship between Hoffman and Ross’ characters, given Bancroft’s inappropriate seduction, and here, Nichols looks on as an argument between the two up-and-coming stars is filmed. Looking back on the film, Hoffman remembered Nichols as an exacting director with a unique approach to shooting, saying, “Under normal circumstances with a regular studio film, you’ll have 50-odd days [for something like The Graduate]. It wasn’t difficult; it was actors and four walls and a couple of things outside. But [we shot for] 100 days. And he also was able to hire crew [for rehearsals]—sound men, the cinematographer, a few people like that. We rehearsed this like it was a play. Before we started shooting, we could have gone on stage, because it was all memorized. He was constantly working on the set with Sam O’Steen [the editor] and Bob Surtees, the cinematographer. It’s never done.”

Hoffman’s performance won him a strong fanbase of young people who related to his character, and here, he goes through a large pile of fan mail in the office of Joseph E. Levine, whose company, Embassy Pictures, distributed The Graduate.

In this whimsical shot, Hoffman makes shadow puppets on the wall of the Embassy Pictures screening room. While he had a handful of TV appearances to his name when he was cast in The Graduate, the film gave him his breakout role and made him one of the biggest stars of the ’60s and ’70s New Hollywood era.

Here, Hoffman and Ross look stylish while at a dinner table during the making of the film. Ross went on to star in another ’60s classic, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, two years after The Graduate. Reflecting on The Graduate’s unforgettable final scene, she said, “You are always told you just keep going in a scene until the director says ‘cut.’ Well Mike didn’t say it for the longest time. We ran out of dialogue, but the camera kept running. What do I think? I think Elaine got off at the next stop.”

By today’s standards, this poster for The Graduate, which shows Hoffman and Bancroft in bed together, looks pretty tame, but at the time, it was actually banned from being displayed in the New York City subway due to being “in poor taste.” Judging from this photo, Hoffman isn’t quite sure about that assessment.