|
Howdy Pilgrim, just thought I would mosey on in and
give you a short and to the point review of the Duke's classic
reissued on DVD. Made in 1965 "El Dorado" was the end of
the Duke's "Golden Era" as a star and Howard Hawks as a
film director. Hawks wasn't at his peak in the 1960's releasing
a number of forgettable movies and the same could be said
of John Wayne whose iconic performances were superseded
the more morally ambiguous cowboys played by Clint Eastwood.
In fact, compared to Sergio Leone's epic films "El Dorado"
appears down-right old fashioned but in a good way that
appealed to audiences the year it was released. It was like
comfort food for mainstream America which was in the grip
of the Vietnam War, Beatlemania and on the verge of the
psychedelic explosion of 1967. ***
In "El Dorado" Wayne plays a gunslinger Cole Thornton
hired by a wealthy rancher (Ed Asner played to perfection
while Asner was best known for his villainous roles in TV
shows and plays before his rehab in "The Mary Tyler Moore
Show") to end a ranch war with the McDonald family. This
puts him at odds with his old friend Sheriff J. P. Harrah
(Robert Mitchum). Adding to the conflict is an old paramour
of both men-Maudie (Charlene Holt). All of this puts Cole
in harm's way once he resigns when the rancher brings in
two new gunslingers (one played by TV stalwart Christopher
George). ***
"El Dorado" plays well as part of Hawks' trilogy of
westerns and plays almost like a eulogy for the type of
westerns that Wayne made in his prime. The performances
are strong from the entire cast and Wayne who was never
much of an actor but a terrific leading man inhabits his
role perfectly. The same could be said for former bad boy
Mitchum (who was busted for smoking pot a decade before
and did some jail time). ---
Image & Sound: Paramount gives us a sharp looking transfer
that nicely captures the rich hues of Hawks' film. The image
hasn't been digitally over scrubbed and the DVD retains
a nice level of film grain. Detail looks good throughout
although the film does show its age on occasion. ***
Audio sounds extremely good with a nice sounding mono
soundtrack. ---
|
