El Dorado: Difference between revisions

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''This land of Eldorado?"''|from ''Eldorado'' by [[Edgar Allan Poe]].}}

 

 

Famed gunfighter Cole Thornton (Wayne) comes to the small Texan town of El Dorado, hired by carpetbagger [[Cattle Baron]] Bart Jason (Ed Asner), and stays at the hotel owned by Maudie (Charlene Holt). The town's sheriff, J.P. Harrah (Mitchum), is an old friend of Thornton and warns him off: Jason wants to start a war with his neighbors, the MacDonald family, over water rights, and the MacDonalds are the rightful owners. Taking the hint, Thornton rides out to Bart Jason's farm and tells him the deal is off because he does not want to go up against Harrah. In the meantime the MacDonalds have heard about Jason's intentions, and as Thornton passes their territory, he is shot at by one of the sons, Luke MacDonald. Cole Thornton shoots back in self-defense, hitting Luke MacDonald in the stomach; the pain is too much for the boy, who commits suicide with a revolver Thornton overlooked. He brings the body to the MacDonald homestead and tells the family what happened, but Luke's tomboyish sister Joey (Michele Carey) will have none of it and shortly afterwards bushwhacks him as he rides back to El Dorado. Thornton survives and overpowers Joey MacDonald, but it is discovered that her bullet is lodged against his spine and the local doctor is not good enough to extract it without risking his death or paralysis. So after he is healed enough to ride, he leaves town and his friends J.P. and Maudie, promising to return when he can face the MacDonalds again.

 

Some film buffs see ''El Dorado'' as a somewhat inferior remake of ''[[Rio Bravo]]'', frequently blaming Arthur Hunnicutt for not being Walter Brennan, but the film is very watchable and quite enjoyable on its own.

{{tropelist}}

* [[Affably Evil]]

[[Category:Films of the 1960s]]

[[Category:El Dorado]]

[[Category:Film Westerns]]