Review of El Dorado (1966) by Joel C — 17 Aug 2009

El Dorado is an interesting film in Hawks career and could be considered one of his lesser films, its not the enigma that is Scarface and its not as tightly directed as its counterpart Rio Bravo and I wouldn't say that is has quite the same energy as his comedies however at the same time it may be the best film to summarize all he was about (well maybe 'To Have and Have Not" ) and even more so almost an combination of everything he succeeded within the past but still expands his horizons. It has the elements of professionalism and aspects of male bonding and the relationships with women is very much in the spirit of his previous films, but just as importantly I think El Dorado has sense of poetry here in more than many of his other films.

The story here is hard to sum up, most of Hawk's films are; since he did not believe in plot lines in the conventional sense he was interested above all in examining his characters then confining them to something like a three act story structure. In fact the story behind this film was Hawks called up Mitchum to ask if he was available, Mitchum told him yes and asked whats the story Hawks replied "No Story". But if there was a story it would go something like this Wayne is a gun for hire that has turned down a job because that job would entail him going up against his old pal Mitchum and that's not gonna happen in Hawks' world of comradely. So Wayne presses on and encounters Cann who plays Mississippi who Wayne takes under his wing, the two hear that Mitchum has become a drunk and not able to stand on his own against corrupt rancher and his new hired guns.

As you can probably already tell its hard discuss this movie or apply criticsm to it without bringing up 'Rio Bravo' however there are quite a few advantages to this that I think help it stand alone. Hawks' influence lies in his ability to turn genre's upside down 'To Have and Have Not' is a love story disguised as an adventure as is 'The Big Sleep' a love story disguised as a serious noir and of course 'Rio Bravo' is a comedy and even film like 'Scarface' didn't take the traditonal 'crime doesn't pay' angle bu instead is a film thats a very playful and about the excitment of living on the edge. Anyway back to El Dorado Hawks doesn't just switch the western genre to a comedy here he actually takes things on step further and subverts what we already expect from him, by not just turning it into a comedy but incoperating tragic elements(ironically somtimes played for laughs).

Wayne's character in Hawks' 'Red River' was the one he was indentified with throughout most of his carreer it was a character coming to terms with his age....he played that character in his thirties, here he actually was in his early sixties and came to re-embody that character here, the element of poetary is how the film examines his age and diminishing strength which more than any of Hawks other film's this one makes of point of showcasing, Wayne comes of more or less unbeatable in some scenes and more or less crippled in others but still wont back down in the face of duty. Mitchum is another interesting aspect of film, while many complain that he is not on par with Dean Martin in 'Rio Bravo' I'm not sure I agree because Mitchum may not be as vulnerable as Martin but he has a world weariness about that I think compliments the films insight on age.

Edgar Allen Poe's poem 'Eldorado' (no I didn't fuck that up, its spelt differently) is about a knight's ongoing search for the land of gold that begins to seem futile due to his age and while to poem is tragic there is something to be admired in the old knight continuing quest one of the closing lines being 'Ride Boldy Ride'. The poem is recited in the film including that closing line, Peter Bogdanovich says thats Hawks in a nutshell. Hawks was himself in his seventies during El Dorado and probably coming to terms with his age himself, though never considered a great artist in his day but with emergence of the French new wave Hawks brilliance was finally becoming understood (Godard would call 'Scarface' the greatest sound film America ever produced) and made something of a name for himself, so that by the end Hwaks (and Wayne)'s own sense of professionalism would keep them pressing on just like Poe's knight. That self-realization whether hawks would admit it or not is what I think makes 'El Dorado' a great film.