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

Also Known As:

Asphalt-Cowboy (Austria) (West Germany) [de]
Perdidos en la noche (Argentina) (Venezuela) [es]
Asfalt Cowboy (Norway) [no]
Asfaltcowboy (Norway) (TV title) [no]
Asphalt-Cowboy (Hungary) [hu]
Cowboy Shel Hatzot (Israel: Hebrew title) [iw]
Cowboy de medianoche (Spain) [es]
Cowboy de mitjanit (Spain: Catalan title) [ca]
Geceyarisi kovboyu (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Keskiyön cowboy (Finland) [fi]
Macadam cow-boy (France) [fr]
Macadam cowboy (Canada: French title) [fr]
Midnight Cowboy (Denmark) [da]
Nocny kowboj (Poland) [pl]
O Cowboy da Meia-Noite (Portugal) [pt]
O cow boy tou mesonyktiou (Greece) [el]
O cowboy tou mesonyhtiou (Greece) (reissue title) [el]
Perdidos na Noite (Brazil) [pt]
Ponocni kauboj (Serbia) [sr]
Un uomo da marciapiede (Italy) [it]

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:

Harry Nilsson wrote the song "I Guess the Lord Must Be In New York City" specifically for this film, but John Schlesinger preferred a Fred Neil song, "Everybody's Talkin'", which Nilsson had previously recorded. Other songs considered for the movie were Randy Newman's "Cowboy", and Bob Dylan's "Lay Lady Lay".

Goofs:

Continuity: Ratso limps on both legs (not at the same time, obviously).

Quotes:

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

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in Forrest Gump (1994)

Soundtrack:

Fun City

Everybody's Talkin' at me, I can't hear a word they're saying

One of the best films of the 60's and one of the kings of X rated films (among the few which include Valley of the Dolls, Clockwork Orange, and the only one to keep the title, Last Tango in Paris) is essentially a old fashioned type of movie, sorta like American Pie was (in a way). The film stars a young Jon Voight as a guy from the pig farms of Texas who moves to New York and becomes a man-whore. While in town, he meets the memorable Ratzo Rizzo played even more memorably by Dustin Hoffman. They then form a good yet sad friendship. Stylishly compelling, with two fine performances at it's core, and even thought the X rated form might scare away some people, most sex scenes go fast with quick yet excellent editing. A very well made film experience, however never watch this film on TV, and that goes for most films that have some explicit stuff. A+