It's never too late to go back to school.
In conjunction with its 50th anniversary, The Graduate heads back to movie theaters beginning April 8 at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, Calif. Released in 1967, the classic comedic drama, which starred Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft, is one of the highest grossing films of all time, according to Box Office Mojo. The chart-topping soundtrack written by Simon & Garfunkel and Dave Grusin is equally iconic, earning multiple awards for its slate of classics such as "Mrs. Robinson," "April Come She Will" and "The Sounds Of Silence."
With The Graduate set to hit more than 700 theaters nationwide on April 23, study up on these GRAMMY facts about the film's soundtrack:
In earning a GRAMMY for the soundtrack, Paul Simon joined film music royalty
The soundtrack for The Graduate earned the folk-rock singer/songwriter — working alongside jazz pianist Grusin — a GRAMMY for Best Original Score Written For A Motion Picture Or A Television Special. It marked Simon's first award outside of Simon & Garfunkel, and with that win he joined the company of film music luminaries such as Duke Ellington, Henry Mancini, Lalo Schifrin, and Julie Andrews, who each won the category previously.
"Mrs. Robinson" notched a historic Record Of The Year win
The smash song netted Simon & Garfunkel their first two career GRAMMYs for 1968 for Record Of The Year and Best Contemporary Pop Performance — Duo Or Group. It is also considered the first rock song to win Record Of The Year. Previous category winners included Bobby Darin, Tony Bennett, Mancini, and 5th Dimension. While "Mrs. Robinson" was first featured in The Graduate, it was later re-recorded for Simon & Garfunkel's 1968 album, Bookends.
Two of the soundtrack's songs are in the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame
"Mrs. Robinson" — which has been covered by a host of GRAMMY winners, from Frank Sinatra to Eric Johnson — was inducted into the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame in 1999. In 2004 "The Sounds Of Silence" was also inducted. The song originally made the cut for The Graduate soundtrack despite topping the Billboard Hot 100 two years prior to the film's release.
