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“ | Hey! I'm walkin' here! I'm walkin' here! | „ |
~ Ratso yelling at a taxi driver after nearly getting hit, also his most famous quote. |
“ | Ratso: Terrific shirt. Joe: Are you speaking to me? Ratso: I was just admiring that colossal shirt. I mean, that is one hell of a shirt. |
„ |
~ Ratso's first conversation with Joe. |
“ | Thanks, Joe. | „ |
~ Ratso's final words. |
Enrico Salvatore Rizzo, also known as Rico Rizzo and Ratso Rizzo, is the anti-villainous deuteragonist of the 1969 drama film Midnight Cowboy. He is a crippled con man who steals to survive in New York and has dreams of moving to Miami.
He was portrayed by Dustin Hoffman who also portrayed Mumbles in Dick Tracy, Captain Hook in Hook, Riva in Chef and Giovanni de' Medici in Medici: Masters of Florence.
Biography[]
Enrico "Ratso" Rizzo grew up in the Bronx. His father was a shoeshiner who would polish shoes in a subway. At some point, Ratso became crippled, and it can be assumed that it was caused by polio. His father eventually died from lung conditions caused by breathing in wax every day in the subway, and Ratso ended up living in a worn out apartment room and resorted to conning and stealing to survive.
Ratso first meets Joe Buck in a bar while Joe is counting his money after failing to be paid for having sex with a wealthy middle-aged woman called Cass. Ratso compliments Joe's cowboy outfit, and two proceed to introduce themselves to each other. Joe reveals to Ratso that he is a hustler who moved to New York to service rich ladies. Ratso informs him about a pimp called O'Daniel who can help him set up meetings with clients. As the two are conversing, a homosexual drag queen called Jackie begins to harass them and taunt Ratso about his condition. Ratso responds by repeatedly hollering homophobic slurs.
Later, while Joe and Ratso continue their conversation, a taxi almost hits Ratso, making him rebuke and swear at the driver. Ratso contacts Mr. O'Daniel before making Joe pay him twenty dollars in return. When Joe meets O'Daniel, it does not take very long before Joe realizes that O'Daniel is actually a religious fanatic and that Ratso conned him. Furious, Joe chases Ratso around town and hallucinates himself strangling Ratso.
After Joe fails to get paid for having oral sex with a male college student, he reunites with Ratso at a diner and expresses joy before remembering that Ratso stole twenty dollars from him. He enters the diner, confronts Ratso, and forces him to empty his pockets. Ratso offers Joe a cigarette and invites him to stay in his apartment if he is not located. Joe reluctantly accepts the offer. He enters Ratso's apartment and quickly falls asleep. He begins to have nightmares about a gang-rape involving him and his girlfriend Crazy Annie, and an incomprehensible incident with his grandmother Sally. In the nightmare, he sees Ratso attacking him too. He wakes up and notices that Ratso took his radio while he was asleep. He has a brief argument with Ratso and threatens him before the two calm down and go back to sleep. Ratso advises Joe to call him by his real name.
The next day, Joe and Ratso steal food, and Ratso tries to convince Joe to move to Miami with him where he will have a far higher chance of getting paid for being a hustler. This results in an argument between the two.
Joe and Ratso begin to commit petty crimes together on the streets. Ratso approaches a couple of women who are using a coin-operated washing machine. As he pretends to help them with their laundry, he sneaks Joe's outfit into the machine. Then, the two steal a new cowboy hat and shirt from a store, and they enter a subway where Ratso begins to polish Joe's shoes. When they make it back into Ratso's apartment, Ratso trims Joe's hair. Later, Ratso steals an appointment card from a gentleman escort, and he has the escort's appointment cancelled before Joe takes the person's place as an escort. He enters a hotel for rich women to court ladies there. As Ratso watches from outside the hotel, he begins fantasizing about living in Florida. Unfortunately, the plan fails, and Joe is kicked out of the hotel for groping a woman in public.
The weather begins to grow cold, and Joe and Ratso resort to dancing in the apartment to resist the cold temperature. Joe sells his radio to an antique shop, and that night, he makes more money by donating blood. The next day, Joe and Ratso visit Ratso's father's grave. Ratso steals flowers from another gravestone and places it on his father's before condemning his father for his low intelligence. Joe reacts by lamenting his grandmother's death.
While Joe and Ratso are having a conversation about reincarnation in a diner, a couple called Hansel and Gretel McAlbertson approach them and invite Joe to a psychedelic party. Joe promises to make sure Ratso gets to attend the party too, and that night, they enter the building where the party is being held. Joe has a good time at the party while Ratso expresses discomfort and is constantly harassed by other partygoers. Eventually, Ratso helps Joe set up a meeting with a woman that they met at the party called Shirley. Joe drives off with Shirley and Ratso walks home.
After Joe is paid by Shirley for sleeping with her, he returns to the apartment as Ratso is having a coughing fit. Joe serves Ratso a cup of soup, and Ratso reveals that he is no longer able to walk before expressing fear at being abused and ridiculed for being disabled. He asks Joe to put him on a bus to Florida, but Joe does not have enough money to buy tickets, so he leaves the apartment to get money. He ends up beating a male customer called Towny (possibly to death) and steals fifty dollars from Towny. He successfully purchases bus tickets with the money, and he puts Ratso on a bus and begins riding with him to Florida.
In the middle of the trip, the bus stops at a town center in Florida, and Joe abandons his cowboy outfit and buys new clothes for him and Ratso. As the trip continues, he begins to discuss getting a job in Florida. When Ratso fails to respond, he realizes that Ratso has died. He consults the bus driver, who advises him to close Ratso's eyes. As he sits back down, he puts his arm around Ratso's lifeless body as the movie ends.
Quotes[]
“ | You're pickin' trade up on the street like that. That's nowhere. I mean, you gotta get yourself some kind of management. You need my friend O'Daniel. He operates the biggest stable in town, in fact, in the whole god-damned Metropolitan area. It's stupid a stud like you paying. You don't want to be stupid. | „ |
~ Ratso setting Joe up with O'Daniel. |
“ | The two basic items necessary to sustain life are sunshine and coconut milk. Did you know that? That's a fact. In Florida, they got a terrific amount of coconut trees there. In fact, I think they even got 'em in the, uh, gas stations over there. And ladies? You know that in Miami, you got, uh, you listenin' to me? You got more ladies in Miami than in any resort area in the country there. I think per capita on a given day, there's probably, uh, three hundred of 'em on the beach. In fact, you can't even, uh, scratch yourself without gettin' a belly-button, uh, up the old kazoo there. | „ |
~ Ratso describing the advantages of living in Miami. |
“ | Ratso: I know enough to know that that great big, dumb cowboy crap of yours don't appeal to nobody except every jockey on 42nd Street. That's f--got stuff! You wanna call it by its name? That's strictly for f-gs! Joe: John Wayne! You wanna tell me he's a f-g? |
„ |
~ Ratso and Joe arguing over Joe's cowboy outfit. |
“ | He was even dumber than you. He couldn't even write his own name. "X," that's what it ought to say on that goddamn headstone, one big lousy "X". Just like our dump. Condemned by order of City Hall. | „ |
~ Ratso condemning his father for his stupidity. |
“ | Here I am goin' to Florida, my leg hurts, my butt hurts, my chest hurts, my face hurts, and if that ain't enough, I gotta pee all over myself. That's funny? I'm fallin' apart here. | „ |
~ Ratso's health conditions continue to worsen during the bus trip to Florida. |
Trivia[]
- The "I'm walking here!" line was allegedly improvised by Dustin Hoffman after he was nearly hit by a cab in the middle of production. It has since been considered as one of the most iconic and well-known quotes in cinema.