El Dorado

Great movie

My favorite movie! I listen to this at night to fall asleep. Been watching El Dorado and Io Bravo for many years, they are fantastic!

One of my favorite western movies that John Wayne was a part of along with Robert Michum and James Caan and many other great actors of this time in history who left an incredible mark in the western genre.

John Wayne is classic Americana. He set the bar for American westerns early on, which of laid the trail for other greats such a Clint Eastwood, Sam Elliot, etc. And for me personally one of the all time great classics of John Wayne is El Dorado. This movie is just perfection. John Wayne and Robert Mitchum are magic on the screen, a perfect pairing of ornery, cantankerous, mean as snake gunslingers who fight, drink and badger each other to point of hilarity, yet sticking by each other's side as they fight some of the toughest gunfighters who are trying to rob honest settlers of their livelihood. Ed Asner plays a great role in this film as the dishonest land baron who is hiring gun hands to kill off his competition and steal lands that others have worked hard to get. John Wayne is offered the job and finds out that the only thing standing between Asner and what he wants is a sheriff who used to be a great gunfighter but is now a town drunk (Robert Mitchum) and John Wayne's former riding partner. Wayne goes back to find out the truth and along the way picks up James Caan, a young man with a mission to kill the men who murdered his mentor Johnny Diamond. Caan's character, Mississippi, is deadly with a knife, but cant' shoot worth a darn, so Wayne gets him a double barrel sawed off shotgun, and the stage is set. As Wayne nurses his old partner Mitchum back to health, there is so many fabulous lines and great gun fights that this movie is just as good as it gets for pure fun. I have watched it over and over again and love it. This is an absolute must if someone wants to see one of the truly classic John Wayne westerns.

Nothing beats a john Wayne Western, good movie.

Great movie

El Dorado may lack the status of some of Wayne's true classics, like Stagecoach , The Searchers , or even True Grit , but it is still in my opinion one of Wayne's most enjoyable movies. In this movie, Wayne plays his standard "tough guy with a good heart" as so many of his fans like him best. In El Dorado, that lovable character is combined with the typical snappy dialog of Howard Hawks, a great co-star in Robert Mitchum and some fine supporting actors. This "Centennial Edition" contains an excellent transfer of the film. I'm not sure what the previous releases might have been like, but this one is definitely first rate. The two-DVD set also includes some very worthwhile supplementary material, including a couple of very nice documentaries. I was somewhat disappointed in the commentary, however. There are actually two commentaries on the DVD and while they do include some interesting facts about the movie, the actors and the director, as you listen it becomes obvious that neither of the commentators are terribly great fans of this movie. They both spend a lot of time "damning with faint praise" or comparing the film unfavorable to the director's other movies (in particular the very similar Rio Bravo ). I think their choice for this set was a mistake, as I would think most people would not care to listen to two "experts" pan the movie they just purchased. (Personally, I find El Dorado much superior to Rio Bravo, if for no other reason that a far superior supporting cast. Robert Mitchum is a far better actor than Dean Martin, and even the young James Caan is far preferable to teen idol turned "actor", Ricky Nelson.) In the end, I think this "Centennial Collection" release would make a fine addition to the video library of most fans of either Wayne or Hawks.

I know that "El Dorado" is basically a remake by Howard Hawks of "Rio Lobo," which was made a whole seven years earlier, but I like this 1966 film better. It is not just that you have both John Wayne and Robert Mitchum fitting comfortably into their roles but you also have young James Caan and old Arthur Hunnicutt in colorful supporting roles. There is a sense of fun to the proceedings even as everybody takes them seriously. Wayne is Cole Thornton, an ace gunslinger who turns down an offer to join up with hired gun Nelse McLeod (Christopher George) at the behest of Bart Jason (Edward Asner), the big shot of the town of El Dorado, because it means going up against old pal J. P. Harrah (Mitchum). But it turns out that Harrah has been hitting the bottle hard, so Thorton decides to help his old friend. Unfortunately he is wounded by a bullet that is lodged near his spine and causes paralysis from time to time. Also on their side are old Bull Harris (Hunnicutt) and the young Alan Bourdillion Traherne (Caan), who is called "Mississippi" by his friends for obvious reasons. Maudie (Charlene Holt) is the woman who would like to see Colt and J.P. live to die of old age and Joey (Michele Carey) is the young hothead who shots Thornton and catches the eye of Mississippi. This is an interesting film from Wayne's perspective because the Duke keeps letting his co-stars have most of the big moments. True, the script dictates that his character has to allow Mitchum's drunken sherrif to redeem himself, but Wayne gets credit for being the rock on which this film is made. Ultimately, "El Dorado" is driven more by the engaging characters than the action of suspense. It is also one of the last Westerns to have a rowdy theme song, with George Alexander, backed by the Mellomen, singing the title written by Nelson Riddle and George Alexander. In addition to Hawks and Wayne being around for both films, Leigh Brackett did the screenplay for both as well and I think a large measure of the success of "El Dorado" goes to her for creating these characters. She obviously gets the credit for the dialogue, which really does not provide the sort of one-liners that you want to quote ad infinitum, but which still provides a lot of humorous little moments driven more by the characters than the words. The result is not a classic Western in the John Ford mold, but still it is a solid one which makes it well above average all things considered.

Cole Thornton, Mississippi und Nelse McLeod in der Taverne: Es gibt nur drei Männer in Texas, die so schnell sind wie er. Einer ist tot, der andere bin ich und der dritte ist Cole Thornton. Ich kenne noch einen vierten. Und welcher sind Sie? Ich bin Thornton. Gut, dass du’s nicht probiert hast, Milt Steckt eure Pistolen ein, beide, Schön vorsichtig. Das empfehle ich euch auch. Schön vorsichtig. Und dann schafft ihn hier raus. Ich möchte mit ihnen reden. Ich bin Nelse McLeod. Das dachte ich mir. Ziemlich weit weg von ihrem Wirkungskreis. Ja, ziemlich. Trinken Sie was? Ich hab nichts dagegen. Sie auch? Gläser. Haben Sie gerade was vor? Thornton? Nein. Kann die Musik wieder spielen? Ja sicher. Also, was halten Sie davon, wenn ich Sie engagiere? Was bringt mir das ein? Viel Geld. Und was muss ich dafür tun? Guten Abend. Danke für den Drink, Gentlemen. Augenblick, mein Sohn. Ich bin nicht ihr Sohn. Mein Name ist Alan Bourdillion Traherne. Ach du meine Güte! Deshalb nennt man mich auch meistens Mississippi. Mississippi? Ich wurde auf einem Boot geboren. Mit dem Messer bist du ganz gut. Kannst du auch schießen? Wenn ich das könnte, würde ich’s wahrscheinlich auch tun. Guten Abend. Warte, Mississippi. Warum sind Sie denn so wild auf meine Gesellschaft? Würdest du so freundlich sein, mal einen Augenblick die Schnauze halten? Da ist ein kleiner Farmerkrieg in El Dorado ausgebrochen. In El Dorado? Vielleicht erzählen Sie mir auch, wer Sie engagiert hat. Ein gewisser Bart Jason. Kennen Sie ihn? Flüchtig. Er hat mir den gleichen Job angeboten. Ich hab’s nicht gemacht, war nicht das richtige. Wissen Sie, wer da ihr Gegner sein wird? Ja. Sheriff J. P. Harrah. Er soll einmal ein ziemlich guter Schütze gewesen sein. Nicht nur ziemlich gut, McLeod. Er ist der… …der Vierte Mann von dem Sie sprachen. Ganz recht. Das war er früher mal. Heute nicht mehr. Was ist denn passiert? Was kann einen Mann fertig machen? Eine Weibergeschichte. Ist vermutlich an ein billiges Flittchen geraten. Seitdem säuft er nur noch. Und Sie wollen schnell handeln, bevor er wieder nüchtern ist. Und Sie haben keine Lust? Nein. Sie haben sicher ihre Gründe. Na, vielleicht ist es besser so. Wenn zwei wie Sie und ich am selben Strang ziehen, müssten wir irgendwann doch ausprobieren wer von uns der Bessere ist. Ja, da könnten Sie Recht haben. Das Wär’s, Thornton. Ich dachte, wir wollten gehen. Mississippi, pass mal auf. McLeod, möchten Sie gerne vor uns hier aus der Tür rausgehen? Nein, wenn sich’s vermeiden lässt. Das dachte ich mir. Für mich ist diese Szene in der Taverne das Highlight in diesem Western von Howard Hawks. Diesmal mußte der Duke nicht den Säufer spielen, sondern Robert Mitchum. Ich zähle diesen Western mit zu den Besten in denen John Wayne die Hauptrolle gespielt hat. Auch James Caan machte in diesem Film eine sehr gute Figur und war für mich der beste Nebendarsteller. Wie Mitchum den Säufer parodiert hat war grandios. Auch Christopher George alias Nels McLeod spielte den Revolverhelden überzeugend. Seine Narbe und das Glasauge sahen echt real aus. Gratulation an die Maskenbildner. Da ich diesen Streifen auf DVD und Blu-ray habe, kann ich nur sagen, wer die DVD hat soll dabei bleiben, die Blu-ray macht den Kohl nicht fett.

Um dos filmes da minha infância. Muito bom.

Very enjoyable movie

Great movie on blu Ray, a must for any Western fan

Una gran obra y en excelente estado