MAIN CAST:

Joe Buck (John Voight)
Rico ‘Ratso’ Rizzo (Dustin Hoffman)
Cass (Sylvia Miles)
Shirley (Brenda Vaccaro)
Mr O’Daniel (John McGiver)
Sally Buck (Ruth White)

RELEASED: June 1969
RUNNING TIME: 1hr, 56mins
DIRECTOR: John Schlesinger
PRODUCER: Jerome Hellman
SCREENPLAY: Waldo Salt

Midnight Cowboy is a 1969 movie adaptation of James Leo Herlihy’s novel of the same name, and I believe this novel was first published at some point in the early 1960s.

My first viewing of the film Midnight Cowboy was in about 1973-ish when it was doing its second cinema run in the UK. I’d recently read the novel, and hadn’t been too impressed with it. I was thus a little dubious as to whether I’d like the movie or not, but was persuaded by my ex-husband (who’d seen it before I met him) to trot along to the cinema with him, he assuring me that even though I’d hated the book, I’d definitely love the film.

Midnight Cowboy tells the story of Joe Buck, a young and naïve pseudo cowboy Texan dishwasher who decides to move to New York, having heard that a lot of money can be made there through working as a stud for rich women. Feeling that sex is the only thing he’s ever in his life been good at and thus seeing countless dollar signs in front of his eyes, Joe leaves Texas on a Greyhound bus, dressed in full cowboy gear, carrying a single suitcase and armed with his beloved transistor radio.

On arriving in the big city, Joe signs himself into a hotel and begins to learn the ways of the big wide world. Though fascinated at first, Joe very quickly learns that the Big Apple isn’t quite the mecca of fame and riches he was hoping for. He very soon runs out of money, and is befriended by Rico Rizzo (nicknamed ‘Ratso’), a Puerto Rican con-man who has a damaged leg and walks with a severe limp.

‘Ratso’ and Joe gradually become very dependant on one another, but in different ways. As ‘Ratso’s’ health deteriorates, he relies heavily on Joe to help him with his mobility, and Joe in turn relies on ‘Ratso’s’ rather dubious business acumen and sense of opportunism. The two men form an odd kind of friendship together which is very much a love/hate thing, and with the passage of time, their relationship becomes closer and closer through mutual need.

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I was – and still am - very glad that my ex-husband dragged me to our local Odeon to see Midnight Cowboy way back in 1973-ish, as even almost forty years have passed, it remains my all-time favourite film, tying for first place with Paris Texas.

There is something for everyone in Midnight Cowboy. There’s compassion, humour, sex, drugs, violence, heartwarming moments, oscillations from vulnerability to toughness, and it’s my opinion that every aspect of human emotion is covered within this sometimes funny, sometimes delightful, sometimes disturbing, sometimes sad film. Despite Midnight Cowboy being released in 1969 and being very much of that era, the whole delivery and story of the film is timeless in that it remains a true classic to this day.

This is a film that no matter how many times I watch it, it always leaves a very deep impression on me and it’s especially good for me to see when I’m going through one of my hate the world phases. The mutual affection (even if it is somewhat acidic at times) between Joe Buck and Ratso injects me with a warmth and tenderness that helps me get my sense of humanity back in balance, plus I never ceased to smile at some of the amusing parts, such as what an evangelist Christian presenter is saying on Joe’s radio while he is travelling through the Texan bible belt, or that all-time never to be forgotten piece of cinema magic….’Ratso’s’ “I’m walking here, I’m walking here” curse to a New York yellow cab whilst he’s crossing a busy street.

There are also a few grim moments in the film, such as some of the violence contained within, and there is a deliciously disturbing scene where Joe Buck is sitting at a table in a dirty café somewhere in downtown New York with a very crazy young woman and her small son.

I’m not a tearful person, but sometimes when I’m going through one of my more vulnerable phases, the end of Midnight Cowboy can make me reach for the tissue box….what gets to me so much isn’t really the path the final part of the film takes us down…..it’s more the incredible acting skills of Dustin Hoffman and John Voight.

Huge chunks of Midnight Cowboy have formed a kind of a backdrop to certain areas of my life, and I feel I have an almost intimate relationship with it; it’s like an old friend to me – a film I can tune into and watch at any time, never getting bored with it.

Utilising his then quite new directing skills, John Schlesinger managed to create an intensely atmospheric masterpiece which largely focuses on the seedier end of New York’s street life. I have never been to New York myself, but Midnight Cowboy makes me feel as if I have and know it intimately. This is one of those films where I actually feel as though it’s really happening – and isn’t a bunch of actors on celluloid – I get the sensation that I am physically and emotionally in the midst of something which goes beyond a mere storyline, into a temporary reality.

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I find it hard to comprehend that there may be hosts of people out there over a certain again who’ve never seen Midnight Cowboy, and I certainly have never met anybody who has seen this wonderful film and dislikes it. Whatever age you are, I urge you to watch it – if you feel dubious, I am certain you’d be in for a very pleasant surprise. Even without ever having seen the film, I’m sure most people are familiar with the main theme tune, Everybody’s Talkin’ by Harry Nilsson. Other musical contributions to the score are a couple of small pieces written by Warren Zevon, a track by the band Elephant’s Memory who were discovered by and occasionally worked with John Lennon, and James Last’s happy-sounding Florida Fantasy.

As producer, Joseph Hellman won the American Best Picture Academy Award, with John Schlesinger walking away with Best Director Award. Dustin Hoffman and John Voight were nominated for best actors, but didn’t receive the accolades. At the British Academy Awards, the whole team won best of everything – with Dustin Hoffman deservedly receiving Best Actor Award and John Voight walking away with Best Newcomer Award, which was equally deserved.

Currently, you can purchase Midnight Cowboy on Amazon as follows:-

Used – DVD – from £2.29 to £29.88
New – DVD – from £2.49 to £12.94

£1.21 shipping charge should be added to those above costs, and just as an aside, why does someone on Amazon always have a used copy of something that’s more than double the price of the most expensive new copy?

At the moment (until and if it’s removed for copyright reasons), you can view Midnight Cowboy on YouTube in sections lasting approximately 10mins each. Just type in the keywords ‘Midnight Cowboy’ and search through the results for part 1. The remaining parts should appear on the right-hand side of the play-screen.

Thanks for reading!

~~ Also published on DooYoo under my GentleGenius user name ~~