El Dorado poster & wallpaper

Charlene Holt, James Caan, John Wayne

El Dorado doesn't quite have the scope or ambition of Howard Hawks's greatest Westerns, Red River and Rio Bravo. But this relaxed picture, made near the end of Hawks's marvelous c...( read more  read more... )areer, still shows the steady, sure hand of a master. Hawks reunites with John Wayne, playing a hired gun mixed up in a range war; Robert Mitchum is Wayne's old pal, now a sheriff in the midst of a hopeless drunken bender. James Caan, in one of his first sizable roles, plays a kid who can't shoot straight and wears a funny hat (every character in the movie makes fun of this hat). As the plot moves along, it begins to resemble Rio Bravo rather closely ("I steal from myself all the time," Hawks was fond of admitting). But in El Dorado the heroes are a bit older, their powers a bit weaker; at the end Wayne must revert to a bit of subterfuge in order to get the drop on the steely gunslinger (ice-cold Christopher George) he needs to put down. As relaxed as the movie is, Hawks and Wayne and company are in good spirits, with plenty of broad humor and easy camaraderie on display. Hawks and Wayne would make just one more film, the disappointing Rio Lobo, before ending their fruitful partnership. --Robert Horton

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Unrated, 2 hrs. 6 min.

Directed by: Howard Hawks

Release Date: June 7, 1967

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DVD Release Date: March 21, 2000

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Flixster Reviews (453)

  • kenstachnik
    May 5, 2009
    kenstachnik
    A good substitute if you don't have a copy of Rio Bravo lying around.

    James Cann (in an amazing early role) is better than Ricky Nelson as the state named sidekick. Mitchum is good, but he's no Dean Martin and no one can hold a candle to Walter Brennan. Wayne is his usual self.
  • jaynyca1
    March 30, 2009
    jaynyca1
    This is one of my personal favorite westerns by John Wayne. . . I also like the casting of James Caan and Robert Mitchum, too. . .
  • stopitgoaway
    January 10, 2009
    stopitgoaway
    This was a pretty solid western, one I enjoyed more than I thought I would. What I liked about it were the interesting characters and the fact it was nicely filmed, as westerns tend to be. People focus on the big stars of this film and often miss how good the visuals are in here....( read more)

    John Wayne, Robert Mitchum and James Caan all played characters that were fun to watch. When I first saw this about 10 years ago, it was a shock to see how young Caan looked. It had to be one of his first films. Six years after this, he made it big in "The Godfather."

    Wayne and Mitchum, of course, were already major motion picture celebrities and I liked the way they traded off each other in this movie. It was really good to see these two guys in the same film. With those two, and the nice photography, this would be a good pickup on DVD.
  • PvtCaboose91
    October 13, 2008
    PvtCaboose91
    "Next time you shoot somebody, don't go near 'em till you're... sure they're dead!"


    The fruitful partnership of John "The Duke" Wayne and Howard Hawks (that spanned over a number of decades) produced several utterly fabulous additions to the Western genre. Red Riv

    ...( read more)er marked their first collaboration, with the masterpiece of Rio Bravo soon following. El Dorado isn't as good as the films preceding it. It doesn't have the scope, scale or ambition of the previous Hawks/Wayne productions. This is a film that lives and dies by its entertainment value. Where Rio Bravo was bestowed with characters as warm as toast in addition to a lot of interesting dialogue and beneficial character development...El Dorado merely features plenty of action and traditional shootouts. I'll be quite frank: if there's a Western featuring shootouts and horse-riding...I'm there!

    El Dorado is more or less a straightforward rehash of Hawks' own Rio Bravo (Hawks even dotingly confessed "I steal from myself all the time"). El Dorado borrows a number of characters, plot points and scenes. In addition, a lot of the same sets from Rio Bravo are recycled here. I personally felt a sense of cinematic déjà vu while watching this film. A few years later Hawks and Wayne teamed up again (for the final time) to make Rio Lobo. This was yet another variation on Hawks' Rio Bravo. It has been reported that when Hawks was talking to John Wayne about Rio Lobo during pre-production of the film, Hawks offered The Duke a copy of the script. "Why bother? I've already been in the movie twice" was John Wayne's response.

    Let's get one thing very clear: for the entire duration of El Dorado, John Wayne is John Wayne. Say anything about The Duke?s questionable acting skills, but that man filled up a movie screen. The weight of his personality alone is a driving force that a number of action films can only wish they had access to. The Duke is the personification of honour and determination. To his credit, John Wayne knew what his skills were and he played to them.

    In El Dorado, Wayne plays a gunslinger named Cole Thornton. He's your typical cowboy who knows his way around a gunfight. His friend J.P. Harrah (Mitchum) is the sheriff of the Texan town of El Dorado. Due to trouble with a woman, J.P. turned to the bottle to settle his problems. Now he's an uncoordinated drunk and the laughing stock of his town (Dean Martin played a similar character in Rio Bravo).
    Wealthy landowner Bart Jason (Asner) gets himself embroiled in a struggle with the MacDonald family who own a large amount of land just outside the town lines. Jason offers Cole Thornton a job, but J.P. warns Cole that getting involved with Jason could lead to him getting arrested. Further circumstances entwine Cole with the MacDonald family, and he sets out to destroy Jason.

    El Dorado is a fun film, and a classic example of The Duke in his element during his heyday. There are energetic shootouts that are entertaining to behold, a great script featuring a number of amusing witticisms (when figuring out the best way to get J.P. sober, his deputy delivers his input: "A bunch of howlin' Indians out for hair'll do it quicker'n anything I know"), as well as the eye-catching scenery and wonderful landscapes of the old West. The picture looks great. Costumes, props and sets all look fantastic. Occasionally the interior sets feel like interior sets...but this is just fun Saturday afternoon material, and it's not meant to be scrutinised too intimately.
    One aspect I must mention is the music. There's a good dosage of triumphant music at times of course. But there's one particular part of the movie when the music is groovy beyond words. This scene depicts the protagonists stalking a bunch of antagonists. They quietly wander through the dark streets as the cool music brings the scene to a whole new level.

    The film is quite flawed, though. With so many ideas stolen from Rio Bravo, there's not much of a point. It makes things only more predictable, with the script seeming far more formulaic. Like most classic Westerns, the film's over-length is a tad irritating as well. A trim would have been advantageous.

    As always, John Wayne lights up the screen whenever his authoritative persona wanders into a shot. When he's carrying a weapon of any sort, he looks fantastic. The shootout scenes encompass his greatest moments. The Duke should be lauded for frequently playing the same character without ever growing tiresome.
    Robert Mitchum is another terrific actor, perhaps known best for Night of the Hunter and Cape Fear. Mitchum is of course uniformly excellent. He's charismatic and occasionally dashing.
    A very young James Caan makes an appearance, playing a character unable to handle a pistol. It's a sacred Western law for the protagonists to be skilled in handling a firearm, thus it's refreshing to witness a main character that requires a few lessons in using a gun.

    Overall, El Dorado is a fun Western of a good standard. It makes for highly entertaining viewing despite its slow-ish pace. Director Howard Hawks and star John Wayne know how to keep an audience rapt (for the most part). However, it's a shame so many things are borrowed from Rio Bravo. With a more exhilarating sense of originality, this could have been a better film. If I was to pick a favourite out of Rio Bravo and El Dorado, I'd naturally opt for the former. Be that as it may, El Dorado is still a decent flick. In a modern age of cinema that showcases blood and guts, it's refreshing to see men snuff it in a cloud of smoke with a little dab of tomato sauce on their clothes.

    If you are a fan of Westerns or of John Wayne movies in general, then by all means take a look. If you're yet to become a John Wayne fan, this film ain't one to make you a believer. Nevertheless this is good for an evening's worth of entertainment in a classic Hollywood mode.
  • bradwest
    October 5, 2008
    bradwest
    Even though it's Rio Bravo again, I like this one better. Always stop and watch it when I'm channel surfing.
  • jonnycrumley
    October 1, 2009
    jonnycrumley
    Pretty much a remake of Rio Bravo, by the same director, starring the same lead. Still good though.
  • cinemikeinfrance
    July 29, 2009
    cinemikeinfrance
    Every single scene gives me great pleasure...
  • shchase2000
    July 25, 2009
    shchase2000
    Saw it before and really love his movies
  • maryscristal
    July 19, 2009
    maryscristal
    One the best film of John.
  • josephclancy2
    June 11, 2009
    josephclancy2
    I liked James Cann in this movie.

View All El Dorado Reviews

Critic Reviews

July 26, 2006
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

Howard Hawks is too good a director to depend upon stereotyped violence to keep the interest of the audience, and his well-made scenes between Wayne, Mitchum, Arthur Hunicutt and James Cann never lag ... full review

View more El Dorado reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

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