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Presented as part of BIG PICTURE: A Century of Stories1h 59m / NR (R equivalent) / Western, Adventure, Epic
VENUE: Historic Duncan Auditorium
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Convinced of his irresistible appeal to women, Texas dishwasher Joe Buck (Jon Voight) quits his job and heads for New York City, thinking he’ll latch on to some rich dowager. New York, however, is not as hospitable as he imagined, and Joe soon finds himself living in an abandoned building with a Dickensian layabout named Enrico “Ratso” Rizzo (Dustin Hoffman). The two form a rough alliance, and together they kick-start Joe’s hustling career just as Ratso’s health begins to deteriorate.
Midnight Cowboy is the only X-rated (it was later re-rated to be R) movie to win Best Picture at the Academy Awards. It’ll be the last; the rating has been retired, but even so, they don’t really make NC-17 movies like this anymore. Midnight Cowboy in 1969 was a startling insight into life in the brutal, derelict tenements of New York City. In 2026 that’s a less surprising perspective to see on film; instead the tenderness and compassion with which it examines its characters is the surprising part. Director John Schlesinger takes in their world with vital honesty, refusing to turn away at their bleakest moments but refusing just as stringently to lionize them. One leaves Midnight Cowboy with no possible doubt that this time and place existed exactly in this way. It’s realer than real, as the best movies always are.
Tampa Theatre played Midnight Cowboy in its first run from August 28 to October 9, 1969.
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Post Film Talk program sponsored by Hungry Bull Productions and the Restaino Family Foundation.
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Tampa Theatre, 707 N Franklin St, Tampa, FL 33602-4400, United States
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