Midnight Cowboy

Available for over a year

An X–rated picture winning the Oscar for Best Picture? From squeaky clean, well-shaved 'Graduate', to sleazy pimp - Dustin Hoffman shows his acting prowess in John Schlesinger's well-deserved but shocking Oscar Best Picture from 1969. Paul Gambaccini recalls how it was not a surprise when 'Midnight Cowboy' won the Oscar for Best Picture of 1969 - not to mention gongs for the director, John Schlesinger, and screen writer, Waldo Salt. But take a fresh look at this film, 45 years later, and it's obvious why it blasted its way passed the opposition at the Academy Awards. The film was rife with acting talent; a young Dustin Hoffman, messing up his clean cut reputation by taking on the role of a down at heel New York bum; Jon Voight as a naïve but optimistic hustler; Brenda Vaccaro as a lush, fur-coated party girl and Sylvia Miles hilarious in a short but lauded sex scene. It also brought one of the most extraordinary scriptwriters, Waldo Salt, and one of the first 'out' directors, John Schlesinger, together with one of the least experienced, but adventurous cinematographers, Adam Holender - a moment of production chemistry. Featuring fresh interviews with: Adam Holender Sylvia Miles Producer Jerome Hellman Brenda Vaccaro Waldo Salt's daughter Jennifer John Schlesinger's long-term partner, Michael Childers Producer: Sara Jane Hall First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 2015.