Sly, leisurely-paced western from Howard Hawks, with a script by Leigh Brackett ensuring a few laughs. EL DORADO addresses the standard Hawks themes of group loyalty and professionalism, but is also a poignant meditation on the passing of the old and the coming of the new.
Wayne plays an aging, wounded gunfighter and Mitchum a drunken sheriff; with the help of "Mississippi" (Caan) and Bull Harris (Hunnicutt), they take on ruthless cattle baron Bart Jason (Asner), who is using extortion to gain water rights to some land. The finale sees an attack on the bad guys by a
crippled quartet of Mitchum (on crutches), Wayne (partially paralyzed and unable to shoot a revolver), Caan (wounded in the head), and Hunnicutt (armed with a bow and arrow). DORADO forms part of a loose trilogy with RIO BRAVO and RIO LOBO, also scripted by Brackett. leave a comment
