Shooting Midnight Cowboy: Art, Sex, Loneliness, Liberation, and the Making of a Dark Classic

by Glenn Frankel

The Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and New York Times-bestselling author of the behind-the-scenes explorations of the classic American Westerns High Noon and The Searchers now reveals the history of the controversial 1969 Oscar-winning film that signaled a dramatic shift in American popular culture.

Director John Schlesinger's Darling was nominated for five Academy Awards, and introduced the world to the transcendently talented Julie Christie. Suddenly the toast of Hollywood, Schlesinger used his newfound clout to film an expensive, Panavision adaptation of Far from the Madding Crowd. Expectations were huge, making the movie's complete critical and commercial failure even more devastating, and Schlesinger suddenly found himself persona non grata in the Hollywood circles he had hoped to conquer.

Given his recent travails, Schlesinger's next project seemed doubly daring, bordering on foolish. James Leo Herlihy's novel Midnight Cowboy, about a Texas hustler trying to survive on the mean streets of 1960's New York, was dark and transgressive. Perhaps something about the book's unsparing portrait of cultural alienation resonated with him. His decision to film it began one of the unlikelier convergences in cinematic history, centered around a city that seemed, at first glance, as unwelcoming as Herlihy's novel itself.

Glenn Frankel's Shooting Midnight Cowboy tells the story of a modern classic that, by all accounts, should never have become one in the first place. The film's boundary-pushing subject matter--homosexuality, prostitution, sexual assault--earned it an X rating when it first appeared in cinemas in 1969. For Midnight Cowboy, Schlesinger—who had never made a film in the United States—enlisted Jerome Hellman, a producer coming off his own recent flop and smarting from a failed marriage, and Waldo Salt, a formerly blacklisted screenwriter with a tortured past. The decision to shoot on location in New York, at a time when the city was approaching its gritty nadir, backfired when a sanitation strike filled Manhattan with garbage fires and fears of dysentery.

Much more than a history of Schlesinger's film, Shooting Midnight Cowboy is an arresting glimpse into the world from which it emerged: a troubled city that nurtured the talents and ambitions of the pioneering Polish cinematographer Adam Holender and legendary casting director Marion Dougherty, who discovered both Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight and supported them for the roles of "Ratso" Rizzo and Joe Buck--leading to one of the most intensely moving joint performances ever to appear on screen. We follow Herlihy himself as he moves from the experimental confines of Black Mountain College to the theatres of Broadway, influenced by close relationships with Tennessee Williams and Anaïs Nin, and yet unable to find lasting literary success.

By turns madcap and serious, and enriched by interviews with Hoffman, Voight, and others, Shooting Midnight Cowboy: Art, Sex, Loneliness, Liberation, and the Making of a Dark Classic is not only the definitive account of the film that unleashed a new wave of innovation in American cinema, but also the story of a country—and an industry—beginning to break free from decades of cultural and sexual repression.

Genres: Film, Nonfiction, History, Media Tie In, New York, Audiobook, Cultural

415 pages, Hardcover

First published March 16, 2021

About the author

As a boy growing boy up in Rochester, NY, I loved movies, especially Westerns and most especially John Ford's The Searchers. Everything about it thrilled and frightened me---most especially John Wayne's towering performance. I grew up to become a journalist and a foreign correspondent for the Washington Post, and when I came back to the United States in 2006 I wanted to write a book about America. And what could be more American than The Searchers? The book did surprisingly well, and I found myself working in my own little sub-genre: books that combine the making of a classic film with a momentous era in American history. Next up was the making of High Noon and its connection to the Hollywood blacklist, a time of vicious rhetoric and false allegations not unlike our own troubled decade. Shooting Midnight Cowboy is my third: I’d always loved the movie---the only X-rated film ever to win the Oscar for Best Picture---and felt a personal connection: it was filmed largely in New York City in 1968, when I was a freshman at Columbia University. I feel very fortunate that after a wonderful career as a journalist and professor at Stanford University and the University of Texas at Austin, I’m now finding an exciting new world to explore as an author.

Reviews

[Kasa Cotugno · Rating 5 out of 5]

There's a lot to unpack here.

As I write this, I hear John Barry's haunting theme, and realize it is one of those pieces of music that has never worn out its welcome for over 50 years. That and Harry Nilsson's cover of Everybody's Talkin' which I had always attributed to him, but was actually composed by Fred Neil, a lesser known musician of the time who wrote while wishing to return to the solitude of his sailboat in Florida. How these two pieces became so closely identified with a gritty depiction of life on the streets of a downward sliding New York City in the 1960's is only one of the elements of this remarkable study. For those of us who remember that time and the impact this mature film made on the movie industry, this book is a trip to our past. For those too young or who weren't paying attention, it is a virtual window on an era long gone. I would imagine only real cinema nerds will make it all the way through, but this densely packed, extraordinarily researched examination reaches beyond the confines of film production and instead presents historical forces that had to be in place for this movie to be made but even more so, for its impact on the pop and cultural landscapes of its time. Integral to this history are the historical events regarding student upheavals, terrorist groups, protests against the Vietnam War, and most importantly, the history of gay culture featuring the Stonewall riots and the emergence of HIV.

There are in depth bios of the primary creators which reveal personal detail - Author John Leo Herlihy (including his intense friendship with Anais Nin), Director John Schlesinger (looking for a quality project after scoring with Darling and flopping with Far From the Madding Crowd). The section on Waldo Salt brought in the shameful era of McCarthyism and the Black List. The fortunate timing of the schedule that evolved under John Lindsay's term as mayor during which only one permit was required for shooting a film as opposed to an earlier, more difficult and expensive system. Then of course there was the casting. It is impossible to envision this film with anyone else, but the contribution particularly of Dustin Hoffman and his willingness to work with aspirants to the Joe Buck role were invaluable.

It's a lengthy, detailed portrait of an indelible contributor to the zeitgeist.

[Bill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Midnight Cowboy is a classic film with so many great ingredients: the cast, the script, the direction & of course John Barry's superb music. This amazing book on making the film is the definitive look at how it alll came together.
The opening chapters focus on director John Schlesinger & the author of the original novel, James Leo Herlihy. There is so much wonderful background to these two people that I forgot I was reading a book about Midnight Cowboy!
Following this there is more detailed information about other equally important people involved in bringing Midnight Cowboy to the screen.
As well as discussing the making of the film there is also a great slice of social history & how life was in New York City in the 1960s. This has been one of the best books on making a film that I've ever read. All that's left for me to do now is watch the film again.

[Sophy H · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a huge fan of this epic film, this read for me was bloody fantastic!

Glenn Frankel does an amazing job of looking at the entire process of making this classic film, from the original book by Jim Herlihy to the optioning, screenwriting, casting, directing, producing, costume and set design to the editing and cutting and then the public and critic's response, the returns it made and the accolades it finally achieved.

The format is really interesting as Frankel delves into the story behind each "player" in the process. It's ironic how many of those involved had been through some really negative experiences and were at the end of their tether in their chosen craft, so much so that Midnight Cowboy was pretty much their saviour and redemption. Frankel discusses the "gay" aspect of the whole thing, a gay writer and director both fighting their own demons, and the pressure to keep the story a "non-gay" piece but rather a look at the human relationship and companionship in its basest form.

I was enthralled by the reading and kept looking up actors, writers and films on Google, my kind of fun research that comes from thought-provoking writing.

If you like this film, I highly recommend this book as it really gets into the weeds of the process and shows how magic came together to create something really special. I've also been inspired to order a copy of the book by Herlihy as well to compare the written story to the film.

5 star perfection between the pages.

[Bill Hsu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Normally I would complain bitterly about how chatty and gossipy this is. But it was a fascinating and tumultuous time in pre-gentrification New York, and most of the (mostly short) digressions added relevant details to the bigger picture. There were a number of stories about how women were mistreated, from not being properly credited, to sexual abuse on the set. And it's easy to forget by now that Dustin Hoffman had just finished The Graduate, and this was Bob Balaban's first screen credit.

Even considering it was the crazy mid to late '60s, I'm impressed that a major studio (granted, UA was supposed to be the wonkiest of the majors) financed a movie about (what we'd call) a bromance between a straight man and a gay man, with gay sex scenes, based on a novel by a gay writer, directed by a (closeted) gay director. It was explicit enough for the time to get an X rating.

Many of the principals were characters, with hilarious stories. John Schlesinger in particular was a hoot, sourcing endless juicy quotes. When he received Jon Voight's note asking (about his character Joe Buck) "What's my motivation?", Schlesinger responded: "a good fuck for which you'll get handsomely paid."

It's been at least 10 years since I last saw Midnight Cowboy. Obviously I have to revisit the movie, right after I finished this book.

[Stacy Helton · Rating 5 out of 5]

The genre of books known as the film biography is one of the more enjoyable pleasures. In the past year, books have been published giving a complete picture of the films Chinatown, Mad Men, Dazed & Confused, and the subject of this review, Shooting Midnight Cowboy. Pulitzer Prize winner Glenn Frankel has given the John Schlesinger 1969 film an in-depth, comprehensive study. More academic and less gossipy than the Sam Staggs books (but just as entertaining), Frankel was able to snag interviews with the cast and crew (those still alive), most importantly Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman. Frankel takes the time to explore the complicated life of Jim Herlihy, the gay who penned the 1965 novel, Midnight Cowboy. Frankel often turns a sociological lens on gay America in the 1950s and 1960s, the decline of New York City after the postwar boom, and the fluctuation of the rating system post-Hayes code. Also discussed is the canon of director Schlesinger, including Darling and Sunday Bloody Sunday, which deserves its own inclusive study, alongside the career of screenwriter Waldo Salt, who was one of the original blacklisted Hollywood writers. The book is chock-full of amazing anecdotes, my favorite being the rattlesnake removal in the crumbling Texas house where Voight and Jennifer Salt have their illicit rendezvous. The editing of the film, with its sometimes-incomprehensible flashbacks, is discussed in detail. And of course, the “I’m walkin’ here!” adlib and the film’s X-rating also receive plenty of ink. A fantastic book chronicling one of the greatest films of all time.

[J Earl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shooting Midnight Cowboy: Art, Sex, Loneliness, Liberation, and the Making of a Dark Classic by Glenn Frankel is about so much more than simply shooting the film. It is a history of the book and film, as well as those people involved and the times in which it was made. These are all tied together into a compelling narrative that keeps the reader engrossed from start to finish.

In some ways this is more a history book than a snapshot of the time during which the film was physically made. By telling the personal stories of the book's author (Herlihy) and director (Schlesinger) we are given background into the themes of the film and the cultural environment into which it was released. In this respect it is as much social and cultural history as it is a study of the making of a film.

If you're mostly interested in the making of the film in the more narrow sense, you won't be disappointed. We get the details of what is done, what is considered, and what each person in the production brought to the final cut. I do think, even if you aren't coming to the book with a strong desire to learn as much of the history of the principals and the culture of the period, you will be glad you read it. That information sheds so much light on what will later be decided in the making of the film.

In spite of the big ideas, as highlighted in the book's after colon section, the film and this book both never lose track of the human elements. These are people. Whether we're talking about the characters in the story or the one's responsible for writing the book and making the movie, this is still a story (film and this book) about people.

I recommend this not just to film lovers and those who like this film in particular, but to those interested in social history of mid-20th century, especially New York City, Stonewall, and many of the other movements of the time.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.

[Michael Ritchie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not a fan of Midnight Cowboy (I was 13 when it came out with an X rating and didn't see it until I was in college, by which time it didn't seem shocking or revelatory or even particularly interesting) but I do like books which both trace the history of a film and discuss its cultural context, and this does both well. Frankel wanders rather far afield at times in what feels like occasional padding, especially in delving into the background of the author of the original novel James Leo Herlihy. But it is interesting that both Herlihy and the film's director John Schlesinger were more-or-less closeted gay men, and that the movie feels gay even though there is very little direct reference to homosexuality (I guess the men's room sex scene counts). Frankel has done his research well and the book is always quite readable, even when it does dally--the title is a bit of a misnomer, as the actual shooting of the movie takes up maybe only a third of the book.

[Pola Changnon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Totally enjoyed the detailed reportage of the creative personalities and the culturally era behind this movie. Details that were at times as “seedy” as the plot of the movie. Also, really new to me was the homophobic attitude that prevailed at this time. Even amongst psychiatrists who felt that being gay was a sign of ultimate ego and refusal to mature into more appropriate heterosexual love. Book also underlined the unlikely nature of filmmaking (or any collaborative process)...ie, how hard it is and how impossible for those involved. Nobody knows nothing!

[Jeff Duncanson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have a soft spot for these “making of” studies, so when I saw this one pop up on the bookstore shelves, I knew I had to have it. The American cinema of the late sixties to the mid-seventies are a sweet spot for me, and its fair (but certainly arguable) to say the Midnight Cowboy was the apogee of the freewheeling, gunslinger ethos of that era.

Glenn Frankels Shooting Midnight Cowboy: Art, Sex, Loneliness and the Making of a Dark Classic, is the best dissection of a film that I have read. Far more than a simplistic collection of anecdotes from the shooting, Frankel tells his tale by largely focusing on two closeted gay men at the heart of Midnight Cowboy: James Herlihy, who wrote the novel that the film is adapted from, and Brit John Schlesinger, who directed the film.

Herlihy was a navy man who ended up in New York in 1952 – By bus, as a matter of fact – And Frankels portrait of the young writer discovering the big city, and its thriving gay underground provides the important linkages that would ultimately morph into the story of Joe Buck. Frankel includes a meeting where the young Herlihy asks a woman how to get to the Statue of Liberty. That exchange ultimately made its way into Midnight Cowboy. Frankel observes that the handsome and jocular Herlihy bears more than a passing resemblance to the cowboy hustler of Midnight Cowboy.

As for Schlesinger, he had broken out as a director with huge promise in Britain with films like Billy Liar and Darling, but by the time the chance to direct Midnight Cowboy rolled around, his career was on a downturn. His film leading into MC was the poorly received period drama Far from the Madding Crowd. He wanted to step back after that debacle and do something different, and “American”. Right about this time, Herlihy’s novel was causing a stir in the gay literary world and found it’s way into Schlesingers hands.

Shooting Midnight Cowboy is also fascinating for the details of how the two lead actors came to the project. The actor originally thought of for the role of Joe was veteran Kiel Martin, best known now for Hill Street Blues. Canadian Michael Sarrazin was the strong early favorite, but Voight ended up with the part, partly because of a reaction by Hoffman to Voights screen test, where he remarked that in his test with Sarrazin, he was looking at himself, but in the one with Voight, he was looking at Voight. Bingo.

Midnight Cowboy is a milestone example of a movie being completely right for its time and place – The time being the Sixties and the place being the hard and dirty New York. Shooting Midnight Cowboy is marvelous, both in its film junkie detail of the creation of the film, but even more so in the fact that Frankel “gets” the cultural significance of the story. He has created the book that this grimy, hardscrabble, and ultimately tragic X rated masterpiece deserves.

[Alana · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I went to my library's catalog online to place a hold on the Midnight Cowboy so that I could pick it up and finally watch it, this book also came up in the search. I thought, why the hell not? If I don't like it or don't want to read it I can just return it. So I placed a hold on it too.

I can't remember the last time I devoured a non-fiction book like this. I didn't want to stop reading, it was like I had entered a deeply interesting and well written Wikipedia research spiral. I thought the movie was pretty good but the context behind making it has given me a new perspective!

The turbulence and artistic frenzy of late 1960s art, writing, acting, and film clashes beautifully into creation! A lot of the cultural movements of this time period are sadly still relevant today (right now more than ever it seems 🙄😒) and it is interesting to see the depth of art that comes out of them. It was also so interesting to figure out that everyone back then just knew each other. So much name dropping in this, but these people really were contemporaries and friends!

Not only this but being able to understand the thoughtfulness and intent put into just making this film and releasing it so carefully, puts into harsh focus the general thoughtlessness of today's film industry. There are so many bits and pieces and people and ideas and places that went into those final 113 minutes. That just doesn't happen anymore at that level or scale.

Anyway, an extremely well researched and well written book. A very interesting read.

[Philip Fagan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Between last year's The Big Goodbye by Sam Wasson and Glenn Frankel's new tome on Midnight Cowboy, it's safe to say that we are entering a remarkable new era in well-researched and highly entertaining historical works on the New Hollywood of the 60s and 70s. Like Wasson's study of Polanski's Chinatown, Frankel's Shooting Midnight Cowboy furthers the timeworn argument of cinema as a personal art form of auteurship while extending the idea beyond the director to include writers, producers, actors, principle crew members and accomplices, all who bring their own life experiences and personal visions to the final cut. Along the way, myths surrounding Midnight Cowboy are clarified and sometimes debunked (the stories behind the notorious X-rating and Hoffman's famous "I'm walkin' here" line are fascinating revisions to the usual assumptions). Frankel also digs deep into the diverse countercultures that ultimately informed the film and its creators, with appearances by Gore Vidal, Anais Nin, Andy Warhol and others situating the film within a broader context. Whether you love the film itself as much as I do or have a more general interest in the film-making business and underground culture of the 1960s, this is your book. Shooting Midnight Cowboy isn't film history. It's American history woven together by a highly skilled researcher and engaging writer.

[Peacejanz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book for people who loved the movie or the book. Otherwise, I think it could be quite boring. There is a great deal of detail, about the director, especially his first US film and his anxiety or nervousness. There are bits and pieces about the various characters, such as the clause in Brenda Vaccaro's contract that her breasts or nipples could not be seen (I can't remember which it was) and they used pasties, which were sticky. [What a love scene - sticky pasties on you]. Neither Hoffman or Voight were the intended stars but got the roles as second-best; there was a special relationship between them when they were acting. Some of the scenes are sudden, improvised, not planned - just as when Hoffman beats on the cab and is yelling and kicking the cab. Many of the crowd scenes are actual scenes in New York - the budget was so low that they could not hire enough people to walk the streets of supply the crowd scenes. They just took photos of actual people, without permission and used them in the movie. The book is well referenced, providing notes and suggested readings. Perhaps best of all, the final pages detail the aftermath of the movie, those who won awards, those who disappeared, those we know by the movies and plays they wrote. This book fills my heart, just as the movie did 50 years ago.

[James B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to Netgalley and FSG for the ebook. I love the film Midnight Cowboy, the American films of the late sixties and seventies are among my all time favorites, and this book is an exhaustive look into every aspect of the making of the film, starting with the novel and the author who wrote it, the British director and his America producer who saw something in the story that almost no one else did, the former blacklisted screenwriter who also understood the book and saw this project as a chance to once again write something he loved and believed in, the Polish emigre cinematographer in his first American feature and two actors, Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight, who the director didn’t want to hire, but ended up admiring their hard work and inventiveness more than any actors he would ever work with in his career. Like most movies, there are a hundred times where the film seems like it’s going to derail and either not get made or become a mess, but somehow finds that magic that averts disaster and becomes a wildly successful film and later a classic.

[Tim Oldakowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

I know I say this every time I read a book about a film’s production (see Seduced by Mrs. Robinson) but this is hands down one of the best books about film production I have ever read. Not only do you learn about the novelist, director, actors, and crew, but you get a vivid description of NYC in the 1960’s and 1970’s. A must read if you are interested in this film, the breakup of the Hollywood Studio System, or the legendary film Midnight Cowboy.

[caro · Rating 5 out of 5]

absolutely stellar compilation of the making of what i would call the best movie ever made. for a new hollywood movie that was made in the confines of old hollywood, i cannot believe how any of these sources and memories still existed. amazing stuff (plus great analysis of my favorite scene)

[Donniesands · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was very late to the party and just watched Midnight Cowboy for the first time this year. I was so obsessed that I had to know more and picked up this book afterwards. An amazing journey through the whole production of the movie, from the story of the director’s journey to making the movie, the author of the novel, how Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight played off each other to make their characters to the female casting director who is one of the reasons this movie had the great cast that it did. At the same time this all happens in a backdrop of its time period in New York that was equally enthralling. I loved this book almost as much as the movie and it really made me appreciate the luck, skill and grit that go together to make a timeless classic. Fantastic

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was just as much about the making of the film as it was about the director and author of the book on which the movie is based. This was actually a lovely surprise because it gave so much more context for the era and the challenges of the material at the time.

[Allen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just rewatched the movie Midnight Cowboy (1968) which is a masterpiece. Then I read this new book about it: It’s hard to give this well-written book 3 out of 5 stars. The writer was a journalist for many years and it really shows here. I bought the book having loved the movie Midnight Cowboy over the years. This book about it was very detailed, and covered all aspects of the making of the movie.

Why 3 stars? The title of the book should have been: The History of Homosexual Creators in the 60s/70s, and The History of New York during the 60s/70s. (and the making of Midnight Cowboy) After many pages about the gay writer of Midnight Cowboy in extreme detail the book went another 100+ pages about NY and it's gay population. Then the turmoil and decay of NY, etc. I finally skimmed over pages and paragraphs to finally, around the middle of the book, get to read about the making of the movie.

Even then the history of the movie kept forking back to homosexuality and NY. It became painful to read. I was mostly interested in the movie so I plowed ahead. In the end I’m glad I read it. I learned a lot. I just wished the book had had an editor to keep the book on track, cut back excessive details unrelated to the movie, etc.

There should have been two separate books instead of the history textbook merged with the movie history. Sure, the movie does treat NY in 1968 as a character. It is important but most of the book is too much to sift through for movie buffs. I have nothing against gay people and consider everyone having the freedom to their hopes and desires, etc. But this was so continuously brought up in the book it was as if I’m reading The National Enquirer. Is it important for us to know the private sexual behavior of every person in connection with the movie? Too much information that the writer Glenn found fascinating and loved writing about, but was too far afield many times, not sticking to the making of the movie.🍕🍕🍕3 out of 5.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read all of Frankel’s books on film and have enjoyed each of them-including Shooting Midnight Cowboy. This is a very behind the scenes look at the making of Midnight Cowboy and the book on which it is based. The book gives us a look at the author,James Herlihy, the director of the movie, James Schlesinger and of course, the stars-Hoffman and Voight. Not just a book about a movie but the book also examines New York in the seventies with an emphasis on gay culture and the arts. A very interesting melange. My only complaint is that I think the book is too detailed and could have been shorter. The details sometimes bog down the interesting story of the key players and the movie making story. But I still enjoyed it and if you have any interest in film making and/or this classic movie—this book is for you.

[Rick · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great account of an iconic movie that broke a lot of barriers. Frankel's story is one of those that make it almost impossible for a reader to put down. He captures the lives of the key people behind the film: author of the source book, James Leo Herlihy, the director, John Schlesinger, stars Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight, plus a cast of amazing characters both on and offscreen, including screenwriter Waldo Salt (and his daughter Jennifer, who had a pivotal, and traumatizing, role in the film), casting director, cinematographer, and many others. Exhaustively researched, this gem virtually leaps off the page. It was so good I immediately watched the movie again and am not reading Herlihy's book. Highly recommended!

[Alvin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Voltaire said that, "The secret of being a bore is to tell everything." Shooting Midnight Cowboy proves him wrong. The book includes every last bit of information and analysis that could conceivably be relevant, yet somehow doesn't collapse under its own weight. Rather, it plunges the reader into the historical era from whence the film sprang, with particular focus on the underrated writer, James Leo Herlihy, who penned the book on which the move is based. Truth be told, there were moments when I did wish Frankel would reign in the digressions, but not that many. Overall a great book for anyone interested in filmmaking, homosexuality, and/or mid-20th century pop culture.

[Hal Johnson · Rating 2 out of 5]

100 pages into this book and the novel upon which the movie Midnight Cowboy is based has not yet been written.

Among the parts of SMC:ASLLatMoaDC that could have been cut out are a miniature biography of Sherwood Anderson (who possibly influenced the writing of Midnight Cowboy the book), some twenty pages on Joe Janni (a producer but not of Midnight Cowboy), and the arky, interminable subtitle.

[Paul Callahan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember 1969 as the year man walked on the moon and Life ended on the earth. Life Magazine ended as a weekly publication that year. I thought it’s demise ironic juxtaposed next to the moon landing. It was also the year of Woodstock and it was also the year of Midnight Cowboy; the first and only X rated movie to ever win the Academy Award for best picture of the year. I was 20 years old. I thought Midnight Cowboy was a wonderful movie reimagining Of Mice and Men with Joe and Ratso replacing George and Lenny.
Glenn Frankel’s book brings the time MIdnight Cowboy was made back into focus. The movie was made in 1968. That year began with the Tet Offensive and the abdication of Lyndon Johnson and ended with Richard Nixon in the White House and the Christmas Eve broadcast from Apollo 8 as it orbited the Moon. In between there both Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy were assassinated, cities burned and the police rioted at the Democratic Convention in Chicago.
On the streets of NYC, John Schlesinger made a love story about Joe Buck, a dishwasher from Texas who goes to New York City to sell sex to rich women, fails but meets a tubercular street hustler named Ratso Rizzo and forges a family with him amid the ruins.
Frankel gives us in-depth portraits of James Leo Herlihy, John Schlesinger, Waldo Salt and the two principle actors; John Voight and Dustin Hoffman. And he gives us New York City as it is beginning its slide from Fun City to Fear City. As we get old we forget what the world was like when we were young. Given the social and cultural atmosphere in America in 1968 it is amazing that this film was allowed to be made. It shattered walls and ceilings and after Midnight Cowboy came out the holes in the moral structure of America began to show. That was a good thing. As Leonard Cohen said about cracks, “that’s how the light gets in”.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Glenn Frankel traces the production of ‘Midnight Cowboy, its cast and crew, from its origins in James Leo Herlihy’s novel to its Oscar nominations as the Academy’s first X-rated film. Frankel pays special attention to the ways in which the movie broke new ground in its unblinking and compassionate depiction of gay characters at a time when homophobia was an acceptable standpoint in mainstream newspapers. His approach is matter-of-fact, yet still explores the courage it took for then-closeted director John Schlesinger to take on this project, as well as several other films that introduced gay themes to mainstream audiences. Against all odds, this odd story of the alliance between Joe Buck, a young Texan with thwarted ambitions, and Ratso Rizzo, a consumptive and disabled con man, captured the affection of viewers. Lead John Voigt described its success: “It was gritty in a way no one had ever seen before, but it was so full of life. These were American characters that you’d never seen on screen before, with questions raised that you’d never seen raised before” (333). Excellent book that adds to our understanding of post-studio system Hollywood and how it can push the culture forward.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Glenn Frankel has written an exhaustive, and somewhat exhausting, account of the making of the 1969 classic film Midnight Cowboy. The beginning of the actual filming isn't covered until the fifteenth chapter, at the middle of the book. Before we get there, Frankel takes us on a long path of preparation by detailing the lives of all the key players in the film's history. He begins with James Leo Herlihy, the author of the novel that was published in 1965. He continues with similar background stories of director James Schlesinger, screen writer Waldo Salt, the producers, casting directors, and many other members of the film crew. Eventually we learn about how stars Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight got involved, as well as other members of the cast. Frankel also tells us a lot about New York City and its importance to the story. I read the novel back in 1967 or 1968 when I was a teenager, and it was very impressive and moving. When I saw the film during its initial release, I remember feeling a bit of a letdown with the way the story was brought to the screen. Still, the film is well made and is filled with brilliant performances. While I was reading Frankel's book I found myself wanting to reread the novel, if I could manage to find a copy. But by the end, I was a little bit overwhelmed by the sadness of the lives of Joe Buck, Rico Rizzo and their creator, James Leo Herlihy, and I think I've finally had more than enough of Midnight Cowboy and the mean streets of New York.

[Jay Hinman · Rating 4 out of 5]

An exhaustive accounting of the classic 1969 film and cultural hoopla that surrounded Midnight Cowboy, the X-rated film about a would-be New York City male hustler from cornpone Texas and his streetwise, ne’er do well grifter friend - a classic that nearly didn’t get made, and then ended up winning a Best Picture Oscar a year after its release. Midnight Cowboy, the film, came to fruition at the nexus of a a Venn diagram comprised of James Leo Herlihy’s 1965 book of the same name; the physical decline of New York City; the retrospectively preordained but by no means assured ascent of Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman’s careers; the first stirrings of American gay liberation; the desire of director John Schlesinger to escape his native London and the failures surrounding his film Far From The Madding Crowd; and a serendipitous cohesion of cast, crew, location and public readiness for the film’s bracingly honest storytelling.

The book casts a net even wider than this diagram, taking in not just the making of the film from these elements, but also the lives of the people involved, both before and after the late 60s/early 70s sensation surrounding the film’s release and ultimate critical and box-office triumph. If you haven’t seen it, I certainly recommend you do before reading the book, which is pretty much true of any tome that dissects a single work of cinema. Yet because Frankel takes in so much more than a making-of, he also provides a truly valuable overview of American mores and attitudes starting in the 50s and how they served to both impede and later accelerate the careers of iconoclastic free-thinkers (and homosexuals) like Herlihy and Schlesinger. We also learn a great deal about the film industry of the 60s; the role of women within it (the tale of casting director Marion Dougherty is especially rich and frustrating) and about New York City itself, a city starting its slow crumble in the 1960s while simultaneously being invigorated by hippies, freaks and outsiders of all manner.

Aside from the greatness of Midnight Cowboy and the performances by Voight and Hoffman themselves, I’d always been most interested in it being Rated X, typically given to pornographic films. We learn about the psychiatrist who essentially nudged it into an X rating - over the objections of the ratings board, who actually gave it an “R” - because of his fears that viewing the film might turn maladjusted heterosexuals into gay men. This for a bleak film about a desperate, non-homosexual friendship that is far from a recruitment poster for the lavender lifestyle.

A bit of unnecessary repetition sets in during a late chapter that recaps the film’s plot, the details of which we’ve by now already contemplated from multiple angles during the recapping of the filming itself. I could have done without it, along with the umpteenth hosannas for Voight and Hoffman’s exceptional performances, but it’s redeemed with a terrific epilogue that truly cements the film in context by giving us the then-what-happened for every major character up until their deaths or declines. (Jon Voight became a Trump-lover. I did not know that.). With an exception or two, Midnight Cowboy was the creative pinnacle for just about everyone involved in its creation, as it was for the major-studio film industry in 1969. Frankel has done it true justice with a comprehensive history of the film and its times.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven't seen the film in at least 20 years, but it has always stuck with me, at least in part. Reading this in-depth dive into the people involved and the many things they went through to achieve this singular film makes me really want to see it again.

There's not a whole lot to say about what the book covers without giving away all the fun of reading it. But, I will give two spoilers, neither important to the book itself, and one which everybody but me seems to have already known. It was last night when I read the last few pages that I learned Jon Voight is the father of Angelina Jolie. And it was a few days ago when I read Voight's bio in the chapter on him that I learned his brother changed his name to Chip Taylor and wrote, among many other things, "Wild Thing."

Oh, and one more thing - what do you suppose the baseball announcer Joe Buck thinks about Midnight Cowboy?

[Bradley Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Frankel, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, dives deep into the political, cultural, and social zeitgeist of the 1950s and 60s that led to the production and release of the X-rated classic from 1969 that signaled a dramatic shift in American popular culture. Not just an in-depth look into the making of the film, chronicling the New York misadventures of Joe Buck as the product of a generation raised by images of an illusory America and his begrudging friendship with the seedy Ratso Rizzo borne out of a survivalist necessity, Frankel also applies a journalistic scrutiny in his analysis of shifts within the classic Hollywood studio system, public perception and acceptance of homosexuals in the performing arts, the economic decline of New York, and the film’s lurid literary source material; the film being dangerous and pioneering at a tumultuous time when the old ways were dying as a new cultural dawn was on the horizon. Frankel’s research and contextualization of the attitudes and mores preceding the release of “Midnight Cowboy” is a methodical study on the effects and impact of sexual liberation with “Midnight Cowboy” breaking through barriers once thought impossible to overcome. More than just a behind-the-scenes look at the making of an important film, Frankel’s book is an essential cultural study of a time when even the most liberal of institutions, the arts, were still antagonistic against free sexual expression.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Meticulously researched and endlessly fascinating. This is a terrific film history book about the making of the only X-rated movie to ever win Best Picture at the Oscars. The super helpful thing Frankel does is to give you context about each person and the social movements of the time. You also get a breakdown of the differences between the book and the movie, the differences between what ended up on screen and the screenplay, etc. It's a solid read. It's not quite a 5-star book as it can be a bit dry at times. But still. Highly recommended.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even better than Frankel's previous books on THE SEARCHERS and HIGH NOON. The origins of the book of MIDNIGHT COWBOY, the Director's career, the history of the time and all the resulting ins and outs of the making of the film are here in great detail. Lots of stories and trivia EX: Bob Dylan wrote LAY LADY LAY for the film's score and was turned away.