El Dorado

DVD, El Dorado (1966) film

This isn't a typical cowboy film, as you might expect. Yes it's a John Wayne film, and Wayne plays his usual heavy-handed good guy loner, but there's a lot more humour than is traditional, and some nice character scenes. A lot is set up in the first half, introducing characters left, right and centre, but if you concentrate, it's fine. It just doesn't hand everything to the viewer on a plate as some modern films do. There are a lot of interesting and likeable people to get to know, like the green Mississippi, who gets a massive gun because he's a poor aim. With this he can point in the right direction and blast away!

The theme song, based on a poem, I believe, is really quite stirring, and the music generally is apt and swings the mood from playful to tense. There isn't a lot of action for this type of film, it generally has more build up and scenes where the tension rises, but there are a few shootouts, and some well-observed courses of action. Bull, the old Indian-hunter is one of the best characters, with his witty words and quirks. But all the main players are great, from the villains to the Miss', and the scenery is excellent. A moment that stands out is when Cole Thornton (Wayne) gets his horse ready to leave and his love stands in the doorway, as the sky has that dying light from a sun that is almost gone down. They must have waited for the light to be just right.

My favourite scene is when the Sheriff (Robert Mitchum) is trying to have a bath in an old-fashioned bathtub, but keeps getting interrupted. His turn as a crack shot turned drunkard, who pulls himself together with the help of his friends is quite touching, particularly the scene where he's laughed out of the bar when he goes for a bottle. It was only made in 1966, so it's not an ancient film, but I would certainly call it a classic. It's simply an enjoyable tale full of the kind of heroism you'd expect, but tempered with self-knowledge and wry observation. Highly recommended.

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