History Film / MidnightCowboy

Joe Buck is a dishwasher in a rural Texas diner. [[CountryMouse He's not very bright]]. One day, he decides to dress like a rodeo cowboy and move to New York, hoping to prostitute himself to wealthy women. He burns through his savings very quickly, unable to hustle, and is taken in by Enrico "Ratso" Rizzo, a small-time con man with a bad leg and pneumonia. They scrape by as best they can, hoping to escape to Florida one day...

'''''Midnight Cowboy''''' is a 1965 novel by James Leo Herlihy, adapted into a 1969 film directed by John Schlesinger and starring Jon Voight and DustinHoffman. This article deals primarily with the movie.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight were almost run over by the taxi in the "I'm walkin' here!" scene.

* ThrowItIn: The SignatureLine of "I'm walkin' here!" was unscripted. Because of the low budget, they didn't have permits to close New York streets and had to film with hidden cameras. In that particular scene, a taxi ran the red light and almost ran over Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight. Hoffman almost said "I'm actin' here" before remembering to stay in character (though does forget the accent and limp). Fortunately, this adds to the "welcome to New York" feel of the film, and hints there's more to Ratso than it appears.\\
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** There is some dispute over the scene, though. The director claims the taxi was driven by a stunt driver who was supposed to [[EnforcedMethodActing elicit such a reaction]] from Hoffman, while Hoffman claims it was all unscripted. Since, if Hoffman is to be believed, he's ad libbed every line in every movie he's been in, his claim should be taken with a grain of salt, however the fact that traffic wasn't closed and it was filmed with hidden cameras certainly gives more credibility to Hoffman than the director.
*** And considering Hoffman doesn't break character, but [[OohMeAccentsSlipping loses his accent]] and forgets his limp, it does lend to the theory that it was unscripted.

There is some dispute over the scene, though. The director claims the taxi was driven by a stunt driver who was supposed to [[EnforcedMethodActing elicit such a reaction]] from Hoffman, while Hoffman claims it was all unscripted. Since, if Hoffman is to be believed, he's ad libbed every line in every movie he's been in, his claim should be taken with a grain of salt, however the fact that traffic wasn't closed and it was filmed with hidden cameras certainly gives more credibility to Hoffman than the director.

The movie garnered quite a bit of controversy upon its release, being given an [[MediaClassifications "X" rating]] by the [[MoralGuardians MPAA]] (though this was reduced to an "R" the following year). It is seen as one of the defining movies of the late '60s.

* GayCowboy: Much to Joe's embarrassment, his studly cowboy persona utterly fails to win over any new york women, and only attracts men. Rizzo even flat-out tells him that only gay men like cowboys, but Joe still insists on the outfit because it makes him feel good.

There is some dispute over the scene, though. The director claims the taxi was driven by a stunt driver who was supposed to [[EnforcedMethodActing ellicit such a reaction]] from Hoffman, while Hoffman claims it was all unscripted. Since, if Hoffman is to be believed, he's ad libbed every line in every movie he's been in, his claim should be taken with a grain of salt, however the fact that traffic wasn't closed and it was filmed with hidden cameras certainly gives more credibility to Hoffman than the director.

* EverythingIsBigInTexas: The film opens with a shot of the "Big Tex Drive-In".

* KnowWhenToFoldEm: [[spoiler: This is what Joe realizes about his dream in the end.]]

* MindScrew: The flashbacks to Joe Buck's past in Texas make a lot more sense if you've read the book, where the situations are described in depth.

* ThrowItIn: The SignatureLine of "I'm walkin' here!" was unscripted. Because of the low budget, they didn't have permits to close New York streets and had to film with hidden cameras. In that particular scene, a taxi ran the red light and almost ran over Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight. Hoffman almost said "I'm actin' here" before remembering to stay in character (though does forget the accent and limp).\\

There is some dispute over the scene, however. The director claims the driver was a stunt driver who was supposed to [[EnforcedMethodActing ellicit such a reaction]] from Hoffman, while Hoffman claims it was all unscripted. Since, if Hoffman is to be believed, he's ad libbed every line in every movie he's been in, his claim should be taken with a grain of salt, the fact that traffic wasn't closed and it was filmed with hidden cameras certainly gives more credibility to Hoffman than the director.

There is some dispute over the scene, however. The director claims the driver was a stunt driver who was supposed to [[EnforcedMethodActing ellicit such a reaction]] from Hoffman, while Hoffman claims it was all real. Since, if Hoffman is to be believed, he's ad libbed every line in every movie he's been in, his claim should be taken with a grain of salt, the fact that traffic wasn't closed and it was filmed with hidden cameras certainly gives more credibility to Hoffman than the director.

* ThrowItIn: The SignatureLine of "I'm walkin' here!" was unscripted. Because of the low budget, many scenes were simply shot New York streets without closing traffic. In that particular scene, a taxi ran the red light and almost ran over Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight. Hoffman almost said "I'm actin' here" before remembering to stay in character (though does forget the accent and limp).

* ThrowItIn: The SignatureLine of "I'm walkin' here!" was unscripted. Because of the low budget, many scenes were simply shot New York streets without closing traffic. In that particular scene, a taxi ran the red light and almost ran over Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight. Hoffman almost said "I'm actin' here" before remembering to stay in character.

* OohMeAccentsSlipping: In the "I'm walkin' here" scene. Hoffman yells it in his real accent, before resuming his character's accent.

* ThrowItIn: The SignatureLine of "I'm walkin' here!" was unscripted. Because of the low budget, many scenes were simply shot New York streets without closing real traffic. In that particular scene, a taxi ran the red light and almost ran over Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight. Hoffman almost said "I'm actin' here" before remembering to stay in character.

* WhatCouldHaveHappened: Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight were almost run over by the taxi in the "I'm walkin' here!" scene.

* ThrowItIn: The SignatureLine of "I'm walkin' here!" was unscripted. Because of the low budget, many scenes were simply shot New York streets without closing real traffic. In the street crossing scene, a taxi ran the red light and almost ran over Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight.

The movie garnered quite a bit of controversy upon its release, being given an X rating by the [[MoralGuardians MPAA]] (this was reduced to an R the following year). It is seen as one of the defining movies of the late '60s.