El Dorado (DVD)
2-Disc Centennial Collection
APPROX. 126 MINS. - PROD. YEAR: 1966 - MPA RATING: NR
" ...one can hardly resist the charisma of its stars, the affectionate guidance of its director-producer, and the comfort of its supporting cast.
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Gaily bedight,
A gallant knight,
In sunshine and in shadow,
Had journeyed long,
Singing a song,
In search of Eldorado.
But he grew old--
This knight so bold--
And o'er his heart a shadow
Fell, as he found
No spot of ground
That looked like Eldorado.
--Edgar Allan Poe
When I was younger I would always get this John Wayne Western, 1966's "El Dorado," mixed up with the other two films he made with director Howard Hawks in the trilogy that also included "Rio Bravo" (1959) and "Rio Lobo" (1970). The situation was only exacerbated by Wayne's having made a Western trilogy earlier with John Ford: "Fort Apache" (1948), "She Wore an Yellow Ribbon" (1949), and "Rio Grande" (1950). Heck, I couldn't even get Howard Hawks and John Ford straight. In any case, they're all good films, so I suppose it doesn't matter.
Hawks wasn't always a maker of American Westerns, though. He only turned to the genre relatively late in his career. Some of his early films were "The Dawn Patrol" (1930), "Scarface" (1932), "Bringing Up Baby" (1938), "His Girl Friday" (1940), "Sergeant York" (1941), "The Big Sleep" (1946), "Red River" (1948), "The Thing from Another World" (1951), and "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" (1953). Obviously, he was a talented filmmaker in a number of movie genres from dramas and gangster flicks to war, sci-fi, and comedies. He brought a lot of experience in different fields to bear on "El Dorado," which would be his second-to-last film.
"El Dorado" is basically a reworking of Hawks's "Rio Bravo" of seven years earlier: Same basic characters (with different names) and same basic plot. Wayne stars as Cole Thornton, a hired gunslinger. He's the same noble John Wayne character we see in almost all of Wayne's pictures, save for "The Searchers." Here, he may be a gun for hire, but he's got his principals and won't work for just anybody. When a newcomer would-be cattle baron, Bart Jason (Ed Asner), tries to hire Thornton to run off the neighboring ranchers, Thornton draws the line. Bart Jason is obviously a rascally varmint (he wears a black hat, after all), and Thornton can see in a minute he's no good.
Instead, Thornton joins forces with his old buddy Sheriff J.P. Harrah, played by Robert Mitchum. If you remember "Rio Bravo," you'll recall that movie featured two pals played by Wayne and Dean Martin, Wayne virtuous and Martin a drunk. Sheriff Harrah is a drunk. You'll also remember that there was a young hotshot kid in "Rio Bravo," a guy named "Colorado," played by Rick Nelson, who sang songs. In "El Dorado" we also have a young hotshot kid, this time named "Mississippi" and played by a youthful James Caan, who recites poetry (Poe's "Eldorado").
Furthermore, in "Rio Bravo" the two buddies, the kid, and the deputy (then played by a colorful Walter Brennan and here played by a colorful Arthur Hunnicutt) had to keep the villain locked up in jail until the Marshal came to town to take him away, while outside the villain's gang was trying to get him out. This time, the two buddies, the kid, and the deputy have to keep the villain locked up in jail until the Marshal comes to town to take him away, while outside the villain's gang is trying to get him out. "El Dorado" is not exactly a remake, just a retread. Meanwhile, in "Rio Bravo" there was a beautiful romantic interest, a card sharp played by Angie Dickinson; this time Charlene Holt plays the romantic interest, and the film never reveals her profession (but by innuendo we may infer it's the world's oldest). "Rio Bravo" is 128 minutes long, and "El Dorado" is 126 minutes; I guess by 1966 the filmmakers were getting older and couldn't manage an additional two minutes.
Nevertheless, "El Dorado" comes off as an amiable, easygoing Western, with plenty of romance and adventure in the most traditional sense, with clear-cut good guys and bad guys. However, the movie also makes it clear that in the Old West the line between "good" and "bad" was not always so easy to draw. There are strong hints that both of the heroes were outlaws at one time. I suppose the important thing is that they are good guys now. And how traditional is the movie? The opening titles play over paintings of the Western frontier, with George Alexander and the Mellomen singing the ballad of "El Dorado" in the background.
