Vashirdfel Simply A Masterpiece

Dirtylogy It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

Bergorks If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

Siflutter It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Scott LeBrun This slam-bang Western is truly a very fine diversion, with filmmaker Howard Hawks at the top of his game. Hawks works from an engaging screenplay by Leigh Brackett, who (loosely) adapted the Harry Brown novel "The Stars in Their Courses", and gets excellent performances out of just about everybody. It gets serious, but never too serious, and is generously laced with comedy. The fact that this was a big box office success showed that audiences still had an appetite for what could be seen as "old-fashioned" entertainment.The Duke plays Cole Thornton, an aging gunslinger approached by nefarious rancher Bart Jason (Ed Asner) to work for him. Thornton turns the job down when he realizes that he'll have to go up against old friend J.P. Harrah (Robert Mitchum), the sheriff of the nearby town. Circumstances leave Thornton feeling indebted to the MacDonald family, the peaceable folk whose ranch is targeted by Jason. So he joins their cause, and is soon working alongside a young gambler named Mississippi (James Caan), who likes to use knives because he really isn't good with a gun.The Duke and Mitchum are a believable pair of friends, and together with a baby faced Caan (a few years away from scoring big as Sonny in "The Godfather") and a steadfast Arthur Hunnicutt as Bull, they all make a good team. The cast is full of good actors, with Christopher George a pleasure to watch as a smooth, confident hired gun. R.G. Armstrong, Paul Fix, Robert Donner, Johnny Crawford, and Adam Roarke all put in appearances as well, and the lovely ladies present also have good roles with which to work: Charlene Holt as Maudie, and feisty Michele Carey as "Joey" MacDonald, one of Armstrongs' kids. Olaf Wieghorst, who plays gunsmith Swede Larsen, did the beautiful paintings for the credit sequence.First rate photography combines with enjoyable atmosphere, some fun lines of dialogue, and plenty of Western violence in the "clutch yourself and fall down" tradition, which all help to make this a wonderful viewing experience. Nice music score by Nelson Riddle, too.There is a scene where Mississippi pretends to be a Chinaman in order to confuse a henchman, and people could easily see it as being racist. It has often been cut out of TV showings of the film.Essentially a reworking of Hawks' earlier "Rio Bravo", although Hawks himself would always deny this.9 out of 10.

Edgar Allan Pooh . . . as Holly Golightly's neighbor in BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S, but a similar exercise in Hate Speech by James Caan (as "Mississippi") during EL DORADO slid past America's mealy-mouthed pundits unremarked because all of them were and remain shaking in their boots at the thought of taking salvos at any product put out by John Wayne, Charlton Heston, or other National Rifle Association Founding Fathers (formally institutionalized on June 29, 2010, when U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito wrote in his D.C. vs. Heller decision that "Our Constitution actually IS a Suicide Pact," evidenced most recently this week at Umpqua CC in Roseburg, OR). Minorities take another lethal hit in EL DORADO, as the flick's most extensive shootout takes place in a Spanish Mission. This church's bells wind up holier than Swiss cheese thanks to the band of sacrilegious thugs led by Wayne, who also manage to blast some of the Sacred Gizmos from their wall niches with direct hits. Perhaps the most surprising aspect of EL DORADO is its take on American sexual mores. Whereas BREAKFAST campaigned to portray prostitution as a victimless "crime," EL DORADO's "Maudie" character is carefully drawn to boost American acceptance of the Old World's traditional Menage a Trois. Though there's no graphic depiction of a three-way featuring J.P., Maudie, and Cole, her key comment that she's "girl enough for both of" the guys is highlighted in the trailer, as well as the feature.

classicsoncall The comparisons to "Rio Bravo" are unmistakable and if you've seen that picture further words aren't necessary. What I had to constantly keep reminding myself throughout the story was that Robert Mitchum was the drunk sheriff and not Dean Martin. Or as John Wayne's character Cole Thornton would remark - "I'm lookin' at a tin star with a drunk pinned on it".After watching about sixty of John Wayne's films over the years and catching this one earlier today, it struck me that his performance here was about the most natural in any of the ones I've seen. In other words, he didn't even seem to be acting most of the time, just carrying on with buddies Mitchum, James Caan and old-timer Arthur Hunnicutt who probably had the best lines of banter throughout going back and forth with Cole and J.P. Harrah (Mitchum). I know, Wayne detractors will say he wasn't acting in any of his pictures, but I think that would be a disservice to the Duke.So as a big time TV and Western movie fan, I thought it was pretty cool that the film makers had two thirds of the 'Rifleman' regular cast show up here. Paul Fix had the role of old Doc Miller and Johnny Crawford showed up long enough to get shot by Cole Thornton in an early scene. Wouldn't it have been cool if Chuck Connors had a role in this one? Instead, we have almost one-armed John Wayne twirling his rifle like Lucas McCain did on his own show.As for James Caan, I don't know, he seemed to be out of place here a couple of times, especially when he took off the hat. Joey MacDonald (Michele Carey) liked him better with it off, but to me he looked a little goofy with his hair plastered down like that. His Chinese impression was a bit embarrassing too, and I don't mean that in a politically correct way. It was just plain old embarrassing.But overall, a decent Western and if you're a fan of the principles, you'll have to add this one to your watch list. For trivia fans, John Wayne rides an appaloosa in the picture, going by the name of Cochise. I thought that was pretty cool.

Jazzie-too I was trying to compile a list of my All-time Favorite movies/Movies you have to see at least once. There's is no way I could select one favorite. I have so many real favorites. Then I came to El Dorado! Well, that, if I had to select only one, would be the one! It still holds up today. And consider the language and limitations of 1967. Just proves when you have such outstanding actors such as John Wayne and Robert Mitchum, they measure up even in today's world. But not only Mitchum and Wayne,every single cast member was significant and played their role so well. James Caan as "Mississippi", Charlene Holt as "Maddie" and Arthur Hunnicutt as "Bull". I have watched this movie so many times and also bought it for a friend in Brazil. Funny, I vaguely recall the music. That ring. But it didn't bother me, as it did others, that I read in another review. I must admit, Robert Mitchum is my All-time favorite actor, so maybe that has an effect. I love all his movies. I loved his independent nature and everything I could read about him. He would be so beautiful in today's world!