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El Dorado (17-Dec-1966)

Director: Howard Hawks

Writer: Leigh Brackett

From novel: The Stars in Their Courses by Harry Brown

Music Scored and Conducted by: Nelson Riddle

Producer: Howard Hawks

Keywords: Western

John Wayne is Cole Thornton, hired gun who with his old friend Sheriff J. P. Hara help a rancher battle a greedy landowner and his cronies over water rights. Good crisp western which is the only pairing of Wayne with Robert Mitchum, who show great chemistry together. Some scenes and plot similarities with Rio Bravo (1959), also directed by Howard Hawks.

[watch trailer]

NameOccupationBirthDeathKnown for
R. G. Armstrong
Actor
7-Apr-1917 27-Jul-2012 Pruneface in Dick Tracy
Ed Asner
Actor
15-Nov-1929   Lou Grant
James Caan
Actor
26-Mar-1940   Vegas
Michele Carey
Actor
26-Feb-1943   Live a Little, Love a Little
Johnny Crawford
Actor
26-Mar-1946   Mark McCain on The Rifleman
Jim Davis
Actor
26-Aug-1909 26-Apr-1981 Jock Ewing on Dallas
Robert Donner
Actor
27-Apr-1931 8-Jun-2006 Exidor on Mork and Mindy
Paul Fix
Actor
13-Mar-1901 14-Oct-1983 Marshal Torrance on The Rifleman
Christopher George
Actor
25-Feb-1929 28-Nov-1983 The Rat Patrol
Arthur Hunnicutt
Actor
17-Feb-1910 26-Sep-1979 The Big Sky
Robert Mitchum
Actor
6-Aug-1917 1-Jul-1997 Cape Fear
John Wayne
Actor
26-May-1907 11-Jun-1979 The Duke

CAST

John Wayne   ...   Cole Thornton
Robert Mitchum   ...   J. P. Harrah
Co-Starring
James Caan   ...   Mississippi
Charlene Holt   ...   Maudie
Paul Fix   ...   Dr. Miller
Arthur Hunnicutt   ...   Bull
Michele Carey   ...   Josephine (Joey) MacDonald
Featuring
R. G. Armstrong   ...   Kevin MacDonald
Ed Asner   ...   Bart Jason
Christopher George   ...   Nelse McLeod
Marina Ghane   ...   Maria
John Gabriel   ...   Pedro
Robert Rothwell   ...   Saul MacDonald
Robert Donner   ...   Milt
Adam Roarke   ...   Matt MacDonald
Victoria George   ...   Jared's Wife
Jim Davis   ...   Jim Purvis
Anne Newman   ...   Saul's Wife
Diane Strom   ...   Matt's Wife
Johnny Crawford   ...   Luke MacDonald
Olaf Wieghorst   ...   Swede Larsen

REVIEWS

Review by anonymous (posted on 25-Aug-2006)

I loved this movie. I have watched it at least a dozen times. The poem (originally from Poe I believe) that "Mississippi" recites through out the movie is what intrigued me after I "grew up" and watched the movie as an adult. Of course, as a preteen seeing it for the first time in probably '67-'68, I thought "Mississippi" was hot. John Wayne has always been a favorite. Robert Mitchum's portrayal of a drunken sheriff was priceless. I especially enjoyed the scene where he's in the bath tub holding his finger in the bullet hole in his leg.


Review by DON ANDERSON (posted on 23-Jun-2005)

My first impression of this is as a decent copy of Rio Bravo, again featuring The Duke with non-western and young actors. At least it's better than Rio Lobo (gag).

Duke is a gun-for-hire, Cole Thornton, hired to scare off some squatters by a wealthy rancher, Bart Jason, played nastily by Ed Asner. Along the way he meets Christopher George, Nelse McCloud, a rival gunslinger, and James Caan, 'Mississippi', a kid trying to avenge a friend's death. Caan's character uses a knife instead of a gun, because it is found, he can't hit the side of a barn with a gun, to the amusement of Duke. Robert Mitchum is there as the alcoholic sheriff, JP Harrah, who, in the course of helping the squatters, Cole and Mississippi also manage to cure of alcoholism, somewhat like Dean Martin, "Dude", in Rio Bravo.

Of course, good wins out over evil, all the bad people die, plus one squatter, and we all learn a lesson about revenge. It's a good western, as opposed to Rio Bravo, which I, of course, would rate as excellent.

FYI: James Caan carries the obligitory nickname in the movie, 'Mississippi'. John Wayne was famous for giving characters nicknames because he couldn't remember their scripted names. In Rio Bravo, Ricky Nelson was "Colorado". In the movie Hatari, everybody had one, "The Indian", "Pockets", "Dallas", "Chips." Just another reason for me to be a John Wayne fan.


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