El Dorado

(1966)

126 minutes

Directed by Howard Hawks

Western / Action

Cast:

John Wayne as Cole Thornton

Robert Mitchum as J. P. Harrah

James Caan as Mississippi (Alan Bourdillon Traherne)

Charlene Holt as Maudie

Arthur Hunnicutt as Bull Harris

Michele Carey as Joey Mac

Donald R. G. Armstrong as Kevin MacDonald

Edward Asner as Bart Jason

Paul Fix as Doc Miller

Christopher George as Nelse McLeod

Marina Ghane as Maria

Cole Thornton, a respected gunfighter, arrives in El Dorado to find his old friend J.P. Harrah is now the town sheriff. Thornton is offered a job by Bart Jason to run the MacDonald family off of their land. Not wanting to have anything to do with such a job, Thornton refuses, and then is ambushed by one of the MacDonald boys, Luke, who mistakenly thinks he has accepted Jason’s offer and is coming after his family. Cole shoots Luke on instinct. Luke believes he is done for and before Cole can get him help he shoots himself. Cole tries to take Luke’s body back to MacDonald ranch and is shot by Kevin’s sister Joey. The gunshot doesn’t kill Cole, but it does lodge near his spine. Six months later, near Mexico, Cole runs into a pair of gunslingers named McCloud and Mississippi who have accepted the job that Cole turned down. Cole returns to his friend Harrah to find the sherriff drunk at all times because of problems with women. Cole needs to get Harrah sober so they can fight off the impending attack by Bart Jason and his men.  

Notes: El Dorado is the second in a trilogy of westerns all directed by Howard Hawks. The other films are Rio Bravo and Rio Lobo, both staring John Wayne.

The poem in the movie is called Eldorado by Edgar Allen Poe.