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El Dorado
Having struck pay dirt with his 1958 western Rio Bravo, Howard Hawks more or less remade the picture twice in the 1960s. The first of these rehashes was El Dorado, with Rio Bravo star John Wayne back for more. Wayne plays a gunfighter who rides into El Dorado to link up with his old pal, sheriff Robert Mitchum ('It's the big one with the big two!' declared the film's advertisements). Wayne has turned down a job with evil land baron Ed Asner, who'd hoped to drive a family off the land that he needed for its water. That family, headed by R.G. Armstrong, is convinced that Wayne is working with Asner; when Armstrong's son Johnny Crawford dies, Wayne is held responsible, earning him a bullet in the spine from Crawford's sister Michele Carey. A year passes: Wayne returns to El Dorado, in the company of his new saddle pal James Caan. They find that Asner is still up to his old tricks, and that Mitchum has descended into alcoholism. Several plot twists and power shifts ensue, leading to the slam-bang climax, with the partially paralyzed Wayne, the newly crippled Mitchum (on crutches), and the concussion-suffering Caan battling together to stave off Asner's minions. The final long-shot, of Wayne and Mitchum limping off together arm-in-arm, is one of the most enduring images in the entire Hawks canon. If they loved it twice they'll love it thrice: in 1969, John Wayne and Howard Hawks teamed up for a third Rio Bravo derivation, Rio Lobo--which, like the first two films, was scripted by Leigh Brackett. Incidentally, that's famed artist Olaf Weighorst (whose paintings appear in the title sequence) in a cameo as the gunsmith.
27 April 1931, New York City, New York, USA
20 November 1930, Santa Barbara, California, USA
October 26, 1897 in El Paso, Texas, USA
17 February 1910, Gravelly, Arkansas, USA
April 28, 1928 in Snyder, Texas, USA
6 September 1933, Banner, North Dakota, USA
8 August 1937, Brooklyn, New York, USA
24 December 1896, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
7 July 1910, Arizona, USA
March, 1946 in Tehran, Iran
25 May 1931, Niagara Falls, New York, USA
14 March 1916, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico
January 09, 2010
Even looked at with today's eye, El Dorado is a thrilling movie with great characters and a brilliant image of the mythical old west.
July 26, 2006
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 for a moment.
October 21, 2013
Hawks makes a familiar plot resound strangely with a new set of sexual overtones.
July 07, 2010
Vivid story telling and a late take on the Western genre as a whole.
November 20, 2017
A nice serving of entertaining comfort cinema for dedicated fans of classic era filmmaking.
November 20, 2017
One of the most pleasurable of all Hollywood movies.
November 20, 2017
A witty, exciting and deeply moving masterpiece.
February 07, 2017
Classic Western has violence, alcoholism, stereotyping.
November 20, 2017
A tough, laconic and amusing Western that ambles across the screen as easily as the two veteran stars.
May 13, 2008
An excellent oater drama, laced with adroit comedy and action relief, and set off by strong casting, superior direction and solid production.
November 20, 2017
A very funny, very moving work, graced by the cinema's cleanest, most classical style.
November 20, 2017
Winningly sly western.