John Schlesinger directs Jon Voight, Dustin Hoffman and Brenda Vaccaro in this tale of a dumb Texan who travels to the Big Apple to become a hustler only to discover he is the mark for everyone else in the city to exploit.

Told in bold, fractured swipes, Midnight Cowboy is still a brave and affecting drama focussing on two complex failures; who want to be predators but are trapped as the lowest of the low on the NY food chain. Schlesinger captures a time and place with a heady mixture of both picture postcard accuracy and grimy police report pessimism. Equally, he visually taps in to the two leads fears and desires through discordant flashbacks and petty fantasies jutting into the increasingly dismal narrative. Hoffman puts in fine work with less screentime as the enfeebled Rizzo, a character that shifts from repulsive to beloved over his tragic decline. A bonafide classic.

10