El Dorado

Um, wasn't I supposed to stop reviewing Westerns?

El Dorado (1966) is a reworking of Howard Hawks' earlier Rio Bravo (1959), and it's arguably an improvement. While still many of the same flaws as its predecessor, it's a more solidly-built, better-plotted and entertaining film.

Gun-for-hire Cole Thornton (John Wayne) turns down cattle boss Bart Jason's (Ed Asner) offer to help him in a range war with Kevin MacDoanld (R.G. Armstrong), only to kill MacDonald's son in a misunderstanding - and getting a bullet in the back from his daughter Joey (Michele Carey). Cole leaves town, returning a few months later to find El Dorado on the verge of all-out war - and worst of all, his buddy, Sheriff J.P. Harrah (Robert Mitchum) has turned into a drunken wastrel. With the help of gun-inept green horn Mississippi (James Caan) and old "Indian fighter" Bull (Arthur Hunnicut), Cole must rehabilitate the Sheriff, fight Jason and his hired gun McCloud (Christopher George) - and stave off the lingering effects of his injury.

El Dorado recycles plot elements, characters and scenes from Rio Bravo wholesale: the drunken lawman, green gunslinger, cranky old coot, love interests, a hostage exchange, a number of saloon scenes. It also cribs from other films: a target practice straight out of The Tin Star and a million other Westerns, Mississippi aping James Coburn's knife trick from The Magnificent Seven. The movie scores above Rio Bravo, however, with a much more developed plot: it replaces the slow bloat with more action and better-drawn characters. It still drags in spots, but it's much less tedious and repetitive - and best of all, no one whips out a guitar and sings.

In the era of Sergio Leone and Sam Peckinpah, El Dorado must have seemed anachronistic. The movie is a typical good-versus-evil John Wayne vehicle, aside from an odd streak of sadism (the Sheriff humiliating Jason's men at gunpoint, Cole torturing a man to force him into an ambush). Cornball humor abounds, from the Sheriff's drinking problems to the wheezy running gag of Mississippi's real name and scattergun. Hawks' preoccupation with professionals reaches its apex with its quartet of flawed but indestructible heroes. Nothing is terribly original, but it's done so well, why complain?

Hawks' direction is typically assured. The movie is much more open than Rio Bravo, with some nice landscape photography by Harold Rosson, though it reverts to the familiar jailhouse siege in the final reels. Nelson Riddle's music score is a weak point, often sounding like a TV cop show.

John Wayne is John Wayne and Robert Mitchum is Robert Mitchum. The two get a lot of mileage playing off each other, and it's a treat to watch them go at it. James Caan is a vast improvement over Ricky Nelson, which isn't saying much; he's still saddled with lame humor, worst of all a "Chinese" caricature that would make Mickey Rooney proud. Charlene Holt and Michele Cary are less intrustive than Angie Dickinson in Rio Bravo. Ed Asner (JFK) seems out-of-place, but Christopher George's scarred gunslinger makes an excellent adversary. R.G. Armstrong (Ride the High Country), Paul Fix (Red River) and Arthur Hunnicut (Broken Arrow) feature in supporting roles.

El Dorado has its flaws, but it's still a fairly entertaining old-school Western. Hawks would return to the well once more in Rio Lobo (1970), only to find it had dried up - and casting the guy from Werewolf wasn't a good idea.