As I have stated in many other similar reviews, I am a huge fan of a subgenre of film books that can best be described as “The Making Of (insert title).” These books are essentially a biography of a movie, the story of how the creative team came together, made it, and then put it before the movie going public. Glenn Frankel has excelled in writing these kind of books; I really enjoyed the ones he wrote on the classic westerns, THE SEARCHERS and HIGH NOON. His latest takes on another classic, one that has a western archetype in its title, but is as about as far from those films in style and theme as one could get: MIDNIGHT COWBOY, the only X-rated film to not only receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture, but to go on and win the Oscar itself. Its full title is SHOOTING MIDNIGHT COWBOY: ART, LONELINESS, AND THE MAKING OF A DARK CLASSIC, and it is a real look back at a moment in time when American popular culture undergoing a revolution, and taking a look at aspects of that culture which had been deliberately long ignored.

As with most of these books in this subgenre, the story starts with a creative person who latches onto a premise or an idea, and then, with great perseverance, makes something of it, and in the process, draws in other creative people, who add their talents to the mix. Frankel’s book starts with two such special talents, the author James Leo Herlihy, and the British film director, John Schlesinger, both of whom were discreet homosexuals in a time when society was hardly accepting of them. Herlihy, who had some moderate success as an author and playwright, penned the original novel the film was based on, published in 1965. It was the story of Joe Buck, a poor, but handsome young man from Texas who fancies himself a stud with the ladies, and who journeys to New York City in hopes of supporting himself by servicing lonely, but wealthy, older women. Things don’t go as planned, and the big city is not kind to the country boy, but he does strike up a friendship with a crippled street hustler named Ratzo Rizzo, who walks with a distinctive limp; it is the relationship of these two men living on the margin of society that is the heart of Herlihy’s story. Schlesinger was a film director whose specialty was telling dramatic character driven narratives on screen. He’d had a big success with the film, DARLING, which made a huge star of the gorgeous Julie Christie, and Hollywood came courting, but Schlesinger’s next film was a box office disappointment, and he was looking for a project that might restore his reputation. I really like how Frankel portrays MIDNIGHT COWBOY as something of a redemption project, not just for Schlesinger, but for Jerry Hellman, the producer who had suffered professional and personal setbacks before taking on the film, and for Waldo Salt, the screen writer who penned the final script, who had been on the McCarthy era blacklist. All these people came together, along with a casting director (who didn’t get the credit she deserved), a costume designer, cinematographers, and the executive artists at United Artists, who all availed their best talents for a film that included male and female nudity, blatant homosexual acts, sexual assault, and an unflinching look at the underside of NYC in a way never seen before in a big budget Hollywood production.

There was so much in Frankel’s book that I really liked, especially how he recreates the movie industry of the late ‘60s, when the old Production Code was no longer in force, but where movie makers were not sure what to do with all this new found freedom, and very unsure of themselves in what the public would accept. The drama and friction of the creative process are at the heart of much of the book. The tension between the insecure gay British director and his boyfriend, who got a job on the film, and the American film making crew during the shoot during the hot summer of 1968 makes for an interesting section. The casting process is discussed in detail, and I learned just how Jon Voight, a relative unknown, and Dustin Hoffman, fresh off the smash success of THE GRADUATE, were cast as Joe and Ratzo respectively. I loved reading about some of those considered for parts in the film, but were passed on, including the very talented, but now nearly forgotten, Michael Sarrazin for the part of Joe, along with the Six-Million Dollar man himself, Lee Majors. The tension between Voight and Hoffman, two very intense actors (very much so in Hoffman’s case) is recounted and how it contributed mightily to the success of the final product. More surprising to me was some of the other names considered for parts in the film, actors no one would ever associate with an X rated film. I’m glad Frankel pays respect to John McGiver and Bernard Hughes, two fearless character stars who contributed memorable moments, along with Sylvia Miles, whose portrayal of one of Joe’s would be clients would win her an Oscar nomination. There is much detail about late ‘60s NYC, which is very much a character in its own right in the film, and the state of decline it was in by then. But the part I found most enlightening was just how MIDNIGHT COWBOY got its X rating from the MPAA. A lot of myths have been associated with this piece of Hollywood lore, and Frankel helps set the record straight. It was interesting to read about the critical reception to the film, which was mostly acclaim for its daring honesty, but more than one major critic in a mainstream publication did little to hide their disdain for homosexuals, and clearly considered it a “gay film,” which it is not. There’s an epilogue at the end that I found sad in some parts because success, no matter how great, is so often fleeting, and in some cases, no amount of it can the heal the wounds inflicted by choices made.

While reading Frankel’s book, I re-watched MIDNIGHT COWBOY online to see how well it holds up. It is certainly a film of its time, but that is ultimately what makes it great because it is filled with the energy of an America leaving the past behind and pushing onward into uncharted territory. Schlesinger’s direction is daring and challenging, while the lonely heart that was at the center of Herlihy’s novel is very much in evidence. The performances of Voight and Hoffman still shine bright, this might just be Hoffman’s best acting ever, but this is really the young Jon Voight’s film. He is simply stunning in it, and when you see the older man he is today on social media and cable news channels, you really have to ask what happened?

In the end, Frankel’s book brings it all together in the story how a most unlikely film classic got made in a Hollywood that was still willing to take risks, and dare mightily in the pursuit of both art and profit. Shame we don’t see more of that these days. ( )

Pretty exhaustively researched, but I find myself nodding off as it went on. I think I prefer media history to be focused on bodies of work, as opposed to on a single text. ( )

This book has a lot of superficially interesting stories. Lot's of "this critic said this about that then". He never uses any interesting quotes because his whole deal is to appeal to the imaginary consumer citizen has in his head. This guy reads Time and Newsweek, The New York Times etc. and doesn't know jack about shit. Yes this is another book pitched to a ten year old like all other mass media. God forbid they find writers with anything more to say then another summary of trite assumptions we are still expected to believe in this day and age. I mean come on. This is NPR level crap. The writer doesn't know film and only cares about the money or personality the celebrities are trying to put over. It's really just another business story. And he watched the film apparently. Why did he write about it? It didn't effect him, he didn't understand it. This book is a dead thing written by a dead person in a dead world. ( )

Shooting Midnight Cowboy: Art, Sex, Loneliness, Liberation, and the Making of a Dark Classic by Glenn Frankel is about so much more than simply shooting the film. It is a history of the book and film, as well as those people involved and the times in which it was made. These are all tied together into a compelling narrative that keeps the reader engrossed from start to finish.

In some ways this is more a history book than a snapshot of the time during which the film was physically made. By telling the personal stories of the book's author (Herlihy) and director (Schlesinger) we are given background into the themes of the film and the cultural environment into which it was released. In this respect it is as much social and cultural history as it is a study of the making of a film.

If you're mostly interested in the making of the film in the more narrow sense, you won't be disappointed. We get the details of what is done, what is considered, and what each person in the production brought to the final cut. I do think, even if you aren't coming to the book with a strong desire to learn as much of the history of the principals and the culture of the period, you will be glad you read it. That information sheds so much light on what will later be decided in the making of the film.

In spite of the big ideas, as highlighted in the book's after colon section, the film and this book both never lose track of the human elements. These are people. Whether we're talking about the characters in the story or the one's responsible for writing the book and making the movie, this is still a story (film and this book) about people.

I recommend this not just to film lovers and those who like this film in particular, but to those interested in social history of mid-20th century, especially New York City, Stonewall, and many of the other movements of the time.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley. ( )