Midnight Cowboy (1969)

Director:

John Schlesinger

Writers:

Waldo Salt (screenplay)
James Leo Herlihy (novel)

Release Date:

16 June 1969 (Brazil)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Whatever you hear about Midnight Cowboy is true.

Plot:

A naive male prostitute and his sickly friend struggle to survive on the streets of New York City.

Plot Keywords:

Friend | New York City | Hustler | Texas | Male Prostitute

Awards:

Won 3 Oscars. Another 23 wins & 12 nominations

Cast

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

Runtime:

113 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Italian

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono | Dolby Digital (DVD Release)

Certification:

Canada:R (Nova Scotia/Ontario) | Canada:14A (Manitoba) (DVD rating) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) (original rating) | Iceland:16 | South Korea:18 | Brazil:16 | Canada:18A (Canadian Home Video rating) | Norway:15 (TV rating) | USA:TV-MA (TV rating) | Argentina:18 | Australia:M | Canada:18+ (Quebec) | Chile:18 | Finland:K-16 | France:-12 | Netherlands:12 (re-rated) | New Zealand:R18 | Norway:18 | Portugal:M/16 | Singapore:M18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 (video rating) (1988) | UK:X (original rating) | USA:R (re-rating) (1971) | USA:X (original rating) | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

114 East 72nd Street, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Florin Productions

Trivia:

John Schlesinger once said that the inspiration for this film came from a little-known Yugoslav movie, Kad budem mrtav i beo (1967). An Andy Warhol film, My Hustler (1965), also influenced the visual style.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: Ceilingless set and lighting equipment can be briefly seen in several shots in Cass' bedroom.

Quotes:

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

Movie Connections:

Featured in AFI's 100 Years... 100 Songs (2004) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Jungle Jim at the Zoo

Disturbing in a way, but great as well

'Midnight Cowboy' was rated X with the original release back in 1969. There are some scenes where you can understand that, just a little. The movie about Joe Buck (Jon Voight) coming from Texas to New York City to become a hustler is sometimes a little disturbing. Dressed up as a cowboy he tries to live as a hustler, making money by the act of love. It does not work out as he planned. After a guy named Rico 'Ratso' Rizzo (Dustin Hoffman) first pulled a trick on him and stole some money they become friends. They live in an empty and very filthy apartment. Then Ratso gets sick and Joe has to try to make some money.

The movie was probably rated X for the main subject but on the way we see some strange things. The editing in this movie is great. We see dream sequences from Joe and Ratso interrupted by the real world in a nice and sometimes funny way. Dustin Hoffman, Jon Voight and the supporting actors give great performances. Especially Hoffman delivers some fine famous lines. The score is done by John Barry and sounds great. All this makes this a great movie that won the Best Picture Oscar for a good reason.