El Dorado ( John Wayne, Robert Mitchum)

Directed by
Howard Hawks

Writing credits
Harry Brown (novel)
Leigh Brackett (screenplay)

Genre: Western / Action / Adventure

Tagline: It's The Big One With The Big Two!

Plot Summary: Hired gunman Cole Thornton turns down a job with Bart Jason as it would mean having to fight an old sheriff friend. Some months later he finds out the lawman is on the bottle and a top gunfighter is heading his way to help Jason. Along with young Mississippi, handy with a knife and now armed with a diabolical shotgun, Cole returns to help.

User Comments: The big one with The Duke and The Look--Wayne and Mitchum together

User Rating: 7.5/10 (3,185 votes)

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Runtime: 126 min
Country: USA
Language: English / Spanish
Color: Color (Technicolor) Widescreen 16:9
Sound Mix: Mono
Certification: Canada:G (Manitoba/Quebec) / Australia:PG / Finland:K-16 / Norway:16 / Sweden:15 / UK:PG / West Germany:12 / Singapore:PG

Trivia: John Wayne starred in Rio Bravo (1959) (of which this film is a remake), and after reading the script for "El Dorado" he asked to play J.P. Hara, but the part went to Robert Mitchum.

Goofs: Continuity: When Mississippi throws a chair against the saloon window, the chair breaks the glass and bounces back to the porch when seen from the outside, but goes all the way through the glass and pulls the drapes down with it when seen from the inside. Also, the outside shots show there are shades covering the upper parts of the windows, but there are no shades visible when seen from the inside.

Quotes:
Cole: Did you get him?
Mississippi: Who?
Cole: The fella that ran outta the church!
Mississippi: Well, yes and no.
Cole: Yes and no? Did you or didn't you?
Mississippi: I hit the sign, and the sign hit him.
Cole: Well, that's great.
Mississippi: He was limping when he left!
Cole: He was limping when he got here!

User Comments:

The big one with The Duke and The Look--Wayne and Mitchum together, 10 January 1999
Author: Mickey-2 from Front Royal, VA

"El Dorado" pairs up two great movie stars in their element-the western. This was the first time John Wayne and Robert Mitchum had co-starred in a western, and the result was good, solid western entertainment. One wishes it could have happened again.

The Duke plays Cole Thorton, a gunman, who has been hired by a land baron in Texas to assist in taking over some much-needed water land, and, if necessary, put an end to interference that the sheriff, played by Mitchum, would offer. Unbeknownst to the land baron, Thorton and J.P.Harrah are friends from the war, and Thorton decides to ride away from the job.

A few months later, Thorton returns to El Dorado to warn Harrah that a new threat will be coming to the town, and he finds that the sheriff has become the town drunk, due to a fouled-up romance. Thorton now has to help J. P. get his skill back, prevent the range war from busting out, while keeping a young sidekick, Mississippi, played by James Caan, alive and healthy. There is also a good performance turned in by Arthur Hunnicutt, as Bull, J.P.'s deputy who stands by the sheriff, even in times of drunken sprees.

There are some similar elements to other Wayne films, notably "Rio Bravo" and "Rio Lobo", but the chance to watch two big stars work off each other, makes this one easy to take.

UPC 097360662542