El Dorado; western, USA, 1966; D: Howard Hawks, S: John Wayne, Robert Mitchum, James Caan, Paul Fix, Charlene Holt
Sheriff Harrah is disturbed when he hears that his friend Cole Thornton in town El Dorado is hired by the outlaw Jason. When he tells him Jason is evil and plans to push out farmer MacDonald and his family from their own land, Thornton steps on Harrah's side. While riding inside MacDonald's territory, Thornton kills MacDonald's son in self-defense, who shot at him thinking he is the enemy. Josephine, the sister of the killed, in revenge shoots a bullet in Thornton's back. Months later: Thornton meets the young Mississippi in a bar, who only has a knife because he can't shoot. Returning to El Dorado, he finds Harrah drunk and Jason active. When the three of them unite and finally arrest Jason, they have to stay in the prison due to the outlaw siege, but still manage to kill the criminal band.
In his penultimate film, "El Dorado", Howard Hawks shot a loose remake of his own film "Rio Bravo", but not with an equally fun result. The most interesting thing is how Hawks completely demolished the myths and cliches of the heroes: John Wayne, in his 142nd film, plays cowboy Thornton whose hand is periodically paralysed due to a bullet in his back; Robert Mitchum a drunk sheriff; whereas James Caan a young cowboy who can't aim and uses a knife in a duel. Obviously, the story has a lot of humorous moments and clever interactions—one of the greatest examples of typical Hawksian dialogues is when Mississippi (James Caan) enters a saloon, takes his hat off, and starts talking to a certain Hagen who is playing poker ("Remember this hat?" - "Why in the hell would I remember a hat?" - "You killed the man who was wearing it."), which leads to an even stronger point ("I'm glad you remember, Mr. Hagen. The other three didn't." - "The other three?" - "I caught up with them. You're the last."), whereas in another sequence, where the criminal gang is in front of him, Wayne's Thornton retreats by making his horse walk backwards. The opening strong story revolving around MacDonald protecting his land from outlaw Jason is interrupted by unfocused and derivative subplot in the middle, which makes it not as playful as it could have been, but there are still some relaxed moments even in this weaker second half, gaining rhythm with neat "action" sequences, like when the bad guys are on the church tower so the old man shoots at the bell in order to confuse them. Hawks' motto about what it takes to make a great film—"Three good scenes, no bad scenes"—stands, but here it's more like "Three moderately good scenes, no bad scenes".
Grade:++
In his penultimate film, "El Dorado", Howard Hawks shot a loose remake of his own film "Rio Bravo", but not with an equally fun result. The most interesting thing is how Hawks completely demolished the myths and cliches of the heroes: John Wayne, in his 142nd film, plays cowboy Thornton whose hand is periodically paralysed due to a bullet in his back; Robert Mitchum a drunk sheriff; whereas James Caan a young cowboy who can't aim and uses a knife in a duel. Obviously, the story has a lot of humorous moments and clever interactions—one of the greatest examples of typical Hawksian dialogues is when Mississippi (James Caan) enters a saloon, takes his hat off, and starts talking to a certain Hagen who is playing poker ("Remember this hat?" - "Why in the hell would I remember a hat?" - "You killed the man who was wearing it."), which leads to an even stronger point ("I'm glad you remember, Mr. Hagen. The other three didn't." - "The other three?" - "I caught up with them. You're the last."), whereas in another sequence, where the criminal gang is in front of him, Wayne's Thornton retreats by making his horse walk backwards. The opening strong story revolving around MacDonald protecting his land from outlaw Jason is interrupted by unfocused and derivative subplot in the middle, which makes it not as playful as it could have been, but there are still some relaxed moments even in this weaker second half, gaining rhythm with neat "action" sequences, like when the bad guys are on the church tower so the old man shoots at the bell in order to confuse them. Hawks' motto about what it takes to make a great film—"Three good scenes, no bad scenes"—stands, but here it's more like "Three moderately good scenes, no bad scenes".
Grade:++
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