Oscars 1967: If We Picked The Winners (Best Picture)

by Christopher Lominac

1. The Graduate graduate1 The Graduate ranks among my all-time favorite films (probably in the top ten), and the film is one of the most unique movies in cinema history. I have yet to see any film, from any era, match the genius style and pacing of The Graduate. Simultaneously funny, insightful, sad, and romantic, this incredible combination is masterfully mixed by Mr. Mike Nichols into some coherent tale of existential angst. If you think The Graduate is just about some kid sleeping with some old lady (like I did going in), you're in for a big surprise. Based on a book by Charles Webb and adapted for the screen by Calder Willingham and Buck Henry, The Graduate tells the story of one Benjamin Braddock (in a superb performance by the great Dustin Hoffman), a recent college graduate who has now come home and is looking to embark on the journey called life. The only problem is Benjamin has absolutely zero clue what he wants to do with his life. He gets a lot of advice from his elders ("Plastics!"), but none of these ideas seem satisfactory to Benjamin. He is a soul adrift at sea, a man without purpose. Benjamin eventually finds some meaning to his life when he, somewhat reluctantly at first, strikes up an affair with a much older woman, Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft), who happens to be the wife of his father's business associate. The tryst gives Benjamin something to hold onto, finally feeling not like a boy, but in his eyes, a real man. This false bravado evaporates though when, much to the dismay of Mrs. Robinson, he is forced by his parents to take the Robinson's daughter Elaine (Katherine Ross) out on a date. After an initial horrible start, the young couple soon fall in love, but Benjamin's affair with Mrs. Robinson soon threatens to end the relationship. Much more than this simple story though, it's how it's told, with humor, philosophy, and poetry, that makes The Graduate such a breathlessly impactful film. The film is an insane mix of emotions and styles that unintentionally illustrates what the medium of film can accomplish that no other art form can. The film famously also has a beautiful score composed by Simon and Garfunkel, in what has to be one of the most perfect image/music synching in the history of cinema. If you can't tell yet, I really love The Graduate, and as great as In the Heat of the Night is, The Graduate, without a doubt, would be my choice to win Best Picture of 1967. That concludes this article, but for the film historians among you, let me know in the comments section which films from this cinematically groundbreaking year you would have crowned champion had you been in the Academy in 1967.

Contributor
Contributor

A film fanatic at a very young age, starting with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle movies and gradually moving up to more sophisticated fare, at around the age of ten he became inexplicably obsessed with all things Oscar. With the incredibly trivial power of being able to chronologically name every Best Picture winner from memory, his lifelong goal is to see every Oscar nominated film, in every major category, in the history of the Academy Awards.