El Dorado
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Movie Reviews of El Dorado
Movie Review: My all time favorite John Wayne film and Western
Summary: 5 Stars
I am about 50. And I have a fairly large DVD collection and before that LD (never collected VHS). I have a TIVO and have had one for about 9 years. I am always looking for more good films. So with that background understand that I have been fortunate enough to see many classic films in the theatre, or on cable or SAT. Without commercials(the ONLY way to watch anything).
I am a John Wayne fan and a fan of westerns. I like a lot of different ones- from Stagecoach (both versions) to Clint Eastwoods new ones to Peckinpah and Fords.
And this movie is MY FAVORITE WESTERN. I like most of John Waynes films from the late 40s on. And most westerns from that time on. Earlier then that not much.
With that background in mind here is my review:
I had this film on LD for years and upgraded to DVD.
I watch it on a projection screen with a pretty good home theatre so its like watching it in a real picture palace (except no bratty kids or chewing gum stuck on the seats).
The opening score and song are classic; the pictures (painted by The Swede-Thorntons gunsmith friend) rival Remmington at his best.
For those that remember the TV Series "How The West was Won" of the late 70s this opening score and paintings are just as good.
The Duke is a top gun man for hire; not young and he knows it. He is about to take a job from Bart Jason (Ed Asner) but the local sheriff finds him first. He is an old friend. And Cole Thornton finds out that the job is to kill his old friend. Needless to say Cole tells Jason where he can stick his job.
Unfortunately a well meaning friend has told the ultimate target of jason that Thornton is here after him and his family and a tragedy occurrs that will have ramifications for the entire movie.
the First half hour of this film sets up the rest in all ways. And does a pretty good job of it.
In many ways this is as complete a film as you could ask for- and they do it without voice over which is a real mark in its favor as regards allowing the viewer to make up his mind and figure it out all on his own.
John Wayne in this film really starts to accept the aging process. There are good bits here and there that show this. Mitchum does as well but not to the same degree (of course Mitchum was younger so....)
There are so many good little scenes and the supporting charactors are all very well fleshed out-with the exception of Jason (but this bad guy is just simply a greedy man wanting power and willing to have others do the killing for him- which is smart since the one time he does pick up a gun it does not turn out well for him).
This is a remake of Rio Bravo- but I am not alone in thinking that this is just as good and in some areas better (no singing, no Ricky Nelson).
Angie Dickinson is a little better then Charlene Holt, but then her part is also much bigger. James Caan is PERFECT as the young green kid who cannot shoot straight. Arthur Hunnicut is to me frankly better as the crotchety old Deputy. Michele Carey has a great part as a cowgirl who is a top shot (which Cole Thornton finds out the hard way)= she is an actress who sadly never got enough parts = I think she could have been a real star. Christopher George plays the Top Gun on the other side- and how his part is handled shows the master craftsman Howard Hawks at his best. He took care for such a relatively small part to flesh out it and the charactor very well without using much screen time.
If you like westerns you will love this film. If you like John Wayne you will love this film. If you like films that were made by master craftsmen like Howard Hawks with a cast as good as you can ask for and dialogue well fitted you will love this film.
Movie Review: A good John Wayne Western (Waynestern) and the second installment of the Howard Hawks trilogy
Summary: 5 Stars
Some say that Howard Hawks made the same picture three times with Rio Bravo, El Dorado, and Rio Lobo. In the broad strokes, it is true. John Wayne isn't the straight romantic lead in any of them, but has his interests. There are several beautiful young women in different roles in the film and there is a younger man, usually a male star that someone is trying to push (Ricky Nelson, James Caan, and Jorge Rivero). And Wayne is fighting some mysterious guy with all the money trying to cheat and drive out an honest family. All the stories have enough twists to be enjoyable. And I liked this story very much.
In this movie John Wayne plays a hired gun named Cole Thornton. He comes into El Dorado and meets up with Sheriff JP Harrah (Robert Mitchum). The have known each other since before the Civil War, but something has passed between them. They respect each other, but aren't quite close friends. One of the problems is Maudie (the beautiful and captivating Charlene Holt). She has a relationship with the Sheriff, but she has deep affection for Cole, and that spoils it for Harrah.
The Sheriff is worried that Cole has gone over to a bad place and wants to fill him in on the truth about Bart Jason (Ed Asner) who has hired Cole. The truth is that Jason has been building a big spread that requires more water, but the water he needs is on land owned by the MacDonald family. The MacDonalds have been on their land and built their ranch over a lifetime and after much sacrifice and hard work. They don't want to sell. Cole is supposed to convince them to sell. Cole decides he doesn't want to work for Jason and heads over to his place to return the money he was paid - less traveling expenses. The MacDonalds have heard about Cole and left one of their sons as a watchman. A tragedy occurs and the boy's sister ends up shooting Cole with a wound that leaves a bullet pressing against his spine. Every now and again, it causes Cole shooting pain and temporary paralysis that increases with time.
Cole leaves the town and along the way picks up Alan Bourdillion Traherne (James Caan) as a traveling companion. Traherne is called Mississippi by Cole because he finds the name as absurd as the man's hat.
There are people on both sides of the fight over the MacDonald's land, but by the time Cole returns to El Dorado, Harrah is a sorry drunk. The story builds to a climax with Cole, Harrah, Bull Harris, and (Arthur Hunnicutt) under siege in the town jail. Christopher George does a nice turn as Nelse McLeod, the gun hired by Jason to counter Cole's support of Harrah.
I will let you watch the movie to see the way things work out. Sure, you can guess the final resolution, but the way the story twists and turns does keep us entertained. One of the lighter moments comes when Harrah sobers up and his companions demand that he bather. I will let you delight in the way the scene plays out.
Quite a good Waynestern.
Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Ann Arbor, MI
Movie Review: El Bravo, I mean Dorado
Summary: 5 Stars
This is Wayne and Hawks' redo of Rio Bravo and although that movie was great fun and didn't need to be redone, I'm glad they did. El Dorado is better in my opinion for a few reasons, but I'll stop there at comparing these movies because they are both great.
This is a fun comedy western with great action, drama, and dialogue. There are some really cool characters here that you just love to watch. John Wayne of course is the star and he does his usual hard as nails with a caring core weapon for hire, Cole Thornton, who just happens to be at the wrong or right place at the right or wrong time (depending on how you look at it).
What's unusual about this movie is that John Wayne's Cole Thornton isn't at the top of his game anymore, and he knows it, especially due to a nerve problem sustained from a gun shot earlier in the movie. Yet he must go against the best anyway and he uses his brains not just his bravado to win the day.
Robert Mitchum plays the drunken El Dorado Sheriff J.P. Harrah that Cole Thorton must aid. This is where Rio Bravo and El Dorado become one in the same, but this time they have the main bad guy in jail and not his punk brother.
Arthur Hunnicutt is Bull Harris, Mitchum's sidekick, deputy, and good friend, and James Caan plays Alan Bourdillion Traherne (Which is a mouthful so they just call him 'Mississippi'), Wayne's sidekick. Both of these characters have back stories of their own though minor and are not only great help to our two main characters, but loads of fun for us viewers.
And then there's Charlene Holt as Maudie. She's the love interest for someone??? It changes as the movie develops, but she does a good job tying up story lines for John Wayne's character as we follow his adventures away from El Dorado for a while, and although Bull could have done that for us, it's much more fun to see Wayne with Holt.
And then there's Michele Carey who plays Josephine (Joey) MacDonald, who is probably the sexiest cowgirl I've ever seen, and she's as tough as she is beautiful. She is Caan's love interest, and interesting she is.
This is a classic Wayne Western. Good action, great characters, good comedy, just a little romance, and a great showdown at the end. I highly recommend this and Rio Bravo for John Wayne movie lovers. Two of his best or at least two of my favorites.
Movie Review: Great Movie! One of the Duke's best
Summary: 5 Stars
I love John Wayne westerns. My husband loves his war movies. El Dorado is one of my all-time favorite westerns and right behind "The Quiet Man" for my favorite John Wayne movie.
My kids loved the theme song. The younger one used to sing "Ride Goldie Ride" (instead of Ride Boldly Ride) for days after watching this. I bought it as soon as it came out on DVD as the VHS version was well worn.
Sure, it's a remake of Rio Bravo. I love Rio Bravo but think El Dorado is better. Even though I like Dean Martin in Rio Bravo a lot, Robert Michum portrays a drunken sheriff so much betterand is funnier. "I've got a bed in the jail. It's hard and narrow, but he won't get bounced around." Ed Asner is a better bad guy. Claude Akins' character in Rio Bravo is a dumb thug; Asner's intelligence shows into his character in El Dorado. Yeah, no singing in El Dorado and I did like that in Rio Bravo. My husband says Rio Bravo is better just because of the very young, scantily clad Angie Dickinson.
John Wayne portrays an honorable gun fighter. He's still tough as nails, fighting on the right side, loyal to his friends, and gets the girl. That part would be a little hard to believe nowadays, or would it? The girl is way young for him and Mitchum, but she is obviously, though it wasn't stated, a cathouse madam, and therefore, a man with money is attractive, regardless of age. John Wayne was one big tall fella, and every time I see this movie, I look for him on his horse, Cochise. Wayne practically dwarfs his horse. Caan and Mitchum were both tall men, but the Duke just towers over everyone.
James Caan is young, handsome, and amusing. His character Mississippi, is just the right complement to Wayne's and Mitchum's near-crusty, experienced gunslinging characters. I loved his home remedy for sobering up Mitchum. The bath scene, with many bars of soap is funny, too.
No bad language, no sex (you don't even see lips touch during the kissing scenes), no one bleeds when they get shot, and the good guys win at the end.
Movie Review: Action, Humor, and John Wayne: Who could ask for more?
Summary: 5 Stars
This movie would be easy to confuse with the movie "Rio Bravo" bacause both movies carry a plot thread involving a drunken lawman who must be sobered up in order to keep him alive, but don't be deceived. These are two different movies with entirely different story lines. I have both titles in my collection and am glad to have both.
In this one James Mitchum gives an outstanding performance as the drunken marshal with John Wayne coming to his aid. John Wayne and James Caan sober him up with a witches brew of which, thank the Lord, we don't have to watch, or smell, the effects.
Mitchum is trying to protect a family of ranchers from the schemes of a land grabbing cattle baron played to cynical perfection by Ed Asner. (this was before he bacame beloved as Lou Grant on tv.) Before the movie is over the plot twists and turns like a coyote covered with fire ants, but everything comes out all right in the end. (except for Ed Asner, He's dead.)
In all a good action adventure, with some violence. It is interesting to note that John Wayne is shot early in the film and is still suffering life threatening effects at the end. A relief from so many movies of the period where the hero suffers major wounds and a couple of days later shoots down a herd of villains and whips the bad guy in a fist fight.
It is also worth noting that while this movie takes some humor from devices to sober up the co-star, neither this movie or "Rio Bravo" treat alcoholism as a humorous condition. In both movies, it is treated as a life-threatening and humiliating condition, with lingering and painful side-effects.
Sorry, neither Dean Martin, Angie Dickinson, Rick Nelson, or Walter Brennan appear in this movie. It doesn't need them. If you want to see them, buy "Rio Bravo"