Midnight Cowboy (1969)

A naive hustler travels from Texas to New York City to seek personal fortune but, in the process, finds himself a new friend.

Director:

John Schlesinger

Writers:

Waldo Salt (screenplay), James Leo Herlihy (based on the novel by)

Stars:

Dustin Hoffman, Jon Voight, Sylvia Miles

Won 3 Oscars. Another 24 wins & 15 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Dustin Hoffman	...	Ratso
Jon Voight	...	Joe Buck
Sylvia Miles	...	Cass
John McGiver	...	Mr. O'Daniel
Brenda Vaccaro	...	Shirley
Barnard Hughes	...	Towny
Ruth White	...	Sally Buck - Texas
Jennifer Salt	...	Annie - Texas
Gilman Rankin	...	Woodsy Niles - Texas (as Gil Rankin)
Gary Owens	...	Little Joe - Texas
T. Tom Marlow	...	Little Joe - Texas
George Eppersen	...	Ralph - Texas
Al Scott	...	Cafeteria Manager - Texas
Linda Davis	...	Mother on the Bus - Texas
J.T. Masters	...	Old Cow-Hand - Texas

Storyline

Texas greenhorn Joe Buck arrives in New York City for the first time. Preening himself as a real "hustler", he finds that he is the one getting "hustled" until he teams up with a down-and-out but resilient outcast named Ratso Rizzo. The initial "country cousin meets city cousin" relationship deepens. In their efforts to bilk a hostile world rebuffing them at every turn, this unlikely pair progress from partners in shady business to comrades. Each has found his first real friend.

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Plot Keywords:

hustler | new york city | gigolo | cowboy | friendship | 

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Taglines:

For those who have never seen it and those who have never forgotten it. (1980 re-release)

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

R

Details

Official Sites:

MGM

Country:

USA

Language:

English Italian

Release Date:

16 June 1969 (Brazil)

Also Known As:

Perdidos en la noche

Filming Locations:

Holy Name Cemetery, Jersey City, New Jersey, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$3,600,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$44,785,053

Company Credits

Production Co:

Jerome Hellman Productions,Florin Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

One studio executive sent Director John Schlesinger a memo stating, "If we could clean this up and add a few songs, it could be a great vehicle for Elvis Presley." Presley wanted to be taken seriously as an actor, and was interested in the role of Joe Buck. Presley went on instead to do Change of Habit (1969) with Mary Tyler Moore, which bombed, and became his last theatrical movie.

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Goofs

As the bus Joe Buck rides approaches New York, the view focuses on the Statue of Liberty. However this shot is from the New Jersey Turnpike's Holland Tunnel-Newark Bay Extension (Interchange 14C) going southbound, away from New York. Minutes later in the same scene, the view from the bus shows the Midtown Manhattan skyline as it enters the Lincoln Tunnel.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Joe Buck: Whoopee-tee-yi-yo. Get along little dogies. It's your misfortune and none of my own.

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Connections

Referenced in The Closest Thing to Heaven (1996)

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Soundtracks

The Lily of the Valley
(aka "I've Found a Friend in Jesus")
Lyrics by Charles W. Fry.
Music by William S. Hays, arranged by Ira D. Sankey.
Heard in the background during one of Joe's memories of growing up in Texas.

User Reviews

An all-time favorite of mine.

In my opinion, this is one of the greatest movies ever made in America and it deserved every single award it won and it's place on the AFI Top 100 list (though it's shamefully too low on the IMDB Top 250 list, at only #183 as of this writing). If you enjoy acting of the highest calibre (Voight and Hoffman are a superb match), well-drawn characterizations and inventive direction, editing and cinematography, you'll love this just as much as I did. Schlesinger paints a vivid, always credible picture of the late 60s New York City scene and it's many victims struggling to overcome personal demons and survive amidst the amorality, poverty and hopelessness of 42nd Street, New York City.

The filmmaking techniques employed here brilliantly capture the feel of the underground New York film movement (and of the city) and are nothing less than dazzling. I've seen many ideas (including the rapid-fire editing, the handling of the voice-over flashbacks, the drug/trip sequences and the cartoonish face slipped in during a murder scene to convey angst and terror) stolen by other filmmakers.

The relationship between Joe and Ratso is handled in such a way as to be viewed as an unusually strong friendship OR having it's homosexual underpinnings. I think the director handled this in a subtle way not to cop out to the censorship of the times, but rather to concentrate his energies on the importance of a strong human connection in life, whether it be sexual or not.

MIDNIGHT COWBOY is a brave, moving film of magnitude, influence and importance that has lost absolutely none of it's impact over the years, so if you haven't seen it, you're really missing out on a true American classic. I recommend this film to everyone.

Score: 10 out of 10.