Midnight Cowboy

1969 · directed by John Schlesinger · 113 min

26,369 feet · Prominence

188th of 24,106 films scored

Not coveredThe 188th highest film on the mountain, and The Rewatchables has never done it.

How this film scores

Draw68

Lifetime worldwide gross $45m, re-releases included; about $403m in 2026 money.

Rank827 of 11,051In 19694 of 25

How Draw works

Inflation-adjusted worldwide box office, on one global curve, and nothing else. It does not know whether a film was good.

Praise92

Awards claim half the headroom above the critics' score.

Critics84 baseAwards98 signal → +8 lift

Oscars3 won Picture, Director, Adapted Screenplay3 nominated Actor, Supporting Actress, Film Editing

Golden Globes1 won Lead acting5 nominated Best Picture, Actor, Lead acting, Supporting acting, Screenplay

BAFTAs4 won Best Picture, Direction, Screenplay, Craft and other

How Praise works

Critics set the score; a tiered award record, Picture and Directing carrying the most weight, claims half the headroom above it. Praise is the verdict at the time; Legacy is the verdict since.

Legacy72

Judged directly: Only X-rated Best Picture, iconic.

Verdict72 of 100IMDb7.8 from 131kWikipedia52k views a monthAge57 years

On the listsNational Film RegistryCriterion CollectionAFI 100evidence, not an input to the score

Scored beside it · 237 of 4,039 films judged

72Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

72The Lego Movie (2014)

72Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

72Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)

72Pan's Labyrinth (2006)

72Big (1988)

72Midnight Cowboy (1969)

If it does not belong in this company, the number is wrong.

How Legacy works

Legacy is a judgment, not a formula. A film can be adored by critics and culturally quiet, or lightly reviewed and permanently lodged in the culture, and no arithmetic over IMDb numbers tells the difference. Every signal behind it keeps updating.

draw 68 praise 92 legacy 72averages 77, placing it at26,369 ft

How the three become one number

Added, not multiplied, so a film transcendent on one pillar and weak on another is not zeroed out. A compression curve then squeezes the top, because the seven greatest films ever made should not be four thousand feet apart.

Whose apex this is

▲ John McGiver

In these careers — elevation for this film

Dustin Hoffman20,599 ft Jon Voight20,599 ft Brenda Vaccaro18,009 ft Sylvia Miles17,899 ft John McGiver17,761 ft Bob Balaban17,646 ft