Max's Musings

Richard Cory

Richard Corey

My personal soundtrack includes at least a half-dozen songs by Simon and Garfunkel. I remember when, in 1969, my brother gave me their LP The Sounds of Silence for Christmas and being astonished at the music. That album had amazing songs on it, including the title track that had been used in The Graduate, a movie that I was only vaguely aware of at the time. I was 19, and I don't think the movie even came to the little Iowa town where I grew up.

About that movie. I have a confession to make. But first, bear with me.

I know that The Graduate is a great movie. It's got many iconic scenes. There's the one where the middle-aged guy tells Benjamin, played by Dustin Hoffman, that the future is "plastics." Turns out he was prescient, but not in a good way. Then there's the scene near the end, at the wedding. Of course, the most famous scene is the seduction scene with Mrs. Robinson, played by Ann Bancroft.

Today, it's impossible to imagine anyone but Hoffman and Bancroft in their roles, but the director, Mike Nichols, considered many other actors. For Mrs. Robinson, Nichols considered Doris Day, Shelly Winters, Ingrid Bergman, and at least a half dozen others. Doris Day turned the role down because the nudity offended her.

Nichols originally offered the part of Benjamin to Bart Ward, who turned it down to play Robin the TV series Batman. (!) Others he considered included Harrison Ford, Robert Redford, and Jack Nicholson. Charles Grodin turned the role down because he wasn't offered enough money.

While they weren't the first choices for their roles, both Hoffman and Bancroft were nominated for the Academy Award, for best actor and best actress respectively. This was only Hoffman's second movie appearance, his first being a minor part in a long-forgotten film called Tiger Makes Out.

Sometimes, it turns out that your second choice, or even your tenth choice, is the best choice.

Anyway, I know that The Graduate is a great movie.

The thing is, I've never actually watched it all the way through. That's my confession.

It's not like I've not tried. I just can't stay awake during this movie. If Mike Nichols were reading this, I'd want to tell him, "It's not you, it's me." Every time I try to watch it, I wind up falling asleep. I'll wake up and see bits and pieces, but not the whole thing. Maybe I'll try again some day, but I'm so old now I can barely stay awake all the way through any movie, so it's probably a lost cause.

Anyway, that's my Simon and Garfunkel confession.

This doesn't have much to do with the song in the title of this blog, except that it was on the album my brother gave me that year, the one that introduced me to Simon and Garfunkel and The Graduate. I remember being awestruck by the songs. It led me to seek out Edgar Arlington Robinson and read his poetry as well as explore other songs by Simon and Garfunkel--songs that may or may not make it to this compilation. I chose the song in the blog's title because of its connection to Arlington and his compelling poem. I'm a sucker for a twist ending.

Here are some links, starting with Simon and Garfunkel singing Richard Cory.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAGKpoVFbmw

Richard Cory, poem by Edgar Arlington Robinson
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44982/richard-cory

Sounds of Slience, Simon and Garfunkel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fWyzwo1xg0

Seduction Scene in The Graduate
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3lKbMBab18

Final scene in The Graduate
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahFARm2j38c

There's a great future in plastics, from The Graduate
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMtLdE5Zq-8