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The Graduate Trivia

The Graduate Movie Trivia Quizzes

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4 The Graduate quizzes and 40 The Graduate trivia questions.
1.
  The Graduate   great trivia quiz  
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
One of my favourite movies of all time, this movie introduced Dustin Hoffman to the world.
Average, 10 Qns, FussBudget, Mar 06 19
Average
FussBudget gold member
Mar 06 19
3815 plays
2.
  "The Graduate": Masters' Work   great trivia quiz  
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
A challenging - but, I hope, fun - bunch of questions about one of the best movies ever made, its promotion, and its creation.
Average, 10 Qns, d2407, Jun 16 06
Average
d2407
1341 plays
3.
  Mike Nichols' "The Graduate"   popular trivia quiz  
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
"The Graduate" was released 40 years ago, but it remains as fresh and funny today as it was then. How much do you know about this great movie?
Average, 10 Qns, treplag, Oct 12 07
Average
treplag
1111 plays
4.
  Here's To You, Mrs. Robinson   popular trivia quiz  
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
This is a quiz about one of my favourite movies, "The Graduate". I can't believe no one has made one yet!
Average, 10 Qns, erinkimak, Dec 01 10
Average
erinkimak
1915 plays
trivia question Quick Question
What is Elaine's fiance known as to his fraternity brothers?

From Quiz ""The Graduate": Masters' Work"





The Graduate Trivia Questions

1. How does Mrs. Robinson induce Benjamin to go upstairs when they are alone together at her house after the graduation party?

From Quiz
Mike Nichols' "The Graduate"

Answer: She asks him if he wants to see Elaine's portrait.

Mrs. Robinson has to "seduce" Benjamin one small step at a time. They don't sleep together that first night, but she succeeds in letting him know that she is available whenever he is interested. Even after several months of physical intimacy, he still calls her "Mrs. Robinson".

2. What car does Benjamin receive from his parents as a graduation gift?

From Quiz "The Graduate": Masters' Work

Answer: Alfa Romeo

Benjamin's car is an Alfa Romeo Spider Veloce. Shiny red and new at the film's beginning, by movie's end it looks dirty and battered - probably from being driven over curbs, and up and down the California coast.

3. Which musical group sang the songs to the soundtrack for "The Graduate"?

From Quiz Here's To You, Mrs. Robinson

Answer: Simon & Garfunkel

Simon & Garfunkel composed and sang the songs recorded in the movie soundtrack.

4. Dustin Hoffman played Benjamin, fresh out of college. What was Benjamin's surname?

From Quiz The Graduate

Answer: Braddock

Dustin Hoffman has gone on to be one of the world's most versatile actors, appearing in "Tootsie", "Rain Man", "Papillon", "Midnight Cowboy", "Marathon Man", "Billy Bathgate", "Sphere" and many more.

5. Where does Benjamin take Elaine on their first date?

From Quiz Mike Nichols' "The Graduate"

Answer: To a strip club, then to a drive-in restaurant

Mrs. Robinson has elicited a promise from Benjamin that he will not date Elaine. But he is coerced into taking her out by his parents. He wants to make sure that Elaine won't want to see him again, so he takes her to a strip club. But she starts crying and he begins to feel sorry for her. So he treats her right after that.

6. What is the name of the hotel where Benjamin and Mrs. Robinson rendezvous?

From Quiz "The Graduate": Masters' Work

Answer: The Taft Hotel

The Taft Hotel's lobby and bar scenes were filmed at Los Angeles's Ambassador Hotel. From its inception in the 1920s and into the 1960s, the hotel served as a gathering spot for some of the elite of Hollywood and U.S. politics. Its Coconut Grove nightclub hosted several early Academy Awards, and every U.S. president from Herbert Hoover to Richard Nixon stayed there. Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev was also an Ambassador guest when visiting the U.S. in 1960. Robert Kennedy's June 5, 1968 assassination - he had just finished a speech after winning the California primary when he was gunned down in a kitchen pantry - began the Ambassador's slow demise. The hotel closed to guests in 1989 and was ultimately torn down in 2006. Dozens of well-known films and television shows used parts of the Ambassador in filming, including "Forest Gump", "Apollo 13", "The Mask" and "Pretty Woman".

7. In the "Elaine! Elaine!" scene, what words does Elaine scream when her mother, Mrs. Robinson, yells "It's too late!"?

From Quiz Here's To You, Mrs. Robinson

Answer: "Not for me!"

Elaine literally screams this in her mother's face, right before she runs off with Ben.

8. What present did Benjamin's father insist he demonstrate to their friends?

From Quiz The Graduate

Answer: Scuba Gear

Benjamin's father was played by William Daniels, who has also appeared in "Reds," "Sunburn," and "The Blue Lagoon."

9. For what occasion is Benjamin given a scuba outfit by his parents?

From Quiz Mike Nichols' "The Graduate"

Answer: His 21st birthday

Benjamin is persuaded to demonstrate the scuba outfit for the birthday party guests. He is clearly embarrassed, and takes his time coming out to the pool. While they are waiting, Mr. Braddock says, "This better work, or I'm out 200 bucks." He gets a new car - an Alfa Romeo - as a graduation present, not for his birthday.

10. When Benjamin and Elaine are driving to their first date, she asks him four questions. What are his answers?

From Quiz "The Graduate": Masters' Work

Answer: Yes. No. No. Yes.

Angry about being pressured by his parents and Mr. Robinson to take Elaine out, Benjamin is deliberately rude to her, ignoring her and driving recklessly. Their conversation as shown in the movie consists of: "You're living at home now. Is that right?" "Yes" "Do you know what you're going to do?" "No." "Are you going to graduate school?" "No." "Do you always drive like this?" "Yes."

11. Where does Ben take Elaine on their first date?

From Quiz Here's To You, Mrs. Robinson

Answer: strip club

Ben takes Elaine there so she will not want to date him anymore. The strip club upsets Elaine and she runs out crying.

12. When Benjamin told his father he was planning to travel to Berkeley to marry Elaine, his father's response was that he thought the idea was pretty:

From Quiz The Graduate

Answer: Half-baked

Benjamin's reply was "Oh no, It's completely baked"!

13. After Elaine returns to school, she begins dating someone, who later becomes her fiance. What is his name?

From Quiz Mike Nichols' "The Graduate"

Answer: Carl Smith

Carl is blond, handsome, and self-assured. He is a law student, and is known to his fraternity buddies as "The Make-out King". He comes from money, as his father is a doctor.

14. When "The Graduate" was released in 1967, what tagline was used on the movie posters?

From Quiz "The Graduate": Masters' Work

Answer: This is Benjamin. He's a little worried about his future.

This comes from the first dialogue of the movie. Benjamin is in his bedroom, avoiding the party his parents are throwing for him, and they come upstairs to retrieve him. He tells his father that he wants to be alone; that he's worried about his future, which he wants to be "different". Clearly, he gets his wish!

15. What song is played at the beginning, middle and end of the movie?

From Quiz Here's To You, Mrs. Robinson

Answer: The Sounds of Silence

This song symbolizes Ben's life - his not knowing what to do with his life in the beginning of the movie, his physical but silent relationship with Mrs. Robinson in the middle of the movie, and his happiness at the end, when he is finally with Elaine.

16. At the party, Mr Maguire (Walter Brooke) gave Benjamin 'one word' of advice:

From Quiz The Graduate

Answer: Plastics

Mr Maguire, played by Walter Brooke, said plastics were the way of the future.

17. Elaine is riding the bus to the zoo to meet her boyfriend. Benjamin has been following her, and he boards the same bus. When they arrive at the zoo, what does Benjamin say about her boyfriend as he sees him coming toward them?

From Quiz Mike Nichols' "The Graduate"

Answer: "He certainly is a good walker."

Carl Smith is a sharp contrast to Benjamin. He walks purposefully, and with a lot of confidence. He is smoking a pipe, and is carrying a tweed coat.

18. The desk clerk is played by one of the film's writers, who went on to further success in writing and comedy. Who was this man?

From Quiz "The Graduate": Masters' Work

Answer: Buck Henry

Buck Henry had been a regular on Steve Allen's 1961 television talk show but ultimately found his biggest successes as a writer and television performer. "The Graduate" was only his second screenplay. He went on to write such movies as "Catch-22", "What's Up Doc?" and "Heaven Can Wait" (which he also directed with the movie's star, Warren Beatty), and was a frequent host of television's "Saturday Night Live" during its first five seasons.

19. What was the name of the hotel that Ben and Mrs. Robinson frequently visited?

From Quiz Here's To You, Mrs. Robinson

Answer: The Taft Hotel

All the staff at the Taft Hotel knew Ben's name, which made Elaine very suspicious.

20. What luggage did Benjamin arrive at the hotel with, the first time he slept with Mrs Robinson?

From Quiz The Graduate

Answer: Toothbrush

He claimed to the Desk Clerk that he was travelling light!

21. What does Elaine tell Benjamin that Carl said when he proposed to her?

From Quiz Mike Nichols' "The Graduate"

Answer: He said that he thought they would make a pretty good team.

Benjamin is amused that Carl would have said something so corny in a proposal. The quotation is supposed to epitomize Carl's mediocrity.

22. Which actor, who won a "Best Actor" Academy Award in the 1970s, has an uncredited bit part in the movie, telling Benjamin's landlord "I'll get the cops"?

From Quiz "The Graduate": Masters' Work

Answer: Richard Dreyfuss

Dreyfuss, who went on to memorable roles in "Jaws" and many other films, including his "Best Actor" role for 1977's "The Goodbye Girl", plays the student who says "I'll get the cops." when Benjamin's landlord investigates a disturbance in Benjamin's apartment. The landlord is of course played by Norman Fell, who was later "Mr. Roper" in television's "Three's Company". Another uncredited actor is Mike Farrell, later to co-star with Alan Alda in television's "M*A*S*H". Farrell plays a bellhop, one of the many Taft Hotel employees to greet Benjamin as "Mr. Gladstone" when he and Elaine go there at the end of their date.

23. What university did Elaine attend?

From Quiz Here's To You, Mrs. Robinson

Answer: Berkeley

Elaine attended Berkeley University. This is said many times in the movie, and Ben even drives to Berkeley to find Elaine!

24. The opening scene shows Benjamin in:

From Quiz The Graduate

Answer: An airport

The scene shows Benjamin riding on the airport travelator (moving sidewalk).

25. Where is Elaine getting married?

From Quiz Mike Nichols' "The Graduate"

Answer: The First Presbyterian Church in Santa Barbara

The Robinsons have pulled Elaine out of school and hastily made the wedding plans before Benjamin can find out what is happening. They are confident they have succeeded, but they don't know Benjamin and how strong his feelings for Elaine really are.

26. After ordering Benjamin to have nothing further to do with Elaine, why does Mr. Robinson say "You'll pardon me if I don't shake hands with you"?

From Quiz "The Graduate": Masters' Work

Answer: Benjamin had said that having an affair with Mrs. Robinson was like shaking hands.

Confronted by Mr. Robinson about his affair with Mrs. Robinson, Benjamin tries to diffuse the situation by saying "What happened between Mrs. Robinson and me was nothing. It didn't mean anything. We might just as well have been shaking hands." - not diplomacy at its finest.

27. When Ben and Elaine were at the zoo waiting for Elaine's "friend", what attraction were they looking at?

From Quiz Here's To You, Mrs. Robinson

Answer: monkey house

They were waiting near the monkey house for Elaine's new boyfriend. Elaine did not want Ben to know that they were more than friends.

28. What was the song that played over the opening scene?

From Quiz The Graduate

Answer: The Sound Of Silence

"The Sound Of Silence" was written by Simon & Garfunkel some years before the movie.

29. What does Benjamin say to Dr. Smith's (Carl's father's) receptionist to get her to tell him where the wedding is?

From Quiz Mike Nichols' "The Graduate"

Answer: He says that he is Dr. Smith's brother and also the minister.

Benjamin finds out that the wedding is in Santa Barbara, but he doesn't know where. He pulls into a gas station and uses the phone to call Dr. Smith's office. He knows that he has to tell a pretty tall tale to persuade the receptionist to reveal the location of the church to a stranger.

30. Which "Graduate" character was an art major in college?

From Quiz "The Graduate": Masters' Work

Answer: Mrs. Robinson

When Benjamin tries to have a conversation with Mrs. Robinson, he suggests they talk about art and she's not interested. Later, she reveals that her college major was, in fact, art. Otherwise, the script is vague in many ways about the characters: Ben went to college "back east" but nothing more specific. Mr. Robinson was "a law student," but we don't know if he got a law degree or is a practicing attorney. He and Mr. Braddock are "business partners" but we don't know what they do. Mrs. Robinson is the only character in the film whose undergraduate academic major is mentioned specifically.

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