42nd Academy Awards · 1970
Midnight Cowboy
Directed by John Schlesinger
“For those who have never seen it and those who have never forgotten it.”
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The story
Joe Buck is a wide-eyed hustler from Texas hoping to score big with wealthy New York City women; he finds a companion in Enrico "Ratso" Rizzo, an ailing swindler with a bum leg and a quixotic fantasy of escaping to Florida.
What critics & audiences say
Tomatometer89%Fresh#64 of 98 winnersIMDb7.8133K votes#49 of 98 winners
Metacritic79/ 100#63 of 93 winners
TMDB7.5/ 10
Famous lines
HEY! I'm walkin' here! I'm walkin' here!
Well, sir, I ain't a for-real cowboy. But I am one helluva stud.
…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...At least call me Rico in my own god-damn place.
The two basic items necessary to sustain life are sunshine and coconut milk. Did you know that? That's a fact.
Here I am goin' to Florida, my leg hurts, my butt hurts, my chest hurts, my face hurts, and if that ain't enough, I gotta pee all over myself.
I don't think I can walk anymore. I've been fallin' down a lot. I'm scared...
In case you didn't happen to notice it, ya big Texas longhorn bull, I'm one helluva gorgeous chick.
The X on the windows means the landlord can't collect rent, which is a convenience, on account of it's condemned.
Ratso: …somebody yells 'Hey, Ratso!' What's that sound like to you?
Joe: It sounds like I knew ya.
Joe: Smells worse hot than it did cold.
Ratso: All right, startin' tomorrow, you cook your own god-damn dinner.
Quotes via Wikiquote
Fun facts
- Midnight Cowboy is the only X-rated film to win Best Picture, and the only X-rated film ever to win any Academy Award.Wikipedia · Introduction
- Dustin Hoffman said 'I'm walkin' here!' came when a real cab ran a red light during a take and he stayed in character; producer Jerome Hellman disputes that, saying the moment was in the first draft of the script.Wikipedia · "I'm walkin' here!"
- The film first got an R rating, but after consulting a psychologist, United Artists executives were told to accept an X; it was later re-rated R for its 1971 reissue.Wikipedia · Production
- Jon Voight was paid only scale, the Screen Actors Guild minimum, to play Joe Buck, and director John Schlesinger's first choice, Michael Sarrazin, was dropped when Universal asked for too much money.Wikipedia · Production
- Andy Warhol was approached to play an underground filmmaker but passed the role to his superstar Viva; the Factory-style party scene was shot while Warhol recovered from an assassination attempt.Wikipedia · Production
- Native New Yorker Jon Voight, from Yonkers, played Joe Buck, a character hopelessly out of his element in New York, while Dustin Hoffman, who played a veteran of New York's streets, is from Los Angeles.Wikipedia · Production
- Harrison Ford auditioned for the role of Joe Buck.Wikipedia · Production
- The Muppet character Rizzo the Rat was named after Ratso Rizzo by creator Steve Whitmire.Wikipedia · Legacy
- The final bus scene was parodied in Seinfeld's 'The Mom & Pop Store,' with Jon Voight guest starring as himself.Wikipedia · Legacy
- When Midnight Cowboy premiered on television in 1974, twenty-five minutes were cut for censorship, and a New York Daily News critic said it was 'hacked up pretty badly.'Wikipedia · Television premiere