Midnight Cowboy/Trivia

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


  • Hey, It's That Guy!: Bob Balaban in his first film role as the student in the theater.
  • Playing Against Type: This is the film that got Hoffman recognized from simply the flavor of the month star, to a master actor destined to be one of the Hollywood Greats.
  • Throw It In: The Signature Line of "I'm walkin' here!" was unscripted. Because of the low budget, they didn't have permits to close New York streets and had to film with hidden cameras. In that particular scene, a taxi ran the red light and almost ran over Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight. Hoffman almost said "I'm actin' here" before remembering to stay in character (though does forget the accent and limp). Fortunately, this adds to the "welcome to New York" feel of the film, and hints there's more to Ratso than it appears.
  • What Could Have Been: Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight were almost run over by the taxi in the "I'm walkin' here!" scene.
    • Randy Newman's "Cowboy" and Harry Nilsson's "I Guess the Lord Must Live in New York City" were also written for the film but passed over for one reason or another.