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31st July 2025
03:53pm BST

Our TV movie pick for tonight (Thursday, 31 July) is The Graduate, the Oscar-winning '60s comedy-drama.
Directed by acclaimed filmmaker Mike Nichols (The Birdcage), the film stars a young Dustin Hoffman (Rain Man) as Benjamin, a disillusioned college graduate back living with his parents.
As he tries to avoid the one question everyone keeps asking - 'What does he want to do with his life?' - an unexpected diversion crops up.
He is seduced by Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft, The Miracle Worker), a bored housewife and family friend.
"But what begins as a fun tryst turns complicated when Benjamin falls for the one woman Mrs. Robinson demanded he stay away from, her daughter, Elaine (Katharine Ross, The Stepford Wives)," the plot synopsis adds.
A brilliantly sharp portrait of post-college anxieties, The Graduate also boasts an iconic Simon & Garfunkel soundtrack and one of the most famous final scenes of all time.
The movie was nominated for seven Oscars, with Nichols winning in the Best Director category, and it remains a classic that is still parodied and referenced in films and TV to this day.
Also, what a poster! The Graduate is airing on TV tonight on BBC Four at 11.10pm. The film is also available to rent on Amazon, Apple TV, Curzon, Google Play, the Sky Store and YouTube.

Funny Girl - BBC Four - 8.50pm
The '60s musical comedy that earned Barbra Streisand her Oscar.
Top Gun: Maverick - Film4 - 9pm
Tom Cruise stars in maybe the best blockbuster movie of recent years.
Looper - Legend Xtra - 9pm
This inventive time travel flick sees Joseph Gordon Levitt play a hitman, who is tasked with killing his future self.
The older version of the hitman is played by Bruce Willis in a great performance.
Gold - Legend - 9pm
Matthew McConaughey stars in this decent 2016 movie as a prospector who hunts for gold in Indonesia.
Speed 2: Cruise Control - ITV4 - 9pm
Stargate - Sky Max - 11pm
This ’90s sci-fi that launched a franchise sees a professor (James Spader) team up with a retired army colonel (Kurt Russell) to unlock the code of an interstellar gateway to an ancient Egypt-like world.
Spider-Man: No Way Home - BBC One - 11.10pm (except NI).
The best of the Tom Holland-led Spider-Man movies.
Vehicle 19 - Legend Xtra - 11.20pm
Paul Walker is the lead of this watchable thriller set in South Africa.
He plays a man who unknowingly picks up a rental car that winds up tying him to a web of corrupt local police.
Game of Death - ITV4 - 11.25pm
A direct-to-DVD action flick with Wesley Snipes.
Infinite - Film4 - 11.35pm
This 2021 sci-fi action flick starring Mark Wahlberg has a low 17% on Rotten Tomatoes, which means you may want to avoid it.
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