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2. The Graduate

Dustin Hoffman’s big splash onto the scene came in the now iconic and timeless The Graduate, the film for which Nichols won the Best Director award (losing Best Picture to the race-relations Sidney Poitier film, In the Heat of the Night). By the time Nichols helmed Working Girl, he had proven himself quite adept at weaving popular music to create a timeless theme for his film, having done so exquisitely with the Simon and Garfunkel hit “Mrs. Robinson” in the Graduate.

The story is well known - the young Hoffman returns home to disaffected parents after college, only to be seduced by the temptress Mrs. Robinson, played by the reliable Anne Bancroft and then to later fall in love with the older woman’s daughter. Sex, sexuality, teenage anxiety, and the banality of the rich are just some of the themes that Nichols successfully and bravely explores and debates in only his second-feature film. He creates a movie that is the sum of several brilliant moving parts and makes them even better by capturing real emotions from his actors, not one of which hits a false note throughout the entire film.

It should be no surprise that The Graduate became one of the highest grossing movies of its time and is now a timeless classic. What John Hughes captures about the young heart in his comedic way throughout his career, Nichols also discovered brilliantly in a single piece that transcends its own youth by seriously confronting the serious subjects it features and having lots to say about others (such as aging, and, again, money and its pitfalls). In short, there is something for everything in this movie, which its director put together as a tight and eternally relevant piece. For once, the Academy got it way right on this one.

1. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Nichols’ first motion picture remains in my view his best, if only because, well, what a way to burst out onto the scene. From the perspective of critical reception, how about these stats for accolades: the movie received a whopping 13 Oscar nominations (the record is 14); its entire cast was nominated for an acting Oscar (only two other movies have done this); and the movie received a nomination in every single category it was eligible for (only a 1930s obscure Best Picture winner, Cimarron, has achieved this).

And how about for what really matters? By the time Nichols made Virginia Woolf, the Edward Albee play was well-known and had been received positively when on the stage. How then, to make it appealing to audiences anew? And how to keep the audience engaged in a play that features mostly people talking and is set in one single room? Nichols answered these questions brilliantly. He cured the single room problem by adding a small number of moves outside the protagonists’ home. And he solved the issue of the talking-only play by using Hitchcock-like close-ups and zooms of the actors for dramatic effect. All of this worked, and the result is a gripping film that is not afraid to delve deeply and honestly into themes about sexuality. Indeed, form the very beginning, Nichols exhibited no fear in this realm.

But most notable in Virginia Woolf is the acting, which by most accounts can be attributed as much to Nichols as to the actors themselves. Rarely portrayed as anything other than a dazzling beauty at the time, Elizabeth Taylor is portrayed older, heavier, and rawer. The emotions of hatred, love, and loss that she exhibits are the best work of her career, and rightly netted her a second Best Actress Academy Award. The dynamic between the actors also works seamlessly and gives the film the realistic and believable nature that the play demands.

Mike Nichols had a brilliant career and graced us with unforgettable movies. In a somewhat unexpected twist, however, I believe his first was the best amongst his masterpieces.

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