El Dorado (film)
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| El Dorado | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Directed by | Howard Hawks |
| Produced by | Howard Hawks |
| Written by | Harry Brown (novel The Stars in Their Courses) Leigh Brackett |
| Starring | John Wayne, Robert Mitchum, James Caan, Charlene Holt, Paul Fix |
| Music by | Nelson Riddle |
| Cinematography | Harold Rosson |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
| Release date(s) | December 17, 1966 (U.S. release) |
| Running time | 126 min. |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
El Dorado is a 1966 western movie starring John Wayne and Robert Mitchum, released by Paramount Pictures, directed by Howard Hawks, and written by Leigh Brackett based on the novel The Stars in Their Courses by Harry Brown. Nelson Riddle wrote the musical score. The film was shot in Technicolor and lasted 126 minutes.
It was the second film in a trilogy directed by Hawks varying the idea of a sheriff defending his office against belligerent outlaw elements in the town: the other two films were Rio Bravo (1959) and Rio Lobo (1970), all starring John Wayne.
The variation of El Dorado is that Mitchum plays the sheriff who becomes a drunk while Wayne is a gunman who falls in with Mitchum and his deputy defending a rancher and his family against a corrupt cattle baron (Ed Asner). Though Wayne is the center of the film, Mitchum essentially steals the film through his performance as the drunken sheriff. Mitchum's versatility as an actor is proven by the shifts in moods he displays throughout -- as a serious sober sheriff, as a drunkard, and then as a man trying to recover his lost dignity and prowess as a gunfighter. A young James Caan provides good support to the two stars, as a knife thrower who can't handle a gun. Mitchum inserts humour and irony into the movie. In one scene, he asks Caan for his full name and when Caan replies, "Alan Bourdillion Traherne", Mitchum dryly comments, "Well no wonder he carries a knife!"
El Dorado is also notable for being primarily a nocturnal piece, a chamber Western that takes place mostly at night, adding to the film's sense of wonder and excitement. It was the first on-screen pairing of Wayne and Mitchum.
[edit] Trivia
The similarity between Rio Bravo and El Dorado gave rise to an amusing exchange in the 1995 movie, Get Shorty. In this scene, LA drug dealer, Bo Catlett (Delroy Lindo) breaks into the apartment of B movie and horror movie actress, Karen Flores (Rene Russo) in order to steal a valuable movie script. He accidentally touches the TV remote and switches on a cable channel, which is showing Rio Bravo. This awakens Flores and her boyfriend, mafia enforcer, Chili Palmer (John Travolta). The pair confront Catlett and in an attempt to talk his way out of the situation, Catlett confuses details about the respective casts of Rio Bravo and El Dorado. Palmer, a film-buff and would-be movie producer, is appalled at this lack of knowledge and proceeds to give the bemused Catlett, a tongue-in-cheek lecture setting the facts straight.
[edit] Cast
In El Dorado, Wayne (Cole Thornton) is joined in the cast by Robert Mitchum (Sheriff J.P. Harrah), James Caan (Mississippi), Arthur Hunnicutt (Bull Harris), Charlene Holt (Maudie), Michele Carey (Josephine 'Joey' MacDonald), Ed Asner (Bart Jason), Christopher George (Nelse McLeod), R. G. Armstrong (Kevin MacDonald), Paul Fix (Dr. Miller), and Jim Davis.
[edit] External links
- El Dorado at the Internet Movie Database
