The Graduate is a 1967 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Mike Nichols and written by Buck Henry and Calder Willingham, based on the 1963 novel of the same name by Charles Webb, who wrote it shortly after graduating from Williams College. The film tells the story of 21-year-old Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman), a recent college graduate with no well-defined aim in life, who is seduced by an older married woman, Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft), but then falls for her daughter Elaine (Katharine Ross). The Graduate was released on December 21, 1967, to critical and commercial success, grossing $104.9million worldwide, making it the highest-grossing film of 1967. Adjusted for inflation (as of 2021), the film's gross is $857 million, making it the 23rd highest-grossing film in North America with inflation taken into account. It received seven nominations at the 40th Academy Awards including for Best Picture and won Best Director. In 1996, The Graduate was selected for preservation in the U.S. National Film Registry as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". It is currently (as of the 2007 rankings) ranked by the American Film Institute as the 17th greatest American film of all time, having originally been ranked 7th in 1997. Plot After earning his bachelor's degree from an East Coast college, Benjamin Braddock returns to his parents' Pasadena, California home. During his graduation party, he is urged to join a business dealing in plastics—the material of the future. Benjamin cringes as his parents are fulsome in their praise of him during the party and retreats to his bedroom until Mrs. Robinson, the wife of his father's law partner, insists that he drive her home. Once there, she tries to seduce him. He initially resists her advances, but his failed attempts to connect with his parents make him feel isolated. Desperate for any kind of connection, he invites Mrs. Robinson to the Taft Hotel, where he registers under the pseudonym "Mr. Gladstone". Benjamin spends the summer floating in his parents' pool by day and meeting Mrs. Robinson at the hotel by night. During one of their trysts, Mrs. Robinson reveals that her loveless marriage resulted when she accidentally became pregnant with her daughter, Elaine. When Benjamin jokingly suggests that he date Elaine, Mrs. Robinson angrily forbids it. However, Benjamin's parents, unaware of the affair, are eager for their son to date Elaine and relentlessly pester him to ask her out,