Synopsis
Cole Thornton, a gunfighter for hire, joins forces with an old friend, Sheriff J.P. Harrah. Together with a fighter and a gambler, they help a rancher and his family fight a rival rancher that is trying to steal their water.
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Cast
- John WayneCole Thornton
- Robert MitchumSheriff J.P. Harrah
- James CaanMississippi
- Charlene HoltMaudie
- Paul FixDr. Miller
- Arthur HunnicuttBull Harris
- Michele CareyJosephine (Joey) MacDonald
- R. G. ArmstrongKevin MacDonald
- Ed AsnerBart Jason
- Christopher GeorgeNelse McLeod
Recommendations
- 100
Chicago Reader
It's a very funny, very moving work, graced by the cinema's cleanest, most classical style. - 100
Time Out
It's a witty, exciting and deeply moving masterpiece. - 100
Chicago Tribune
El Dorado is essentially a darker remake of Rio Bravo, with Wayne, Robert Mitchum, Hunnicutt and James Caan as the now archetypal quartet. But, though the situation is the same, the mood is crisper, tenser, with a heightened sense of pain, loss and death underlying the humor and action. - 90
Variety
An excellent oater drama, laced with adroit comedy and action relief, and set off by strong casting, superior direction and solid production. - 88
Chicago Sun-Times
El Dorado is a tightly directed, humorous, altogether successful Western, turned out almost effortlessly, it would seem, by three old pros: John Wayne, Robert Mitchum and director Howard Hawks. - 80
The New York Times
The taut guidance of Mr. Hawks, an old frontier hand, the barbed, pungent and frequently funny dialogue, plus some murderous gun forays, add up to crisp entertainment - 80
The A.V. Club
It’s not that Hawks’ style rescues El Dorado; it’s that it integrates all of these problems, producing a movie that feels effortlessly complete and consistent, despite being, frankly, all over the place. - 75
TV Guide Magazine
Sly, leisurely-paced western from Howard Hawks, with a script by Leigh Brackett ensuring a few laughs.
