Atlantic Crossing

Abstract

William Mann begins his biography of director John Schlesinger with a prologue that commences in April 1970. It’s the scene of Schlesinger’s greatest moment as a filmmaker; his Oscars for Best Director and Best Picture for his 1969 film, Midnight Cowboy, with Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman. “Astoundingly”, writes Mann “The Academy had nominated Cowboy [for both awards]. Old Hollywood rationalised away these nominations as simply bones thrown to the counter culture.”¹ Mann’s argument is that not only was this a pivotal moment for Schlesinger’s career, it was also a turning point in the history of American cinema. The film was an off-beat down-at-heel tale of two losers on the margins of contemporary American society; Voight plays Texan Joe Buck, recently arrived in New York and intent on hustling his way to money and a change of fortune in his life. When he meets outcast Ratso Rizzo (Hoffman), the two forge an odd but enduring partnership that carries them through the vicissitudes of a city and country changing dramatically at the end of the 1960s.