I’ve seen this movie before but I re-watched it last night, here are some observations and questions.
Having mostly seen Jon Voight as either older authority figures or someone’s dad in movies, it’s hard to believe he ever looked like he did when he was younger. Very tall, handsome and distinctive looking. He is very believable in the role. How authentic is his accent, by the way? Is it spot-on or totally inaccurate?
One of the best opening sequences ever with the song “everybody’s talkin’,” but I think they kind of ruined it by repeating it over and over again during the beginning. It would have been better to just use the music if they were going to repeat it, and not repeat the “I’m goin’ where the sun keeps shining” part at so many different cuts.
What is the monster movie that briefly comes on while he’s banging that first woman with the poodle? It’s this REALLY cheesy monster breathing fire that looks like a zeppelin with a head and a tail.
The above woman later screams at him (when he asks for money) "at 28 years old, you think you can pull this crap with me?) Is she saying HE is 28 or that SHE is 28? She looks about 50!
During those flashback sequences, why are Joe and his girlfriend getting attacked and raped? Is there any explanation in the novel of what they did to supposedly bring that on? Or was it just a random act of brutality by some crazed country boys?
Really amazing scene when Joe is walking alone down the street listening to his radio (right before he gets locked out of his hotel room) and all these different sound clips are played, and the last one is “take it easy…but take it!” Just very dreary and sad. I love that little musical score playing during that part, maybe even more than the main theme by Nilsson. There’s a harmonica in it…it gets used multiple times throughout the movie.
When he’s in the diner eating the crackers out of desparation, there is this GREAT song called “he quit me” playing. I later read that it was written by Warren Zevon, and that he also recorded it himself as “She quit me.” But who is the woman singing the version in the movie? Can I get this version of the song somewhere? I really love it. Also, is the woman with the mouse supposed to be tripping on acid?
Back then, were there really cops that walked around in movie theaters hitting people with their batons if they fell asleep? I assume this was to prevent bums from using the theater as a place to sleep, but it seems way too harsh.
What’s the song playing during the party/psychedelic-montage? It’s a woman singing…it seems like she’s saying “and there’s hair…everywhere” and I think it’s a really amazing song. It almost reminds me of the songs from Wicker Man, except a 60s psychedelic-rock/jazz version. At some point the song seems to turn into a free-jazz improvisation.
WHY on earth do people sometimes claim there is a homosexual subtext to this movie between Joe and Rizzo? I see no evidence for this whatsoever. They are very close, yes, but not in a sexual way.
It’s been ages since I’ve seen the film so can’t help too much, but…
The IMDB says the #7 is Leslie Miller. The soundtrack info also lists a couple songs each by The Groop and Elephant Memory, so maybe that song is one of the ones listed.
I saw that movie years ago…one thing I’m curious about, though. Does Joe Buck kill the old man played by Barnard Hughes? I don’t recall it happening, but a couple of articles I’ve read about the movie indicate that he did.
I suppose the difficulty is that we’re so familiar with the song now, the use of it in this way can see jarring. I don’t know the history of the track, but I’m guessing it was popularised by the film, possibly by the very repetitions which now can come across as problematic.
I’ve watched this movie many, many times. The ending still makes me sad. They were finally doing better financially and Rizzo was going to go to Florida just as he had always wanted, but just doesn’t make it.
Can I pile on with my own question? Late in the film, as Ratso is getting sicker and sicker, he shuffles along to a tune on the radio that goes something like “Orange juice on ice, tastes nice…” Where did that come from? Was it an actual commercial or a novelty song?
Can you believe that this movie was rated X when it was first released? Which means that it was more daring or offensive or sexual than 99% of what was then in theaters? And that an X rating effectively equated it with porn? :eek:
I wonder that too. I haven’t seen the film since the early '80s – and I have a vague recollection of Joe’s (grandmother? aunt?) wielding an enema hose with a wicked smirk on her face while Joe is pinned face-down across the hood of a car . . . maybe my memory’s playing tricks (and not the profitable kind).
X rating back then didn’t necessarily mean porn. Last Tango in Paris with Brando was X rated as well as Clockwork Orange. Porn was not even widely distributed. The first porn movie to hit the big screens in a meaningful way was Deep Throat and the lead actor was convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison on an obscenity charge.
One of the stars of Midnight Cowboy grew up in Yonkers, New York. The other was born and raised in Los Angeles, and went to Hollywood High School. Which? Guess again. Jon Voight was from Yonkers, and Dustin Hoffman was from L.A.
Sylvia Miles was 45, playing a character who was probably 45. She was referring to Joe Buck, that for a male hustler he’s nearly over the hill at 28.
Women like her stop aging at 28. I think that used to be a common thing, to say you were 29 no matter what. I remember my parents and their friends joking about it.
You have a strange definition of porn. One guy killing and old guy with a huge sculpture that looked vaguely phallic, one comedic fast motion fuck scene where both people are obscured by blankets that lasts all of 20 seconds, and one tit shot, total nudity about 40 seconds in a two hour film. None of it even attempted eroticism. What little sex and nudity their was was secondary to the story or used to further the theme. Most porn, if it has a story at all it is only there to take up space between the money shots.
Not so. Harry Reems faced a maximum of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine upon his conviction with 11 other individuals and four corporations in April 1976. However, Reems never served time. He was granted a new trial in April 1977, and the charges were later dropped by the federal prosecutor.