Midnight Cowboy (1969)

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

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 25 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 down-and-out but resilient outcast 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 | gigolo | cowboy | friendship | male prostitution | 

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Taglines:

Whatever you hear about Midnight Cowboy is true.

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Genres:

Drama | Western

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Certificate:

R

Details

Official Sites:

MGM

Country:

USA

Language:

English Italian

Release Date:

16 June 1969 (Brazil)

Also Known As:

Midnight Cowboy

Filming Locations:

Calvary Cemetery - 4902 Laurel Hill Boulevard, Queens, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$3,600,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$44,785,053

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$44,801,177

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

Dustin Hoffman stated during a 1994 interview on Larry King Live (1985) that Jon Voight (being from Yonkers, New York) originally did not get the part of Joe Buck because he was having trouble mastering the character's Midland, Texas accent.

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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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Alternate Versions

ABC edited 25 minutes from this film for its 1974 network television premiere.

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Connections

Referenced in The Mighty Boosh: Eels (2007)

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Soundtracks

He Quit Me
Music and Lyrics by Warren Zevon (as W. Zevon)
Sung by Lesley Miller

User Reviews

One of my all-time favorites

This is one of the half-dozen films that left me shaken upon leaving the theater where I saw it in 1969 (at the age of 19). It has all the bizarreness and griminess that was New York in the late '60s, which was pretty frightening to a sheltered Brooklyn teenager. The direction and cinematography were highly unusual for that time, and the use of montages and cuts (and the trippy shots of the Warholesque party) made the film even more disorienting. The film never sags and holds your attention throughout, and the through line of the plot -- the friendship between Rizzo and Joe Buck -- has about as much emotional impact as anything else I've ever seen. Equally of interest is the psychological content of the flashbacks that show how Joe became the way he is. The star performances are outstanding -- hard to see how either of them could lose to John Wayne -- and the sheer variety of supporting actor performances is incredible. A fully realized, three-dimensional film that probably couldn't find backers today.