New York, Sept 03: The Graduate might have achieved the honour of being called a Hollywood classic, but Dustin Hoffman did not believe the film would make a big hit.
In Pictures at a Revolution, Mark Harris` upcoming Penguin Press book, Hoffman has revealed that a reading through screenwriter Buck Henry`s script had given him had given him glumness on his face.
"I`ll never forget. That movie just fell right on its ass. By the time the reading was over, there was glumness on everybody`s face. The same expression," the New York Post quoted him as saying.
Even Henry, who played an officious hotel clerk in an encounter with Hoffman`s character Benjamin Braddock in the film, has admitted that his script did not have a pleasant impact on the star cast.
"I don`t think there was a lot of love in that room. Dustin was very withdrawn. And when Anne [Bancroft] started working, I don`t know what was wrong, but I thought, Lord, there`s no Mrs. Robinson in there that I know of," he told the author.
The small 1967 film turned Hoffman into a star, was nominated for seven Oscars, produced the No. 1 single "Mrs. Robinson" by Simon and Garfunkel, and went onto gross over USD 100 million.
Pictures at a Revolution is scheduled to be released next February.
Bureau Report
