'The Graduate' turns 50: Here's to you, Mrs. Robinson

— -- A small film featuring an unknown star, based on an obscure book, and helmed by a newbie director, became a counterculture classic following its release 50 years ago today: Mike Nichols' "The Graduate."

Dustin Hoffman through the years

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Dustin Lee Hoffman is an American actor with a career in film, television, and theater. Known for his versatile roles, Hoffman is one of Hollywood's leading character actors. A chameleon who embodies his characters, with characters like Captain Hook and Raymond Babbitt, Hoffman is able to transcend beyond the film giving the audience a magical experience that few actors can achieve.

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Based on the book by Charles Webb, the movie featured a then-unknown New York stage actor named Dustin Hoffman as Benjamin Braddock, a recent college graduate seduced by his girlfriend's mother.

In the book, Benjamin was supposed to be more of a Robert Redford type, and in fact, Redford wanted the role.

Nichols, who died in 2014, recalled in a 2008 Vanity Fair interview, that he told Redford he couldn't have the part because he felt Redford could "never play a loser."

"I said, 'OK, have you ever struck out with a girl?' and [Redford] said, 'What do you mean?'" Nichols said. "And he wasn’t joking."

Though the late Anne Bancroft was just six years older than Hoffman in real life, she was made to appear decades older. Her character of Mrs. Robinson, of course, inspired the Simon and Garfunkel hit of the same name. It was one of five songs by the duo on the film's soundtrack.

"The Graduate" went on to rack up a slew of honors, including Oscar nominations for best picture along with nods for Bancroft, who was already an Oscar winner for "The Miracle Worker," and Hoffman. The two actors did win Golden Globe Awards.

Earlier this year, Hoffman, now 80, was accused of decades-old inappropriate behavior toward women.

After actress Anna Graham Hunter's allegations surfaced in a Hollywood Reporter piece on Nov. 1, Hoffman issued an apology.

"I have the utmost respect for women and feel terrible that anything I might have done could have put her in an uncomfortable situation," his statement read. "I am sorry. It is not reflective of who I am."