El Dorado (1966)

El Dorado: Directed by Howard Hawks. With John Wayne, Robert Mitchum, James Caan, Charlene Holt. 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.

“An enjoyable film. It bears some striking similarities with another Howard Hawks-John Wayne western, Rio Bravo. The story is about reunion of two old friends – a sheriff and a gunfighter who helps a rancher family to fight its rival. Plot is not any unique but the fine screenplay and balanced characters makes it worthy. The chief attraction of the film remains the presence of Wayne and Mitchum. John Wayne was in his usual best. No comment about him is required when it comes a western. At first, I found Robert Mitchum out of shape but later he made sense as an alcoholic sheriff. His character gives some good laughs. Apart from that I found many characters closely resembling the ones in Rio Bravo.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAnyway, movie maintains its own identity somehow with a fine antagonist. It has a few beautiful songs and gunfights are also good. It is a well-made and entertaining western overall.”