El Dorado (1967)

Perfect cast and a good story

Crappy film

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Blistering performances.

(Flash Review)A rancher aims to overtake his neighbor's land to seize water rights for financial gain. The rancher is serious as he hires some gun slinging cowboys to do the dirty work for him. The sheriff in town is a drunk so occasionally ineffective. Wayne gets involved and comes to town and does an honorable job of talking sense and encouragement to the sheriff to enforce the law of the land. There was some nice character interactions between those two as well as Wayne and various cowboys in many different ways. Will Wayne be able to wrangle people to a just end or will main street become bloody mud and corpse riddled? There are many picturesque shots of the vast open lands that help make this a pure Western.

Having turned down a crooked job to avoid having to fight a longtime friend turned sheriff, a gunslinger comes to town to help his sheriff friend out after learning that somebody very violent has accepted the job instead in this popular western drama starring John Wayne and Robert Mitchum. The chemistry between the two stars feels very real every step of the way and as Wayne teams up with James Caan who has recently avenged a friend's death, the movie ultimately becomes a testament to the power and importance of friendships. There is some nice additional drama along these lines as Wayne finds himself needing to sober Mitchum up before helping him to fend of those incoming. Potent as the drama often is though, the film backfires each and every time it tries to inject humour into the story; at its most excruciating, Mitchum is comically whacked over the head when drunk and Caan imitates a Chinese man by scrunching up his face. Fortunately, the humour is quite sporadic and the overall tale remains powerful until the end. Particularly remarkable are the shots of the three protagonists cautiously wandering the shadowy streets at night, alert for possible sniper attacks. Wayne also impressively manages to ride his horse backwards at one point, as if reversing in a car, in order to keep his eyes on various marksmen who might try to shoot him as he departs.

On the cover, this seems like a run-of-the-mill John Wayne western. Sure, it's got the rough-and-tumble Wayne in his famed gunslinger role, it's got the gunfights, and it's got the saloons. But this one sets itself apart due to incredibly strong supporting roles by Robert Mitchum, James Caan, and Arthur Hunnicut.Every supporting character in this well-directed western has their own personality and feel like more than a typical Western stereotype. The sheriff, the sheriff's sidekick, John Wayne's sidekick, and the love interest all have their own unique flair and work together seamlessly.The humor is woven into the plot very well. Several scenes will even have your sides shaking with suppressed merriment!This is a John Wayne western, but it is among the best of the bunch and definitely in my top 10 Westerns.

I decided to watch El Dorado because movie critic Roger Ebert listed it on his website as the 15th best movie for 1967. This was my first John Wayne movie to watch from beginning to end, and I'm far from being a big fan of the 'western' movie genre, only because I hadn't watched any western movies in their entirety until now. This was typical 'good guys vs. the bad guys.' If like me you're not already a John Wayne or 'western' fan, I'll offer up a few reasons why it might be worth investing 2 hours of your time. 1) From a production standpoint, I loved all the outdoor night time scenes in and around the little town. Whoever worked on the lighting did a great job. They made it look like the characters were operating under a full moon each night. 2) Actress Charlene Holt as Maude. She's as pretty a woman as I've ever seen, period. 3) I watched El Dorado just after watching The Godfather for the first time. Far from an Academy Award performance, this was the movie that purportedly put James Caan on the map. Obviously, it's a totally different kind of role from the Godfather, but he seems to do an adequate job with whatever is asked of him. 4) If you like 'shoot 'em ups,' whether they're 'western' movies or not, there are plenty of bullets flying around.What's NOT a reason to watch? Well, how about the acting ability (or lack thereof) of Robert Mitchum. Line delivery is not his forte. This was my first Robert Mitchum movie, and he's not someone I'd go out of my way to see again. I'd sooner seek out some Charlene Holt eye candy :) Enjoy!