Midnight Cowboy Overview:

Midnight Cowboy (1969) was a Drama - Film Adaptation Film directed by John Schlesinger and produced by Jerome Hellman and Kenneth Utt.

The film was based on the novel of the same name written by James Leo Herlihy published in 1965.

Midnight Cowboy was inducted into the National Film Registry in 1994.

Academy Awards 1969 --- Ceremony Number 42 (source: AMPAS)

AwardRecipientResult
Best ActorDustin HoffmanNominated
Best ActorJon VoightNominated
Best Supporting ActressSylvia MilesNominated
Best DirectorJohn SchlesingerWon
Best Film EditingHugh A. RobertsonNominated
Best PictureJerome Hellman, ProducerWon
Best WritingWaldo SaltWon
.

BlogHub Articles:

Midnight Cowboy (1969)

By Beatrice on May 3, 2020 From Flickers in Time

Midnight Cowboy Directed by John Schlesinger Written by Waldo Salt from a novel by James Leo Herily 1969/US IMDb link Repeat viewing/Amazon Instant One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die I have always loved this movie. ?Somehow I came out of it exhilarated rather than depressed, making it ... Read full article


Midnight Cowboy (1969, John Schlesinger)

By Andrew Wickliffe on Nov 20, 2016 From The Stop Button

Midnight Cowboy gets to be a character study, but doesn?t start as one, which is an interesting situation. About forty-five minutes into the film, which runs just shy of two hours, Midnight Cowboy chucks the narrative urgency. Maybe not chucks, maybe just shuts down, because it does take the film a ... Read full article


Midnight Cowboy (1969)

By 4 Star Film Fan on Sep 18, 2012 From 4 Star Films

The film stars Jon Voight as a naive Texan and Dustin Hoffman as Ratso Rizzo, the bum who initially cons him and eventually befriends him. Voight comes to New York expecting to make money off of rich city women as a male hustler. However, his callowness leaves him broke. That’s when the crippl... Read full article


Midnight Cowboy (1969)

By 4 Star Film Fan on Sep 18, 2012 From 4 Star Films

The film stars Jon Voight as a naive Texan and Dustin Hoffman as Ratso Rizzo, the bum who initially cons him and eventually befriends him. Voight comes to New York expecting to make money off of rich city women as a male hustler. However, his callowness leaves him broke. That’s when the crippl... Read full article


Midnight Cowboy

By Alyson on Jan 24, 2011 From The Best Picture Project

In the film industry, an X or NC-17 rating for a mainstream film is a kiss of death. ?When Midnight Cowboy first opened, many theaters would not show the film and newspapers would not run printed ads because of its X rating being associated with pornography. ?Yet, the film went on to win the Academy... Read full article


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Quotes from

Joe Buck: I like the way I look. Makes me feel good, it does. And women like me, goddammit. Hell, the only one thing I ever been good for is lovin'. Women go crazy for me, that's a really true fact! Ratso, hell! Crazy Annie they had to send her away!
Ratso Rizzo: Then, how come you ain't scored once the whole time you been in New York?


Ratso Rizzo: You know, in my own place, my name ain't Ratso. I mean, it just so happens that in my own place my name is Enrico Salvatore Rizzo.
Joe Buck: Well, I can't say all that.
Ratso Rizzo: Rico, then.


Joe Buck: I'm brand, spankin' new in this here town and I was hopin' to get a look at the Statue of Liberty.
Cass: It's up in Central Park, taking a leak. If you hurry, you can catch the supper show.


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Facts about

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 with Mary Tyler Moore, which bombed, and became his last theatrical movie.
Dustin Hoffman's performance as "Ratso" Rizzo is ranked #7 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Performances of All Time.
Before Dustin Hoffman auditioned for this film, he knew that his all-American image could easily cost him the job. To prove he could do it, he asked the auditioning film executive to meet him on a street corner in Manhattan, and in the meantime, dressed himself in filthy rags. The executive arrived at the appointed corner and waited, barely noticing the "beggar" less than ten feet away who was accosting people for spare change. At last, the beggar walked up to him and revealed his true identity.
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Best Picture Oscar 1969






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National Film Registry

Midnight Cowboy

Released 1969
Inducted 1994
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Also directed by John Schlesinger




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Also produced by Jerome Hellman




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