The year 1969 was one that, in my mind, was very interesting in its portrayal of social attitudes in a number of movies. A few of films from that year that come to mind were The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, They Shoot Horses Don't They and Easy Rider. The film that stands out the most however is the melancholic Midnight Cowboy. It was truly a gem of a movie with two up and coming actors that continue to entertain us today. Even if the film had no story line or meaning it would still be worth watching these two actors ply their craft in their early days. They are both incredible and believable.

A COUPLE of CHARACTERS

This film was a tragic account of a heart-rendering sort of love story of two men that seemed to be a mix of oil and vinegar in their looks, delivery, and outlook of life. The two meet each other and eventually need each other for survival in a dark and depressing city.

Midnight Cowboy opens with Jon Voight as the young and virile Joe Buck in his tight fitting jeans, buckskin jacket, western boots and cowboy hat. He is on a Grey Hound bus leaving Texas and some bad dreams behind. He hopes for a new life in New York City where he has ideas of making money by offering his sexual services to the lonely rich woman of NYC. He is literally wide eyed. He is also quite naive. This is Jon Voights break out movie.

In this film he meets up with a young Dustin Hoffman who just had success in the "Graduate". He is hard to recognize as he takes on the role of Enrico 'Ratso' Rizzo, a grungy-lookin' sickly man with a bad leg and dreadful cough. Everyone calls him Ratso even though he reminds them it's Rico. Even this loser looking guy has pride. Ratso is from the Bronx and like Joe he too is a hustler. He's a small bit con man trying to make a couple-a-bucks a day on NYC Streets. His dream is to move to the warm sunshine of a southern state.

Somehow the slick-looking, healthy and trusting stud and the life-worn, sickly, fast-talking bum from two very different parts of the country, develop a friendship that becomes deeper than either of them ever expected and possibly even realized. The movie examines their relationship and the late 60's world around them. As the movie progresses Joe Buck sees his grandiose dreams fading away. Ratso isn't living his dreams either. His body is getting tired of the cold winters living in abandoned buildings with garbage cans as a source of heat. His dream of getting to "Floorida" as he calls it and to enjoy the warm sun on what is left of his wretched body also seems to be moving further and further into the distance.

I actually found it amusing in the way the names were given to the contrasting characters. Voights character Buck is the kid from Texas in his Buck skin jacket looking to make a Buck while plying his trade as a Buck. On the other hand we have Hoffman playing a Bronx sleaze who looks like he crawled out of a sewer. His name is Ratso.

This movie, that was rated X at the time, pales in comparison to sexual or graphic content in many R rated movies of today. It was on the cutting edge at the time. The fact is it has been re-rated R. There are some scenes that could still make one feel uncomfortable today and there is crude language.

A NIGHT AT The OSCARS

Both Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman were nominated for Best Actor in this film. That is something that is rare to see. Neither won. It was thought that they canceled each other out and there was the sentimental favorite of John Wayne in True Grit who was dying at the time.

Another side note is that in watching the Academy Awards and John Wayne's acceptance speech with Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman as the challengers it was almost like a change of guard. John Wayne was an old school actor with the huge movie studios who played his own character with tried and true scripts vs. the new guys on the block, Voight and Hoffman, who were part of a more independent type of filming world, though this was United Artist, and they were character actors in a movie that was pushing the envelope.

Sylvia Miles was also nominated for an Academy Award even though she didn't play all that long in the film. I especially enjoyed Brenda Vaccaro who was always a favorite of mine. I just loved that voice!

The CITY

I get a nostalgic feeling with this movie. The city streets are dark, dingy and dirty. The homeless sleep in the gutters and prostitutes work the streets. A shot of 42nd Street shows what it looked like back then. It was a real sleazy place. I knew it then. On a side note, it is unbelievable how they have rebuilt this city.

I digress further with a quick story. In the movie we get a quick look at 42nd Street. You can see a place by the name of Hubert's Museum & Flea Circus. This, if I recall, was nearby where the Madame Tussaud's Wax house is now. It was in the downstairs of a penny arcade. We had to go up to a turnstile, put in a quarter, proceed through and then down the stairs to a dank and dark basement that smelled musky. I remember we didn't have enough money for all of us but the guy let the four of us in for fifty cents. We walked downstairs and there, somewhere in this entrance to hell, among Ripley's Believe it Or Not type displays was a small glass mini-village. Actually it is a circus scene and if you looked down real hard you can see tiny dots, the fleas. Many freak shows were done down there too. The live shows were no longer a feature when I was there. This was then just a museum of oddities. It fascinated me, I was about 14 years old at the time. I went there with a couple of buddies and my younger brother. It's funny, the things we remember.

FILMING

Midnight Cowboy is filmed on the New York City streets. It truly captures the decay of the day. Schlesinger's direction of the film making was flawless. Even today you get a real feel of the 60's in its drug and free sex culture, getting more than a glimpse of the seedy underground lives of some many of the cities inhabitants.

The film techniques of slow motion, flash backs and a 60s psychedelic feel may seem dated but it only reminds me of the atmosphere of that decade.

The movie goes through many different scenes showing how both characters deal with the everyday life in the underworld of NYC. It is well paced and doesn't have any slow downs, though there are some low downs I would prefer to have never met.

MUSIC

Some of you may remember the song "Everybody's Talkin" that was sung by Harry Nilsson. Though it was a cover of a guy by the name of Fred Neil, a Grammy was won by Nilsson for best male Pop vocals in 1970. If you see this film you will never forget it. It's played many times. An interesting piece of trivia I learned was that Bob Dylans "Lay Lady Lay" was written to be the theme song of the movie but director Schlesinger found "Everybody's Talkin" and felt the words and mood of the music were perfect for his film, and I believe they were. Listen to the words in the context of the film and you will understand what I mean.

The theme song "Midnight Cowboy" was also pretty well known at the time. I do want to post some of the words to this one. You can follow the movie and understand the words.

Midnight Cowboy Midnight Cowboy
He's a Lonesome Midnight Cowboy

Once his hopes were high as the sky
Once his dream was easy to buy
Soon his eager fingers were burned
Soon life's lonely lessons are learned

Hearts are made for caring
Life is made for sharing

Love is all that's left in the end.

This movie finishes with us wondering about love in the end too.





Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid another 1969 film





Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: VHS
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age