MovieChat Forums > Midnight Cowboy (1969) Discussion > What if Joe Buck applied for a job at Th...

What if Joe Buck applied for a job at The Perfect Gentleman?

posted 9 years ago by Matthew7819
8 replies | jump to latest

That place that Joe Buck and Ratso were outside of in the movie where Ratso opened the door of the Taxi Cab for the Male Escort and picked his wallet after distracting him.

Joe could have easily gone back there cleaned up and asked The Perfect Gentleman escort service for a job, basically escorting rich Ladies using his Southern charm and Cowboy outfit, that guy that left looked like a douche, not someone a woman would want as an escort, Joe Buck though might draw some more customers with his looks and muscle.

But the sex part might be a no go unless the women asked him for it, wonder if Joe and Ratso even considered sending Joe Buck inside to apply for a job there at all, might be worth a try.

[–] InherentlyYours 9 years ago

I asked about this in my own way before. Did these escorts at The Perfect Gentleman just escort in the traditional sense, or was sex part of it? I recall signs , which seem absurd today, "ladies with escorts" on buildings. If the escorts are supposed to be sophisticated men, I don't think Joe would even pass the interview.

[–] I_Love_Hutch 9 years ago

"Perfect gentleman" does not mean "sophistication", and it never will. Because Joe actually WAS very nearly a perfect gentleman, despite his lack of breeding. He was well-mannered, trusting/trustworthy, good-natured, physically attractive and was about as sexy as they come. Anybody would have been lucky to have had Joe as a friend, or boyfriend. Joe's main drawback was that he couldn't see how great he really was.

[–] sonofbeach-sheet 9 years ago

I'm not positive, but figured in most of NYC in before the past 20 years, being well-mannered, trusting, and good-natured was looked at as weakness. And a southern accent looked at as ignorant or primitive.

[–] InherentlyYours 9 years ago

'I'm not positive, but figured in most of NYC in before the past 20 years, being well-mannered, trusting, and good-natured was looked at as weakness'
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NYC is a city with the good, bad and indifferent--only on a bigger scale. What you described could be said about Los Angeles also. It's not what you see in the movies, necessarily. Certain movies play up the negative aspects of NYC (like 42nd st), and the residents, as part of the plot. NYC in the past 20 yrs is not drastically different than the 20 yrs prior to that

[–] riddick-11114 8 years ago

I have to tell you that this whole thread is amusing to me, very much so too, that place was an escort service for very classy rich women, providing gentlemen of a certain class and social standing to accompany them to functions, they would only hire the best and most refined educated men that applied, all with good references too.

If Joe Buck showed up and walked in through the front door he would be looked down upon instantly and asked what place he was looking for number one, if he asked for a job he would be laughed at openly and not taken seriously, even if he was 100 percent honest, he would have no references except for Ratso Rizzo and that wouldnt help him get a job and nothing to offer them, and he smelled bad looked like a homosexual street Hustler right off of 42ND Street.

They would probably ask him to leave or come back with a better reference or proper clothing, or might call the police and report him, he would never even get an interview at all.

And if they did interview Joe Buck he would pull his interview with Mr. O'Daniel and say the same things, trying to say that he was not a for real Cowboy but one hell of a stud, that wouldnt go over very well, he would fail the interview miserably despite trying to behave like a gentleman, because he was just a dumb fake Cowboy, if he mentioned that the only thing that he was ever good for was loving/sex they might throw him out and call the police, because he would be assuming that they are a Prostitution service when they were an escort service for high class women.

So it would be a disaster, but it would be a hilarious scene to watch at the same time, actually i think when Joe gets thrown out of the Barclay Hotel For Women that he tries to score and ask for sex and he gets slapped and literally thrown outside the building, so that might happen here too.

And yes the one guy that was working there looked like a douche, and he was a prick for not talking to Ratso, he may have even been fired for failing to escort that woman, because Ratso cancelled his appointment haha.

[–] jgroub 9 years ago

I'll make a slightly educated guess here, but still it's just a guess.

I would think that back then, in the Sixties, women living in a "women-only" hotel "needed" escorts to go out and do things at night - like go the ballet, or the opera, or such. If they had to be "proper" enough to live in a women-only hotel, then that propriety would extend to going out at night alone as well. A "proper" woman simply wouldn't be caught without an escort on the streets of Manhattan at night!

On the other hand, I would also guess that 1969 was really towards the end of that period, its deathknell. I can't imagine escorts being "necessary" in the Seventies.

I want the doctor to take your picture so I can look at you from inside as well.

[–] 9 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Matthew7819 9 years ago

I guess it was all about social standing and class back in the old days, things were different in the 1960s and now too, so the escorts were supposed to be gentleman accompanying women to the shows, movies, restaurants or a night out on the town, that guy still looked like a douche and not someone that most woman would want as an escort, he doesnt even take the time to talk to Ratso or thank him either.

I did like the scene and how Ratso and Joe tried to pretend to be with the agency over the phone, Joe goes into the Barclay Hotel For Women and brings the stolen card with him, tries to pick up the rich lady for a date or worse, makes his move on her not realizing that she would be offended and reject him out of hand, then gets thrown and tossed right out of the building, was lucky that the passing Police car with the sirens on didnt stop and question him and Ratso or ask the lobby guys inside what had jusst happened.

I always thought that touch was wrong, how the police car doesnt stop and question Joe Buck about why he was thrown out of the building into a heap, what he was up to, ask the hotel staff what he had done, they just pass by and dont care, Joe could have gotten arrested after that and he knows it too, hence him and Ratso running away fast.