El Dorado is a 1966 western movie starring John Wayne and Robert Mitchum. It was directed by Howard Hawks and released by Paramount Pictures. This film was written by Leigh Brackett. It was based on the novel The Stars in Their Courses by Harry Brown. Nelson Riddle wrote the musical score. The film was shot in Technicolor and lasted 126 minutes.
It was the second film in a trilogy directed by Hawks varying the idea of a sheriff defending his office against belligerent outlaw elements in the town: the other two films were Rio Bravo (1959) and Rio Lobo (1970), both also starring John Wayne.
The variation of El Dorado is that Mitchum plays the sheriff who becomes a drunk, while Wayne is a gunman who falls in with Mitchum and his deputy, defending a rancher and his family against a corrupt cattle baron (Ed Asner). Though Wayne is the center of the film, Mitchum essentially steals the film through his performance as the drunken sheriff. Mitchum's versatility as an actor is proven by the shifts in moods he displays throughout -- as a serious sober sheriff, as a drunkard, and then as a man trying to recover his lost dignity and prowess as a gunfighter. A young James Caan provides good support to the two stars as a knife-thrower who can't handle a gun. Mitchum inserts humour and irony into the movie. In one scene, he asks Caan for his full name ( Alan Badillion Trawho?) and when Caan replies, "Alan Bourdillion Traherne", Mitchum dryly comments, "Well, no wonder he carries a knife!" Arthur Hunnicutt also provides humor mixed with wisdom as 'Bull', an old indian fighter and deputy sheriff.
El Dorado is also notable for being primarily a nocturnal piece, a chamber Western that takes place mostly at night, adding to the film's sense of wonder and excitement. It was filmed at night to make the studio sets less obvious. It was the only on-screen pairing of Wayne and Mitchum.
El Dorado is a 1988 Spanish film written and directed by Carlos Saura.
Hired gunman Cole Thornton turns down a job with Bart Jason as it would mean having to fight an old sheriff friend. Some months later he finds out the lawman is on the bottle and a top gunfighter is heading his way to help Jason. Along with young Mississippi, handy with a knife and now armed with a diabolical shotgun, Cole returns to help. Written by Jeremy Perkins
Cole Thornton, a gunfighter for hire, joins forces with an old friend, Sheriff J.P. Hara. Together with an old indian fighter and a gambler, they help a rancher and his family fight a rival rancher that is trying to steal their water. Written by David J. Kiseleski
