El Dorado

El Dorado may lack the status of some of Waynes true classics, like

I thing this is just about my most favorite John Wayne movie. He and the other characters are just like what I remember when I was growing up and watching his films on TV. I have watched it several times.

Now we need to get Rio Bravo!

Another classic Western from John Wayne! This time he is joined by Robert Mitchum as a sheriff who after being unceremoniously dumped by a woman has become and alcoholic and incapable of doing his job. Due to his incapacitation he has not been able to stop a wealthy rancher from changing the map to suit his needs. To back this crooked rancher, a group of well known gunfighters has been hired as his ranch hands. To make matters worse the wealthy rancher treats the sheriff with contempt. The leader of this gang who works for the wealthy rancher has a reputation of being as good or better than Wayne and he itches for a showdown. The sheriff together with his deputy and Wayne force the rancher and his hands into a cantina where there is a showdown. Look for a future star in the cast.

This movie is a classic John Wayne Western, and just the right mix of action, drama, and humor. Add in Robert Mitchum and James Caan, and you simply cant go wrong. Of the trio of Howard Hawkes High Noon remakes (Rio Bravo, El Dorado, and Rio Lobo), this one is my favorite. It retains the classic good guy vs bad guy plot and humor of Rio Bravo, the characters are a little better developed. I found it easier to identify with James Caans Mississippi (who cant shoot) than Ricky Nelsons Colorado Ryan, for instance. And, the rescue mission aspect of El Dorado was a bit more developed and interesting to me than Rio Bravos simple wait for the bad guys (a la High Noon). For Parents: 1) This is a classic western shoot-em-up, and there is going to be violence. If you dont want to expose your kids to ANY type of violence, dont let them watch it. Otherwise, the values behind the violence are non-objectionable. The violence is essentially forced upon the good guys by the bad guys. And, the good guys only use violence to defend themselves and others from those bad guys. There are no gratuitous scenes of gore death. The killing is pretty clean. 2) There is little sex in this movie to worry about. The most risque thing was a scene where Charlene Holts Maudie doesnt worry that John Waynes Cole can see her night things, but then quickly closes her robe when she realizes Mississippi can see as well. I suppose some might find the wrestling match between Mississippi and Michelle Careys Joey a bit off-color, but I think that is quite a stretch, really. 3) There is one scene where James Caan pretends to be Asian. Though the scenes point was not to make fun of Asian stereotypes, I can see how some might find it offensive, so just be aware. 4) Robert Mitchums J P Harrah is a drunk for part of the movie, yet not apparently alcoholic, as he can go back to more restrained drinking once the fight is over. This isnt all that realistic, and you might want to explain addiction to your kids after they see this one.

Great movie. Quality transfer. Fun commentary and extras.

Just as good as I remembered. John Wayne, what more needs to be said

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 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. 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 Im sure youll 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.

I loved this movie...all 10 times Ive seen it!

I know that El Dorado is basically a remake by Howard Hawks of Rio Lobo, which was made a whole seven years earlier, but I like this 1966 film better. It is not just that you have both John Wayne and Robert Mitchum fitting comfortably into their roles but you also have young James Caan and old Arthur Hunnicutt in colorful supporting roles. There is a sense of fun to the proceedings even as everybody takes them seriously. Wayne is Cole Thornton, an ace gunslinger who turns down an offer to join up with hired gun Nelse McLeod (Christopher George) at the behest of Bart Jason (Edward Asner), the big shot of the town of El Dorado, because it means going up against old pal J. P. Harrah (Mitchum). But it turns out that Harrah has been hitting the bottle hard, so Thorton decides to help his old friend. Unfortunately he is wounded by a bullet that is lodged near his spine and causes paralysis from time to time. Also on their side are old Bull Harris (Hunnicutt) and the young Alan Bourdillion Traherne (Caan), who is called Mississippi by his friends for obvious reasons. Maudie (Charlene Holt) is the woman who would like to see Colt and J.P. live to die of old age and Joey (Michele Carey) is the young hothead who shots Thornton and catches the eye of Mississippi. This is an interesting film from Waynes perspective because the Duke keeps letting his co-stars have most of the big moments. True, the script dictates that his character has to allow Mitchums drunken sherrif to redeem himself, but Wayne gets credit for being the rock on which this film is made. Ultimately, El Dorado is driven more by the engaging characters than the action of suspense. It is also one of the last Westerns to have a rowdy theme song, with George Alexander, backed by the Mellomen, singing the title written by Nelson Riddle and George Alexander. In addition to Hawks and Wayne being around for both films, Leigh Brackett did the screenplay for both as well and I think a large measure of the success of El Dorado goes to her for creating these characters. She obviously gets the credit for the dialogue, which really does not provide the sort of one-liners that you want to quote ad infinitum, but which still provides a lot of humorous little moments driven more by the characters than the words. The result is not a classic Western in the John Ford mold, but still it is a solid one which makes it well above average all things considered.