El Dorado

An enjoyable film. It bears some striking similarities with another Howard Hawks-John Wayne western, Rio Bravo. The story is about reunion of two old friends - a sheriff and a gunfighter who helps a rancher family to fight its rival. Plot is not any unique but the fine screenplay and balanced characters makes it worthy. The chief attraction of the film remains the presence of Wayne and Mitchum. John Wayne was in his usual best. No comment about him is required when it comes a western. At first, I found Robert Mitchum out of shape but later he made sense as an alcoholic sheriff. His character gives some good laughs. Apart from that I found many characters closely resembling the ones in Rio Bravo.

Anyway, movie maintains its own identity somehow with a fine antagonist. It has a few beautiful songs and gunfights are also good. It is a well-made and entertaining western overall.

El Dorado (1966)

A brilliant movie. I hate to use an overused word, or to seem over the top here. But I really thought Howard Hawks created an arguably better version of "Rio Bravo" by doing two key things. One is using two leads who had great mature chemistry together, John Wayne and Robert Mitchum. The other is using James Caan as a more convincing and slightly less frivolous sidekick instead of Ricky Nelson in the earlier version. Many people will disagree and that's fine--my point is this is a terrific and somewhat overlooked film.

Not that the plots of the two are identical, and you might really blame the director/producer for doing a cheap attempt at a hit, without total originality. The fact is, he succeeds so well you don't mind. Everything is first rate. Even the humor as it gets more and more slapstick and out of keeping with the very serious beginnings of the film is so at ease and warm you like and want the companionship to continue. Hawks and his actors create a setting and a situation that is almost homey, against the odds. And this is in an era when the American Western is all but dead (the great Spaghetti Westerns were now coming out).

Critical to the success is the great cinematography by Harold Rosson, who filmed so many classic movies it's hard to know where to start (but start with "The Wizard of Oz" and "Singin' in the Rain"). This is his last film, and he never stops pushing boundaries. There are not only beautiful scenes in the little towns or the shots from the belltower near the end, but some innovative ones.

The big theme here is a common one in Westerns--a group of bad guys with guns is out to take something from a group of good common folk. But the solution is notable, and pushed to a limit. That is, the problem is solved through camaraderie and friendship, through trust. And by joining in the cause even if there is no reward, and even though death is not unlikely. It's a story that is oversimplified, of course, but it feels good. Where some Anthony Mann Westerns and the famous Zinnemann "High Noon" often have evil or selfish or cowardly people all around the protagonist, here there is only a sense that good will prevail, and by persistence and teamwork.

Wayne is at his best here. He's often at his best, I suppose, since he's so consistent, but this shows a strong, smart, wise character that is probably the true Wayne. He's tough and funny and believes in what is right. Period. And I think Hawks knew how to make Wayne look and act his best, and Mitchum seemed to also resonate well. For his part, Mitchum is a terrific derelict sheriff, not overacting, making it reasonable and his character sympathetic. The two have a lot of scenes together and they seem to enjoy themselves without quite breaking into grins on camera.

Finally it should be said that the story line is rich and complex. Yes it follows certain common themes and clichés, but it continually twists them up. The first twenty minutes are a harrowing ride of upturned expectations, and the plot really has its teeth sunk into misunderstandings and mistakes that take on huge ramifications. Well written, well paced dialog, well done.

One weakness in both "El Dorado" and "Rio Bravo" is the lead woman in each case, meant to be a "type" of course but in "El Dorado" coming off as weirdly modern in both sensibility and make-up. I mean cosmetics. Even more glaring is the crazy 1966 hair and eyeliner on a younger woman in the story, who is terrific overall but just seems out of place. You might say the same for Caan, too, but he plays his part with such idiosyncratic verve you accept him as a legitimate oddball.

Why not just see "Rio Bravo" instead, since it carries similar themes, and Hawks and Wayne as well, and has a superior reputation? Go ahead. "Rio Bravo" is a more serious drama, and is terrific. But if you have access to this one (and the streaming Netflix copy is superb), then I'd plunge in. Highly rated, and still underrated.

Unless you count their joint appearance in The Longest Day, El Dorado deserves its place in Hollywood history for being the only co-starring effort of John Wayne and Robert Mitchum.

Besides being good friends Wayne and Mitchum were both known for being able to drink just about anyone else in the film business under the table and still report to work in the morning, lines letter perfect. But Mitchum was not allowed in the Wayne home because Pilar Wayne never forgave him for ruining their honeymoon when Mitchum backed out of Blood Alley and Wayne had to star as well as produce it.

I also think that the Duke was leery about Mitchum stealing too many scenes which he does when they are on the screen together. In this tighter and faster remake of Rio Bravo, Wayne is his usual stand up hero, rough and tough, but who lives by a code. Mitchum is the flawed one. During an interlude of several months in the film, Mitchum becomes enamored of an unseen woman, loses her, and becomes a drunk.

Which leads me to one of the funniest scenes ever in a Wayne film. When Christopher George and fellow gunmen are hired by villain Ed Asner to run R.G. Armstrong and his family off their ranch, Wayne has to sober up Sheriff Mitchum and fast.

Every time I watch El Dorado, I get hysterical every time I watch James Caan pour a homemade remedy down Mitchum's throat with Wayne and Arthur Hunnicutt holding him down. And the reactions afterwards, absolutely priceless. This is where Mitchum steals the movie.

As in many a Howard Hawks film, there is a theme of professionalism that runs through it. Whether it's Cary Grant and his fellow pilots flying over treacherous terrain in South America, Humphrey Bogart with his charter boat business in the Caribbean, or Wayne and Mitchum going up against fellow professional Christopher George, it's doing the job and doing it well for it's own reward.

The final gunfight is also a classic. Let's just say that Mitchum and Wayne are not at their best, but they make up for it with some help from interested friends.

This is one of the best films, in the top 10 for both these guys and shouldn't be missed.

every once and a while me and my father will buy a classic western no matter how cheesy or weird it may look, today he came home with this movie El Dorado, at first i was expecting not too much due to how many westerns that were made, though i should have thought better whenever i saw that it starred two great film actors John Wayne and Robert Mitchum.

i may be young(16) but i know good actors when i watch them on screen these two played beautifully off each other and so did another great actor James Caan

all the characters were played to perfection, even though anyone can play an alcoholic sheriff with a broken-heart Mitchum really made the role shine, of course John Wayne did wonderful as The Hired Gun, but my favorite role was that of Mississipi played by James Caan, in my opinion he did an astonishing job in this role and the scenes with him and Wayne were glorious.

Now some older ladies and gents may find it hard to follow the recommendation of a 16 year old but it is seriously one of my favorites of the ones me and my father have seen

in a lil side note the action scenes were done really well and there was also a slight editing issue during one of the scenes I'm sure you'll notice(but you must take into consideration the time when the movie was made)

thank you and you really must see this movie that could never be done today due to the fight between stars in leading roles.

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.