El Dorado (1966)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Howard Hawks

Writers:

Harry Brown (novel)
Leigh Brackett (screenplay)

Release Date:

7 June 1967 (USA)

Genre:

Western | Action | Adventure

Tagline:

It's The Big One With The Big Two!

Plot:

Hired gunman Cole Thornton turns down a job with Bart Jason as it would mean having to fight an old sheriff friend...

Plot Keywords:

Gunfighter | Swindle | Land Grab | Alcoholism | Beautiful Woman

Cast

John Wayne	...	Cole Thornton
Robert Mitchum	...	El Dorado Sheriff J.P. Harrah
James Caan	...	Alan Bourdillion Traherne ('Mississippi')
Charlene Holt	...	Maudie
Paul Fix	...	Dr. Miller
Arthur Hunnicutt	...	Bull Harris
Michele Carey	...	Josephine (Joey) MacDonald
R.G. Armstrong	...	Kevin MacDonald
Edward Asner	...	Bart Jason
Christopher George	...	Nelse McLeod
Marina Ghane	...	Maria
Robert Donner	...	Milt (McLeod gang)
John Gabriel	...	Pedro (McLeod gang)
Johnny Crawford	...	Luke MacDonald
Adam Roarke	...	Matt MacDonald
Victoria George	...	Jared's wife
Jim Davis	...	Jim Purvis (Bart Jason's foreman)
Ann Newman-Mantee	...	Saul MacDonald's wife (as Anne Newman)
Diane Strom	...	Matt's wife
Robert Rothwell	...	Saul MacDonald
Olaf Wieghorst	...	Swede Larsen (gunsmith)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Richard Andrade	...	Bit part (uncredited)
Charlita	...	Bit part (uncredited)
Don Collier	...	Deputy Joe Braddock (uncredited)
Enrique Contreras	...	Bit part (uncredited)
Chuck Courtney	...	Jared MacDonald (uncredited)
Linda Dangcil	...	Bit part (uncredited)
Nacho Galindo	...	Mexican saloon keeper (uncredited)
Joe Garcio	...	Bit part (uncredited)
Betty Jane Graham	...	Bit part (uncredited)
Robert 'Buzz' Henry	...	Bit part (uncredited)
William Henry	...	Sheriff Dodd Draper (uncredited)
Riley Hill	...	Bit part (uncredited)
Chuck Horne	...	Joe (uncredited)
Rodolfo Hoyos Jr.	...	Bit part (uncredited)
Bonnie Charyl Josephson	...	Bit part (uncredited)
Joe King	...	Joe the piano player (uncredited)
Mike Letz	...	Bit part (uncredited)
Frank Leyva	...	Bit part (uncredited)
Myra MacMurray	...	Bit part (uncredited)
John Mitchum	...	Elmer (Jason's bartender) (uncredited)
Ruben Moreno	...	Bit part (uncredited)
Deen Pettinger	...	Bit part (uncredited)
Lee Powell	...	Bit part (uncredited)
Chuck Roberson	...	Jason's gunman (uncredited)
Anthony Rogers	...	Dr. Charles Donovan (uncredited)
Danny Sands	...	Bit part (uncredited)
Robert Shelton	...	Bit part (uncredited)
Dean Smith	...	Charlie Hagan (McLeod gang) (uncredited)
John Strachen	...	Bit part (uncredited)
Rosa Turich	...	Rosa (uncredited)
Ralph Volkie	...	Bit part (uncredited)
Christopher West	...	Bit part (uncredited)

Directed by
Howard Hawks

Writing credits
Harry Brown		(novel "The Stars in Their Courses")
Leigh Brackett		(screenplay)

Produced by
Howard Hawks	....	producer
Paul Helmick	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Nelson Riddle

Cinematography by
Harold Rosson		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
John Woodcock

Art Direction by
Carl Anderson
Hal Pereira

Set Decoration by
Robert R. Benton		(as Robert Benton)
Ray Moyer

Costume Design by
Edith Head

Makeup Department
Nellie Manley	....	hair styles supervisor
Wally Westmore	....	makeup supervisor

Production Management
John R. Coonan	....	unit production manager (as John Coonan)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Andrew J. Durkus	....	assistant director

Art Department
Earl Olin	....	property master
Olaf Wieghorst	....	original paintings

Sound Department
John R. Carter	....	sound recordist (as John Carter)
Charles Grenzbach	....	sound recordist
Bill Wistrom	....	sound editor (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Farciot Edouart	....	process photography
Paul K. Lerpae	....	special photographic effects

Stunts
Polly Burson	....	stunts (uncredited)
Joe Canutt	....	stunts (uncredited)
Gary Combs	....	stunts (uncredited)
Chuck Courtney	....	stunts (uncredited)
Chuck Hayward	....	stunts (uncredited)
Robert 'Buzz' Henry	....	stunts (uncredited)
Walt La Rue	....	stunts (uncredited)
Terry Leonard	....	stunts (uncredited)
Bill Raymond	....	stunts (uncredited)
Chuck Roberson	....	stunts (uncredited)
Danny Sands	....	stunts (uncredited)
Dean Smith	....	stunts (uncredited)
Neil Summers	....	stunts (uncredited)
George P. Wilbur	....	stunts (uncredited)
Jack N. Young	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Phil Stern	....	still photographer (uncredited)

Music Department
Bill Cole	....	accompanying singer: El Dorado (as The Mellomen)
Gil Grau	....	orchestrator
Bill Lee	....	accompanying singer: El Dorado (as The Mellomen)
Thurl Ravenscroft	....	accompanying singer: El Dorado (as The Mellomen)
Nelson Riddle	....	conductor
Max Smith	....	accompanying singer: El Dorado (as The Mellomen)

Other crew
Charlsie Bryant	....	script supervisor
Howard Hawks	....	presenter

Production Companies

• Paramount Pictures
• Laurel Productions

Distributors

• Paramount Pictures (1967) (USA) (theatrical)
• Paramount Pictures (1967) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1971) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• CIC-Taft Home Video
• Hallmark Channel, The (2006) (USA) (TV)
• Paramount Home Entertainment (2003) (Germany) (DVD)
• Paramount Home Entertainment (2002) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Paramount Home Video (1998) (USA) (VHS)
• Paramount Home Video (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• Paramount Home Video (USA) (laserdisc)

Runtime:

126 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Canada:G (Manitoba/Quebec) | West Germany:12 (f) | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Kanab, Utah, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

According to James Caan, during a break he and John Wayne got into an altercation over a game of chess. Caan accused Wayne of cheating. Robert Mitchum intervened and cooled things down.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: After Mississippi dives under the horses, you can clearly see Cole's lips moving, but he isn't saying anything.

Quotes:

Sheriff J. P. Harrah: ...Tra-who?
Cole: Tra-HAIN.
Mississippi: Tra-HERNE!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Las Vegas: Died in Plain Sight (#4.2)" (2006)

Soundtrack:

El Dorado

As entertaining as a western could be.

It's hard not to smile as you watch this film play itself out. There are just too many fine actors and top notch performances contained in this film for it to be anything but outstanding. Howard Hawks knows just how to harness this story and give each actor room enough to strut his stuff.

John Wayne plays a hired gun who comes to the aid of a drunken sheriff played to perfection by Robert Mitchum. By Wayne's side is a young man (James Caan) packing a nasty scatter-gun, and also at their disposal is a grizzled Indian fighter deputy (Arthur Hunnicutt). The four do battle with an evil land owner (Ed Asner), his hired gun (Christopher George), and several other gunslingers looking for trouble. A rival family of landowners named the MacDonalds are being pressured by Asner and his cronies. Wayne and Co. take their side, and all hell breaks loose in El Dorado.

The film is crisply paced, well-written, and the acting as good as you might expect. Even actors like Caan and Asner who might seem out of their element fit right in and hold their own. Wayne is as watchable as ever. It's a treat just to hear him say the word "Mississippi" every time he refers to Caan. Mitchum has the more demanding of the two lead roles, and it's no wonder Wayne wanted that role for himself. The toughest thing our heroes are faced with is sobering him up as he has become the laughing stock of the town he is supposed to protect. Arthur Hunnicutt, as Mitchum's deputy, seems to get a lot of the good lines and more than proves his worth when things get tough. Another person who stands out is Michele Carey who portrays one of the MacDonald clan. I'd never really heard of her before, but the woman is stunningly beautiful. She plays a resourceful woman out to kick some Asner butt.

Between the numerous shootouts, there are wonderful scenes where you can tell the stars are just happy to stand together in front of the camera. There are a few scenes that really weren't beaten to death by the genre and actually look original. A shootout involving church bells was something I hadn't seen before, though I'm hardly an expert in western lore. I wouldn't be surprised to find that someone had done it before, but it really worked in this film. Also, it was neat to see Caan blow some of the bad guys to shreds with his shotgun. That was an under-utilized weapon in old western films. His brief impersonation of a Chinaman is bound to offend some, but it's actually quite entertaining.

If you love a good western, you must not miss El Dorado. Even if you don't normally watch them, you might also find it more than worth your time.

9 of 10 stars.

The Hound.