El Dorado seems somehow reminiscent of the era when people would catch double-features at the local theater and spend almost an entire day at the movies. One of the two movies was bound to be filler, even if it featured big stars, and El Dorado lands heavily in this category. I watched the entire thing and have about as much sense of the plot as if I hadn’t watched it at all.
As far as I can tell, John Wayne rides into town, runs into his old pal Robert Mitchum (who has become an alcoholic) and winds up staying on to protect the town from outlaws. Eventually they are joined by a young James Caan, and a great deal of gun play and running around follows. John Wayne keeps talking about “Mississippi” in his deliberate drawl, and finally we work out that he’s referring to James Caan. There’s a tomboy girl who sometimes has to be thrown around in the hay. Sometimes Robert Mitchum is too drunk to function. Sometimes John Wayne’s right side goes numb just when he needs to shoot at someone and he misses. The best part of the entire movie is when Robert Mitchum takes a bath in a tub that’s too small for him.
I’m serious.
The film is (apparently) nearly identical to John Wayne’s Rio Bravo, as well as every other Western wherein guys in cowboy clothes shoot at one another. It’s fine fare if you’re a fan of the genre, or if perhaps you happen to think one of the stars is hot, but for the rest of us, it’s the cinematic equivalent of packing peanuts.
DVD NOTES
DVD extras include the seven part making-of featurette “Ride, Boldly Ride: The Journey to El Dorado,” “Behind the Gates: A.C. Lyles Remembers John Wayne”, the original theatrical trailer, and still photo galleries. The 1967 vintage featurette “The Artist and the American West” finds Howard Hawks and John Wayne paying a visit to artist Olaf Weighorst – definitely worth checking out.
