10 Best Unscripted Movie Endings Ever
7. Awkward Silence - The Graduate (1967)
When it comes to classic movie endings, you don't get much better than The Graduate, Mike Nichol's romantic comedy-drama about the hopeless Benjamin (Dustin Hoffman) who begins an affair with an older woman before he falls in love with her daughter, Elaine (Katherine Ross).
After breaking up Elaine's family when his secrets come to light, Ben attempts to right his wrongs by rebelling against her upcoming wedding, an act of rebellious defiance that causes Elaine to run away with him.
Escaping the church, the pair get on a bus, ecstatic, but quickly find their smiles fading, their futures suddenly clouded and unsure.
According to Nichols himself, the initial script actually had some dialogue tying the movie and its central romance together, but in the end he decided to leave their fate somewhat ambiguous, opting to have Hoffman and Ross sit together uncomfortably by not telling them when he was going to cut.
The actors' natural uncertainty surrounding the scene instantly made it a classic with few equals, and one that still wonderfully holds up today, music and all.