X Marks the Spot

Just one year after awarding the BEST PICTURE Oscar to a G-rated movie for the first and only time,the Academy Award for best movie of 1969 went completely in the opposite direction, when it was given to an X-rated film for the first and only time.

At a quick glance, MIDNIGHT COWBOY might be appear to be somewhat similar plot-wise to OLIVER!, the 1968 BEST PICTURE winner. Both concerned the somewhat seedy side of life in a major city (London in the 1800s for OLIVER! and modern day New York for MIDNIGHT COWBOY).

But all comparisons end there. OLIVER! is a light-hearted musical, while MIDNIGHT COWBOY, based on a 1965 novel of the same name by James Leo Herlihy, is a profanity-laced drama with sex scenes that were considered shocking at the time.

The movie made a star of newcomer Jon Voight and helped Dustin Hoffman establish himself further as a major actor (avoiding any typecasting from his lead role in the smash movie hit, THE GRADUATE).

Since it was X-rated (no one under 18 allowed), MIDNIGHT COWBOY is likely a motion picture many of us could not go and see while we were in high school. There was a further review of MIDNIGHT COWBOY in 1970 and it was changed to an R rating. That allowed for greater circulation of the picture since many theatres would not run X-rated fare and newspapers would not accept advertising for such films.

One line from this picture lives on in cinema history. It came from Dustin Hoffman while crossing a street. "I'm walking here, I'm walking here" is a classic quote that has been parodied in several motion pictures over the years.

Cortesy of YouTube, here's how the movie was promoted back in 1969. Watch for the famous "I'm walking here" line in this trailer. I guess someone already knew it would be a classic..

MIDNIGHT COWBOY won 3 Oscars, for BEST PICTURE, BEST DIRECTOR (John Schlesinger) and BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY. Both Hoffman and Voight were nominated for BEST ACTOR but did not win.

The movie also won GRAMMY awards for Best Instrumental Theme and for "Everybody's Talking" which took top honors for Harry Nilsson for "Best Male Pop Vocal Performance." The song was a mega-hit on the pop charts.

This concludes our look back at the movies that won the BEST PICTURE Oscar while we were attending Father Ryan High School (1965-69). I hope you enjoyed it, especially to see how the trends in our best pictures waxed and waned over a 4 to 5 year period.

There are, of course, several other motion pictures of note that were made and released during our time together at FRHS. We will will take a look back at some of them as well, as we approach our 40th Reunion celebration which is now just a few weeks away now on the weekend of June 5-7.

If you've gotten your invitation, please be sure to fill out your RSVP card and send it in (with your check) as soon as possible. if you are a class member who hasn't gotten an invitation, let us know, so we can make sure you are on the list.

It is going to be a great weekend!