Midnight Cowboy

Dustin Hoffman Director: John Schlesinger John Schlesinger

Overview

John Schlesinger's 1969 Best Picture winner Midnight Cowboy comes to DVD with a pair of transfers. The widescreen image preserves the original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and is preferable to the standard full-frame 1.33:1 presentation. A closed-captioned English soundtrack is rendered in Dolby Digital 5.1, while a French soundtrack has been recorded in Dolby Digital Mono. Supplemental materials include theatrical trailers. This disc has good picture quality and very good sound quality, but considering its status as an Oscar winner, one would be right to wish for more background information.

Product Details

Release Date:	02/06/2001
UPC:	0027616603890
Original Release:	1969
Rating:	R
Source:	Mgm (Video & Dvd)
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Letterbox, Full Frame]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Surround]
Time:	1:53:00
Sales rank:	4,551

Special Features

Full-length feature in both Pan & Scan and 1.85:1 letterbox formats; English and French tracks; English, French, and Spanish subtitles; English, French, and Spanish captioning; Chapter search; Original theatrical trailer

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Dustin Hoffman	Enrico "Ratso" Rizzo
Jon Voight	Joe Buck
Sylvia Miles	Cass
John McGiver	O'Daniel
Brenda Vaccaro	Shirley
Barnard Hughes	Towny
Ruth White	Sally Buck
Jennifer Salt	Annie
Gil Rankin	Woodsy Niles
T. Tom Marlow	Little Joe
George Epperson	Ralph
Al Scott	Cafeteria Manager
Linda Davis	Mother on Bus
J.T. Masters	Old Cowhand
Arlene Reeder	Old Lady
Georgann Johnson	Rich Lady
Anthony Holland	TV Bishop
Bob Balaban	The Young Student
Jan Tice	Freaked-Out Lady
Paul Benjamin	Bartender
Peter Scalia	Grocer
Arthur Anderson	Hotel Clerk
Tina Scala	Laundromat Lady
Alma Felix	Laundromat Ladies
Richard Clarke	Escort Service Man
Ann Thomas	The Frantic Lady
Al Stetson	Bus Driver
Viva	Gretel McAlbertson
Gastone Rossilli	Hansel McAlbertson
Paul Jabara	At the Party
International Velvet	Actor
Cecelia Lipson	Actor
Taylor Mead	At the Party
Paul Morrissey	At the Party
Jonathan Kramer	Jackie
Gary Owens	Young Joe
M. Emmet Walsh	Actor
Paul Jasmin	Party Guest
Ultra Violet	At the Party
Joan Murphy	Waitress

Technical Credits

Waldo Salt

John Schlesinger	Director
John Barry	Score Composer
Irving Buchman	Makeup
Dick Smith	Special Effects
Jerome Hellman	Producer
Adam Holender	Cinematographer
Richard C. Kratina	Camera Operator
John Robert Lloyd	Production Designer
Vic Ramos	Casting
Hugh A. Robertson	Editor
Ann Roth	Costumes/Costume Designer
Waldo Salt	Screenwriter
Philip Smith	Set Decoration/Design
Kenneth Utt	Associate Producer

Scene Index

Side A: Letterbox
0. Side A: Letterbox
0. Chapter List
1. Joe Buck [1:31]
2. Opening Credits [8:11]
3. Places to Go, People to Meet [:56]
4. On a Bus Bound for New York [4:38]
5. Cowboy in the Big Apple [2:58]
6. Cass [6:18]
7. Ratso Rizzo [2:53]
8. "I'm walkin' here!" [3:15]
9. O'Daniel [3:25]
10. All the Lonely People [3:27]
11. City Without Pity [3:09]
12. Life is Strange [3:52]
13. A Familiar Face [5:05]
14. Sweet Dreams? [4:59]
15. Food for the taking [4:23]
16. Metropolitan Scamming [3:33]
17. Gigolo Joe [4:32]
18. The Ice Age Cometh [4:21]
19. They Bleed You Dry [3:47]
20. Urban Invitations [2:39]
21. Party Favors [4:42]
22. High Society [3:21]
23. "She's hooked!" [2:27]
24. Back at Shirley's Place [4:45]
25. The Referral [1:18]
26. Bag of Goodies [3:34]
27. Towny [4:06]
28. 31 Hours Till Paradise [2:15]
29. Miami or Bust [4:45]
30. Ticket to ride. [2:16]
31. End Credits [1:29]
Side B: PAN & SCAN
1. Joe Buck [1:31]
2. Opening Credits [8:11]
3. Places to Go, People to Meet [:56]
4. On a Bus Bound for New York [4:38]
5. Cowboy in the Big Apple [2:58]
6. Cass [6:18]
7. Ratso Rizzo [2:53]
8. I'm walkin' here!"|00:03:15|}|}|
9. O'Daniel [3:25]
10. All the Lonely People [3:27]
11. City Without Pity [3:09]
12. Life is Strange [3:52]
13. A Familiar Face [5:05]
14. Sweet Dreams? [4:59]
15. Food for the Taking [4:23]
16. Metropolitan Scamming [3:33]
17. Gigolo Joe [4:32]
18. The Ice Age Commeth [4:21]
19. They Bleed You Dry [3:47]
20. Urban Invitation [2:39]
21. Party Favors [4:42]
22. High Society [3:21]
23. "She's hooked!" [2:27]
24. Back at Shirley's Place [4:45]
25. The Referral [1:18]
26. Bag of Goodies [3:34]
27. Towny [4:06]
28. 31 Hours Till Paradise [2:15]
29. Miami or Bust [4:45]
30. Ticket to Ride [2:16]
31. End Credits [1:29]

Menu

Main
Theatrical Trailer
Play
Language Selections
   Captions & Subtitles
      Captioned For The Hearing Impaired
         English
         Spanish
         French
      Subtitles
         English
         French
         Spanish
   Spoken Languages
      English
      French
Side B: PAN & SCAN
    Chapter List
   Theatrical Trailer
   Play
   Language Selections
      Captions & Subtitles
         Captioned For The Hearing Impaired
            English
            Spanish
            French
         Subtitles
            English
            French
            Spanish
      Spoken Languages
         English
         French

Editorial Reviews

After earning notoriety as one of the first major studio films to be given an X rating (it was later re-rated R), Midnight Cowboy made history as the first X-rated film to win an Oscar for Best Picture. A brutal depiction of broken dreams and lives asunder in the fetid backwash of the swinging Sixties, Cowboy shocked audiences with its squalid subject matter and signaled a trend towards films that explored lurid and personal material. Whereas the mere suggestion of a blow job in Cowboy was scandalous in 1969, the film helped pave the way for later mainstream films in which a blow job might have as much shock value as the weather forecast. For that reason, Cowboy loses a substantial part of its impact when viewed all these years after its original release. That said, as a buddy film and as an ode to the impossibility of liberation from reality, the film retains a certain timelessness. Jon Voight's handsome but stupid Joe Buck and Dustin Hoffman's desperate, verminous Ratso Rizzo remain iconic figures, symbolic of the resigned, bitter ending of a decade built on the tenets of liberation, progressive change, and the promise of collective struggle. The fate of Buck and Rizzo suggests that such liberation is illusory, and that human relations, no matter how tender they ultimately may be, are part of a quiet, desperate bid for acceptance and belonging.

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