December 20, 1967: “The Graduate” Premieres

December 20, 1967: The Graduate premieres, directed by Mike Nichols. It might have been the first movie not for teenagers that had rock and roll performers do the soundtrack: Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel.

But despite this, and its year of release -- that of the Summer of Love, with the Vietnam War ramping up ever higher -- with a few Hays Code-minded edits in mind, it could have been made in the 1950s.

Dustin Hoffman plays Benjamin Braddock, newly graduated from Williams College in Massachusetts, who returns to the Los Angeles suburb of Pasadena, California, not sure of what he wants to do with the rest of his life. His parents (William Daniels and Elizabeth Wilson) are worried.

During his graduation party, Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft), the wife of his father's law partner, asks him to drive her home. Once there, she tries to seduce him. At first he resists her advances but later changes his mind. He ends up chastely dating her daughter, Elaine (Katharine Ross), while maintaining his affair with the mother. Elaine finds out, dumps Benjamin, and returns to the University of California in Berkeley.

Benjamin follows her there, and finds out she's dating a medical student, Carl Smith (Brian Avery). Elaine is conflicted about her feelings for both men. Her father (Murray Hamilton) shows up, says he and Mrs. Robinson are getting a divorce, and threatens Benjamin with jail if he sees Elaine again. Mr. Robinson forces Elaine to leave college to marry Carl.

On the day of the wedding, Benjamin runs to the church, arriving just as the ceremony is ending: He's too late. His desperate appearance in the glass church gallery stirs Elaine into defying her mother and fleeing the sanctuary. Benjamin fights off Mr. Robinson and repels the wedding guests by swinging a large cross, which he uses to barricade the church doors, trapping everyone inside. Benjamin and Elaine escape aboard a bus and sit among the startled passengers, with Elaine still in her wedding gown.

As the bus drives on, their ecstatic smiles slowly change into neutral expressions as they begin to ponder their uncertain future together. After all, she's still married to Carl.

For the record, Dustin Hoffman was already 30 years old – only 6 years younger than Anne Bancroft. Who was married to Mel Brooks. Well, at least now, we know she had a type.

Richard Dreyfuss and Mike Farrell each had uncredited roles in the film.

Murray Hamilton, who played Mr. Robinson, but is better remembered as Mayor Larry Vaughn in Jaws, died in 1986, shortly after playing Blanche's father, Curtis "Big Daddy" Hollingsworth, on The Golden Girls. That same year, Walter Brooke, who famously told Benjamin that the future was one word, "Plastics," died. Anne Bancroft died in 2005, Mike Nichols in 2014, Elizabeth Wilson in 2015. As of December 20, 2022, Dustin Hoffman and Katharine Ross are still alive.

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December 20, 1967 was a Wednesday. Baseball was out of season. Football was in midweek. There were 4 games in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 138-131 at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena. Willis Reed scored 33 points. The Lakers moved into the brand-new Forum in Inglewood 10 days later.

* The Boston Celtics beat the expansion San Diego Rockets, 126-116 at the San Diego Sports Arena (now the Pechanga Arena).

* The San Francisco Warriors beat the Detroit Pistons, 113-109 at the Cow Palace outside San Francisco in Daly City, California.

* And the Philadelphia 76ers beat the expansion Seattle SuperSonics, 160-122 at the Seattle Center Coliseum. An opportunity for Wilt Chamberlain to feast, and he scored 53 points and grabbed 38 rebounds.

There were 3 games in the brand-new American Basketball Association:

* The Minnesota Muskies beat the New Orleans Buccaneers, 100-93 at the Mississippi Coliseum in Jackson, technically a home game for the Bucs.

* The Houston Mavericks beat the Kentucky Colonels, 99-98 at the Sam Houston Coliseum.

* The Indiana Pacers beat the Anaheim Amigos, 144-142 at the Anaheim Convention Center.

And there were 4 games in the newly-expanded NHL:

* The New York Rangers beat the Detroit Red Wings, 2-0 at the old Madison Square Garden. The Rangers moved into the new Garden 53 days later.

* The Montreal Canadiens beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 5-0 at the Montreal Forum.

* The Chicago Black Hawks beat the Boston Bruins, 6-3 at the Chicago Stadium.

* The St. Louis Blues beat the Oakland Seals, 2-1 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena.

* And the Philadelphia Flyers, the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Minnesota North Stars and the Los Angeles Kings were not scheduled,

May 25, 1969: "Midnight Cowboy" Premieres

May 25, 1969: Midnight Cowboy premieres, directed by John Schlesinger. It was the 1st film to receive an X rating, under the still-new movie ratings system, and still win an Academy Award.

The casting was a little bit of an irony: Yonkers, New York native Jon Voight plays Joe Buck, a dim-witted Texan who goes to New York City, thinking sophisticated women will pay to have sex with a real Texas cowboy, and finds out otherwise, and falls intro desperate straits; while Ratso Rizzo, a streetwise New Yorker, is played by Dustin Hoffman, a Los Angeles native. Sylvia Miles, Brenda Vaccaro, Barnard Hughes and a young Bob Balaban also appear.

The film's most-quoted scene may, or may not, have been an accident, literally, depending on who's telling the story. Voight and Hoffman are walking west down 58th Street, thinking 6th Avenue has been closed off to traffic for the sake of the film, when a taxi comes up, and nearly hits Hoffman. He stays in character, slams his hand on the hood, and yells, "Hey! I'm walkin' here! I'm walkin' here!"

Fred Neil's song "Everybody's Talkin'," as sung by Harry Nilsson, bookends the film, both Joe's ride from Houston to New York at the beginning and the tragic ride he takes with Ratso down to Miami at the end. Along with "I'm walkin' here!" it's probably the most-remembered part of the film.

Because of both the heterosexual and the homosexual themes, the Motion Picture Association of America gave it an X rating. It was a box-office hit, anyway. In 1971, the standards had changed, and it was re-released with an R rating.

Midnight Cowboy was nominated for 7 Academy Awards, winning 3: Best Picture (still the only X- or NC-17-rated film ever to win it), Best Director for Schlesinger, and Best Adapted Screenplay for Waldo Salt. Hoffman and Voight were both nominated for Best Actor, but lost to a "real cowboy," John Wayne, winning his 1st Oscar at age 62, for True Grit.

It took 5 years for the film to be broadcast on television, with 25 minutes cut out so that it could meet censorship regulations.

In 1961, Breakfast at Tiffany's showed a New York that was still classic and magical. By 1969, Midnight Cowboy showed the City to have became a garish mess of crime and poverty. In 1976, Taxi Driver showed things as even worse, where what was once good had become crazy (including Travis), and what was bad was irredeemable. Things bottomed out in 1981, with Fort Apache: The Bronx.

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May 25, 1969 was a Sunday. While it is common for a big film to premiere during Memorial Day Weekend, it is unusual for a film to premiere on a Sunday. These games were played in Major League Baseball:

* The New York Yankees were swept in a doubleheader by the Minnesota Twins, 2-1 and 3-2 at Yankee Stadium. Dave Boswell allowed only 3 hits in the opener, outpitching Fritz Peterson. Harmon Killebrew went 0-for-3 but had an RBI on a sacrifice fly. Rod Carew only appeared as a defensive replacement.

Dick Woodson outpitched Stan Bahnsen in the nightcap. Killebrew went 3-for-4 with a walk and an RBI. Carew went 2-for-3 with 2 walks. Charlie Manuel, later to manage the Philadelphia Phillies to a World Series win, hit a home run for the Twins.

* The New York Mets lost to the Houston Astros, 6-3 at the Astrodome in Houston. Denny Lemaster outpitched Tom Seaver.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Oakland Athletics, 5-3 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Brooks Robinson hit a home run. Frank Robinson went 1-for-5.Reggie Jackson went 0-for-4.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Washington Senators, 3-2 at District of Columbia Stadium in Washington. (It was renamed Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium 2 weeks later.) Ellie Rodriguez doubled Bob Oliver home in the top of the 12th inning.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-1 at Atlanta Stadium (later renamed Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium). Hank Aaron went 1-for-4.

* Ball Four fans, take note: The Seattle Pilots beat the Cleveland Indians, 3-2 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Tommy Harper drew a bases-loaded walk in the top of the 8th inning for the winning run, from opposing pitcher Stan Williams. I wonder if he told Williams, "'preciate it, thanks."

Marty Pattin started, Diego Seguí was the winning pitcher, and Jim Bouton got Zoilo Versalles to walk out, then walked José Cardenal, and was removed for John O'Donoghue. He gave up a single to Cap Peterson, and Gary Bell had to be brought in to get out of the jam. He got the save.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Montreal Expos, 7-2 at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. This was a rare Reds game in which Pete Rose did not play. Johnny Bench went 0-for-3 with a walk.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the California Angels, 10-0 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Denny McLain pitched a 3-hit shutout. Al Kaline went 1-for-3.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Chicago White Sox, 1-0 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Carl Yastrzemski went 1-for-4. Jim Lonborg pitched 4-hit shutout ball for 7 innings, outdoing Wilbur Wood, and Vicente Romo completed the 5-hit shutout.

* A doubleheader was split at San Diego Stadium (later renamed Jack Murphy Stadium and Qualcomm Stadium). The San Diego Padres won the 1st game, 10-2. The Chicago Cubs won the 2nd game, 1-0. Ron Santo hit a home run off Joe Niekro in the top of the 9th inning, winning it for Ted Abernathy in relief of Bill Hands. Over the 2 games, Ernie Banks went 3-for-7 with a walk and an RBI.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 4-0 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Bob Gibson pitched a 6-hit shutout. Curt Flood went 4-for-5 with an RBI.

* And the Pittsburgh Pirates swept a doubleheader from the San Francisco Giants, 2-1 and 6-2 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. In the 1st game, Roberto Clemente went 0-for-3 with a walk, Willie Stargell went 1-for-4 with an RBI, and Willie Mays went 0-for-3 with a walk. Stargell did not appear in the 2nd game, and Clemente and Mays each appeared as a pinch-hitter and failed to reach base.