And The Oscar Goes To...The X-Rated Movie!

The end of the 1960's ushered in an era that could be called the Second Golden Age of Hollywood which lasted until the end of the 1970's. This dynamic era was characterized by gritty scripts, breathtaking, raw performances and risk-taking directors who were more concerned with bringing unsettling,resonant stories to the screen rather than big bucks to the box-office. 

Granted, the blockbuster also made it's debut in the 1970's with Jaws and Star Wars, (and Hollywood hasn't been the same since), but let's bypass those juggernauts and revel in the performances of two powerful actors who were kings of the Second Golden Age, Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight. 

Hoffman has had one of the most prolific and impressive careers in Hollywood. All you have to do is take a look at his IMDb.com page to see how many great films he starred in. His big break was in the classic movie The Graduate in which he played Benjamin Braddock, the unlikely lover of the the sexually aggressive archetypal "cougar", Mrs. Robinson. Originally, the part of Benjamin was supposed to go to a handsome, preppy type like the young Robert Redford, but Hoffman was cast instead and entered the rarefied chamber of Hollywood Stardom - a perfect example of a less than classically handsome actor who became a legendary Star. 

His co-star here is Jon Voight, whose good looks and intense performances in movies like Deliverance, Coming Home and The Champ made him as big a name in the Second Golden Age as his daughter Angelina Jolie is today. 

This excerpt from Midnight Cowboy , the only Oscar-winning X-rated movie, features these two extraordinary actors lighting up the screen as opposites Joe Buck and "Ratso" Rizzo. What a scene!


** strong language