Cat.no: 74321 671679

Cert: 15

Running time: 101 minutes

Year: 1967

Pressing: 1999

Region(s): 2 (UK PAL)

Chapters: 25 plus extras

Sound: Linear PCM Mono

Languages: English

Subtitles: None

Widescreen: 2.35:1

16:9-enhanced: No

Macrovision: No

Disc Format: DVD 5

Price: £15.99

Extras : Scene index, trailer, stills gallery, original poster

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Director:

Mike Nichols (Biloxi Blues, The Birdcage, Carnal Knowledge, Primary Colors, Regarding Henry, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf ?, Wolf, Working Girl)

Producer:

Lawrence Turman

Screenplay:

Calder Willingham and Buck Henry

Music:

Simon and Garfunkel

Cast:

Mrs. Robinson: Anne Bancroft (The Assassin, Demetrius and the Gladiators, The Elephant Man, GI Jane, Great Expectations (1997), How to Make an American Quilt, Malice)
Ben Braddock: Dustin Hoffman (All The President's Men, American Buffalo, Billy Bathgate, Dick Tracy, Family Business, Hero, Hook, Ishtar, Kramer Vs. Kramer, Lenny, Little Big Man, Mad City, Marathon Man, Midnight Cowboy, Outbreak, Papillon, Rain Man, Sleepers, Sphere, Straw Dogs, Tootsie, Wag The Dog)
Elaine Robinson: Katharine Ross (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Man with the Deadly Lens, The Stepford Wives, TV: Dynasty)
Mr. Braddock: William Daniels (Blind Date, The Blue Lagoon, Her Alibi, The Little Match Girl, TV: Knight Rider)
Mr. Robinson: Murray Hamilton (The Boston Strangler, Brubaker, Jaws 2)

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Taking one of his mother's friends home, Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft), is about to give Ben a life-changing experience. Old enough to know better, she starts flirting with him which makes him feel very uneasy, especially when she strips naked in front of him. From initial bed-romps to booking a room in a hotel for the night, they go about their affair without gaining attention from anyone. Problems are abound when her daughter Elaine (Katharine Ross) returns home and Ben is persuaded to take her out. The question is - how long can he string along a girl he begins to love while carrying on with her mother before the truth comes out?

In his first major film role, Hoffman is totally convincing as the naive young graduate entering a new playground where the rules are different, while Bancroft plays it cool as the married woman doing what she shouldn't be doing while maintaining a facade when other people are around. The script is also first-rate with clever turns of phrase and witty one-liners, such as when Ben arrives at the hotel ahead of Mrs. R. :

Receptionist: "Can I help you, sir ?"
Ben: "What? No.. I'm just.."
Receptionist: "Are you here for an affair, sir ?"
Ben (shocked): "What ?!?"
Receptionist: "The Singleman party, sir ?"
Ben (relieved): "Oh, yes. The Singleman Party!"
Receptionist: "It's in the main ballroom."
Ben: "Ah, thank you. Hmm."

Benjamin realised there was still more learning to be done after graduation.

The print loses a point for not being anamorphic and another half for having a few artifacts, but nothing that would be noticeable from the usual viewing distance, resulting in a picture that looks very watchable. It is presented in its original widescreen ratio of 2.35:1 which is the only way to watch this film. The average bitrate is a good 5.56Mb/s, occasionally peaking over 7Mb/s.

Director Mike Nichols utilises the full widescreen frame to great effect throughout the whole of the film and to even crop it to 16:9, the preferred ratio of the TV industry these days even though it's not to everyone's taste to crop a film, would destroy many an excellent composition.

The sound is mono only - unsurprising for a film made over thirty years ago. There's a few dropouts through the soundtrack but nothing to problematical. It's curious to note that the disc has not been mastered in Dolby Digital (1.0 for mono) though as opposed to the Linear PCM sound used instead.

The soundtrack comes courtesy, as everyone should know, of Simon and Garfunkel, which includes songs such as Scarborough Fair, The Sound of Silence and Mrs Robinson (no relation). Thankfully, even in mono these come across clearly.

Extras :

Chapters :

Languages & Subtitles :

The film is in English only, with no subtitles. This seems to be the case for all of the current batch of BMG releases which is a shame as it has a very witty script.

Stills Gallery & Film Poster :

10 stills from the film can be viewed along with the original poster from when the film was first released in 1967.

Menu :

The menu works fine but is silent and static. It would have been nice to have some sound in the form of Messrs. Simon and Garfunkel here. You can't skip past the copyright info at the start, unless you've already bookmarked a scene in which you can instantly access that part.

For some reason, there's no "Play Movie" option. If you've already been viewing part of the film and have come back to the main menu, "Return To Movie" will take you back, but to start the film from scratch, you'll either need to select the first scene yourself, or reboot the DVD altogether since it will begin after the copyright info has been displayed.

Benjamin still hadn't got the hang of '69's.

A special edition video has been previously released - and as far as I know is now deleted - for £3 cheaper, so it's worth the extra to have this film on DVD even if it doesn't have much in the way of extras. However, if you were to spend the extra and get the American release for $30, that comes with a Dolby Digital soundtrack (mono and remade-in-stereo options available), more than one trailer and an interview with Dustin Hoffman, so you pays your money and you takes your choice...

I have to ask though, why are we getting non-anamorphic widescreen transfers from BMG when it's standard for them to release 16:9-enhanced anamorphic versions in Germany, also with plenty of extras ?

DVD Trivia: William Daniels, who plays Ben's father, was the voice of KITT the car in Knight Rider.

FILM	 		: *****
PICTURE QUALITY 	: ***½
SOUND QUALITY		: **
EXTRAS			: **
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OVERALL			: ***

Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 1999.