El Dorado (1966)
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A gun-for-hire is forced to choose between a mysterious job and helping an old friend protect a family from a land grab.
The story
J.P. Harrah is the sheriff of El Dorado and discovers that his old friend, gun-for-hire Cole Thornton, has arrived to take a job from a wealthy landowner named Bart Jason. Harrah reveals that Jason is attempting to muscle the honest MacDonald family off their land and that Thornton's specific task is to 'take care of' Harrah. Thornton decides to turn down the job and confronts Jason directly. However, a tragic accident occurs involving the MacDonald family's youngest son, leading to Thornton being wounded and forced into a life of wandering while dealing with the consequences of his actions.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
J.P. Harrah, the sheriff of El Dorado, learns that his old friend Cole Thornton has arrived to accept a job from Bart Jason to 'take care of' Harrah. Thornton refuses and confronts Jason, but during the encounter, he accidentally wounds and causes the suicide of the MacDonald family's youngest son, Luke. Thornton is subsequently shot by the daughter, Joey, leaving him with a bullet lodged in his spine that causes periodic paralysis. Six months later, Thornton meets a young man named 'Mississippi' and agrees to help him. They return to El Dorado, where Thornton helps sober up the drunken Harrah. The group eventually hunts down men who wounded another MacDonald son, leading them to Jason. After a series of skirmishes with the gang of Nelse McLeod, Thornton is captured. Harrah agrees to trade Jason for Thornton's release. In a final confrontation, Thornton opens fire, killing McLeod, while Joey shoots Jason to save Thornton. Thornton eventually decides to stay in town with Maudie, who has feelings for him.
- First release year
- 1966
- Runtime (minutes)
- 126
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Howard Hawks
- Writers
- Leigh Brackett · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- John Wayne · Cole Thornton; Robert Mitchum · Sheriff J.P. Harrah; James Caan · Alan Bourdillion Traherne, nicknamed "Mississippi"; Charlene Holt · Maudie; Paul Fix · Dr. Miller; Arthur Hunnicutt · Bull Harris; Michele Carey · Josephine "Joey" MacDonald; R. G. Armstrong · Kevin MacDonald
- Genres
- Western; Siege
- Themes
- Guilt; Loyalty; Alcoholism; Land Rights
- Tone and mood
- Tough; Laconic; Humorous
- Premise and plot tags
- Western; Redemption; Action; Drama
- Source material / true-story basis
- The Stars in Their Courses by Harry Brown
- Content notes
- Alcoholism
- Reception
- The film received critical praise and was commercially successful, generating North American rentals of $5,950,000 on box-office receipts of $12 million.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 96% · review count: 25; Rotten Tomatoes · score: 7.7/10 · scale: 10
- Production trivia
- The film was the only screen pairing between John Wayne and Robert Mitchum.; The poem repeated in the film and paraphrased in the theme song is 'Eldorado', a ballad poem by Edgar Allan Poe.; Footage from El Dorado was later incorporated into the opening montage of Wayne's final film, The Shootist.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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