The Stakes in The Graduate Every time someone rents a video or watches a movie on television there is always that little message right before they start seeing the image which is formatted for the screen. It is usually ignored or simply taken as a cue that the film is about to begin. This little warning actually has a lot of meaning, because when you watch a film in its original version, on the big screen, a whole new world opens up. When a film is altered from its initial state and recut in the editing room for home viewing, a huge portion of the film is unknowingly lost. This has become extremely evident when watching any film, and in The Graduate many innovative things are adapted and lost. There are various shots edited, cut, and many dynamic camera techniques lose their effect when The Graduate is transformed from the intended widescreen version to the formatted television edition. The changes are a very noticeable change in The Graduate when witnessing the widescreen version versus the cropped format. For example, in one of the opening scenes, when Mrs. Robinson asks Ben for a ride home, she nonchalantly throws his keys into the fish tank behind him. In the letterbox edition, the viewer can see her deliberately toss the keys over Ben's shoulder and into the aquarium in a single shot, thus watching Ben actually follow the arc of the keys' path and their descent into the water. In the formatted version there is a montage, dividing the two characters into different shots. All the viewer sees is a medium shot of Mrs. Robinson throwing the key, then an immediate medium shot of Ben turning around, and then suddenly the keys are floating in the tank. The viewer does not see the obvious throwing attempt, the actual flight of the keys, nor Ben's reaction, thus missing the important effect that reveals Mrs. Robinson's immediate control over Ben. Another example is in the scene at the Robinsons' house, immediately after Mrs. Robinson's seduction while Ben is talking to Mr. Robinson. The two are talking in the foreground, when Mrs. Robinson is finally seen coming down the stairs. On the widescreen, Mrs. Robinson is seen walking in the distance right between Ben and Mr.