Mindnight Cowboy (1969)

Directed by John Schlesinger

Starring Jon Voight, Dustin Hoffman, Sylvia Miles, John McGiver, Brenda Vaccaro, Barnard Hughes, and Bob Balaban

The first, and only, movie to win the Oscar for Best Picture with an X-rating ushered in a new era in filmmaking. Movies no longer pulled any punches when it came to the darker side of humanity. This would become common in the Best Pictures that would follow, especially in the about-to-begin 1970s. The two leads also showed a different side of being a movie star. Instead of playing glamorous characters, they portray down-on-their-luck hustlers, not caring how it affects their reputation. This is particularly true of Hoffman, who plays street urchin "Ratso" Rizzo quite effectively. It's a shame that two Oscar trends prevented Hoffman and Voight from being honored for their performances. They split votes because they were in the same movie, and the Academy saw the need to reward a screen legend who had not yet been honored, in this case it was John Wayne for True Grit.

Other nominees: Anne of the Thousand Days (Charles Jarrott), Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (George Roy Hill), Hello, Dolly! (Gene Kelly), and Z (Costa-Gavras)