May 25, 1969: "Midnight Cowboy" Premieres

May 25, 1969: Midnight Cowboy premieres, directed by John Schlesinger. It was the 1st film to receive an X rating, under the still-new movie ratings system, and still win an Academy Award.

The casting was a little bit of an irony: Yonkers, New York native Jon Voight plays Joe Buck, a dim-witted Texan who goes to New York City, thinking sophisticated women will pay to have sex with a real Texas cowboy, and finds out otherwise, and falls intro desperate straits; while Ratso Rizzo, a streetwise New Yorker, is played by Dustin Hoffman, a Los Angeles native. Sylvia Miles, Brenda Vaccaro, Barnard Hughes and a young Bob Balaban also appear.

The film's most-quoted scene may, or may not, have been an accident, literally, depending on who's telling the story. Voight and Hoffman are walking west down 58th Street, thinking 6th Avenue has been closed off to traffic for the sake of the film, when a taxi comes up, and nearly hits Hoffman. He stays in character, slams his hand on the hood, and yells, "Hey! I'm walkin' here! I'm walkin' here!"

Fred Neil's song "Everybody's Talkin'," as sung by Harry Nilsson, bookends the film, both Joe's ride from Houston to New York at the beginning and the tragic ride he takes with Ratso down to Miami at the end. Along with "I'm walkin' here!" it's probably the most-remembered part of the film.

Because of both the heterosexual and the homosexual themes, the Motion Picture Association of America gave it an X rating. It was a box-office hit, anyway. In 1971, the standards had changed, and it was re-released with an R rating.

Midnight Cowboy was nominated for 7 Academy Awards, winning 3: Best Picture (still the only X- or NC-17-rated film ever to win it), Best Director for Schlesinger, and Best Adapted Screenplay for Waldo Salt. Hoffman and Voight were both nominated for Best Actor, but lost to a "real cowboy," John Wayne, winning his 1st Oscar at age 62, for True Grit.

It took 5 years for the film to be broadcast on television, with 25 minutes cut out so that it could meet censorship regulations.

In 1961, Breakfast at Tiffany's showed a New York that was still classic and magical. By 1969, Midnight Cowboy showed the City to have became a garish mess of crime and poverty. In 1976, Taxi Driver showed things as even worse, where what was once good had become crazy (including Travis), and what was bad was irredeemable. Things bottomed out in 1981, with Fort Apache: The Bronx.

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May 25, 1969 was a Sunday. While it is common for a big film to premiere during Memorial Day Weekend, it is unusual for a film to premiere on a Sunday. These games were played in Major League Baseball:

* The New York Yankees were swept in a doubleheader by the Minnesota Twins, 2-1 and 3-2 at Yankee Stadium. Dave Boswell allowed only 3 hits in the opener, outpitching Fritz Peterson. Harmon Killebrew went 0-for-3 but had an RBI on a sacrifice fly. Rod Carew only appeared as a defensive replacement.

Dick Woodson outpitched Stan Bahnsen in the nightcap. Killebrew went 3-for-4 with a walk and an RBI. Carew went 2-for-3 with 2 walks. Charlie Manuel, later to manage the Philadelphia Phillies to a World Series win, hit a home run for the Twins.

* The New York Mets lost to the Houston Astros, 6-3 at the Astrodome in Houston. Denny Lemaster outpitched Tom Seaver.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Oakland Athletics, 5-3 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Brooks Robinson hit a home run. Frank Robinson went 1-for-5.Reggie Jackson went 0-for-4.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Washington Senators, 3-2 at District of Columbia Stadium in Washington. (It was renamed Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium 2 weeks later.) Ellie Rodriguez doubled Bob Oliver home in the top of the 12th inning.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-1 at Atlanta Stadium (later renamed Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium). Hank Aaron went 1-for-4.

* Ball Four fans, take note: The Seattle Pilots beat the Cleveland Indians, 3-2 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Tommy Harper drew a bases-loaded walk in the top of the 8th inning for the winning run, from opposing pitcher Stan Williams. I wonder if he told Williams, "'preciate it, thanks."

Marty Pattin started, Diego Seguí was the winning pitcher, and Jim Bouton got Zoilo Versalles to walk out, then walked José Cardenal, and was removed for John O'Donoghue. He gave up a single to Cap Peterson, and Gary Bell had to be brought in to get out of the jam. He got the save.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Montreal Expos, 7-2 at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. This was a rare Reds game in which Pete Rose did not play. Johnny Bench went 0-for-3 with a walk.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the California Angels, 10-0 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Denny McLain pitched a 3-hit shutout. Al Kaline went 1-for-3.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Chicago White Sox, 1-0 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Carl Yastrzemski went 1-for-4. Jim Lonborg pitched 4-hit shutout ball for 7 innings, outdoing Wilbur Wood, and Vicente Romo completed the 5-hit shutout.

* A doubleheader was split at San Diego Stadium (later renamed Jack Murphy Stadium and Qualcomm Stadium). The San Diego Padres won the 1st game, 10-2. The Chicago Cubs won the 2nd game, 1-0. Ron Santo hit a home run off Joe Niekro in the top of the 9th inning, winning it for Ted Abernathy in relief of Bill Hands. Over the 2 games, Ernie Banks went 3-for-7 with a walk and an RBI.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 4-0 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Bob Gibson pitched a 6-hit shutout. Curt Flood went 4-for-5 with an RBI.

* And the Pittsburgh Pirates swept a doubleheader from the San Francisco Giants, 2-1 and 6-2 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. In the 1st game, Roberto Clemente went 0-for-3 with a walk, Willie Stargell went 1-for-4 with an RBI, and Willie Mays went 0-for-3 with a walk. Stargell did not appear in the 2nd game, and Clemente and Mays each appeared as a pinch-hitter and failed to reach base.