El Dorado (Paramount Pictures) (1966)

TWO-FISTED NOVEL INTERESTED DIRECTOR HAWKS IN MISS BRACKETT “El Dorado,” Paramount’s gutsy Western, opening ................ PAD 2 ae ane Theatre, marks the fourth time writer Leigh Brackett has worked with Howard Hawks. It is also the third time she has worked with the Hawks-John Wayne combination, her other two screenplays for the Western star being ‘Rio Bravo” and “Hatari,’”’ which has sometimes been called an African Western. It was a tough, two-fisted detective novel called ““No Good From A Corpse” that got director-producer Howard Hawks interested in the writing talents of Leigh Brackett. The dialogue in the book hit exactly the right tone Hawks was looking for in a movie starring Humphrey Bogart which he was about to do. Hawks was just as startled, as is everyone else, when he learned for the first time that it was Miss Leigh Brackett. He was even more surprised to find that this woman who writes like a man, looks like a woman. Refusing to let appearance prejudice him against talent he admired so much, he signed her to collaborate with William Faulkner on a screenplay of Raymond Chandler’s “The Big Sleep.” Miss Brackett did not fail him. Her dialogue was so rough and so right that Bogart began calling her “Butch.” In her collaboration with Faulkner, whom she admits she didn’t get to know too well, the construction was primarily his. Her job was to make the dialogue speakable. Her other novels include crime stories like “An Eye For An Eye” and “The Tiger Among Us,” as well as “Follow The Free Wind,” a novel about Negro mountain man Jim Beckwourth, which won the 1963 Silver Spur Award of the Western Writers of America. Despite her success in crime and Westerns, her personal leanings are toward science fiction, in which field she has had over 200 stories plus many novels published. She is married to Edmond Hamilton, who is not only a science fiction novelist himself, he also writes Superman and Batman comics. They are both very close friends of Ray Bradbury, the dean of American science fiction writers. Miss Brackett was born in Los Angeles and educated there by nuns. She and her husband live on 30 acres near Kinsman, Ohio, in an 1830 farmhouse, complete with separate studies where each is able to pursue a writing career undisturbed. “El Dorado” is a Howard Hawks production in Technicolor, which stars Robert Mitchum, along with John Wayne. The cast also includes James Caan and Charlene Holt. Still #10423/68 Mat 2D HAYMAKER. .. The big fight between John Wayne and Robert Mitchum begins in Howard Hawks’ “El Dorado,” opening ...... BE UNE: ches cc econ Theatre. The Technicolor Western for Paramount Pictures tells the story of a gunfighter and a sheriff in a range war, and co-stars James Caan, Charlene Holt, Michele Carey, Arthur Hunnicutt, and Paul Fix. COLUMN ITEMS PROBLEMS GALORE — Doing a period Western on location these days presents nothing but problems, according to Howard Hawks, producer-director of “El Dorado,” Technicolor Western which Paramount Pictures is releasing. The John Wayne-Robert Mitchum starTET OPENS otc seesccosses Vt GNOM 5s secs Theatre. “When I first started shooting pictures around Tucson, Arizona, over 20 years ago,” Hawks recalled, “the country was so rugged, we had to transport some of our equipment to our locations by mule. “Now, we're being ruined by civilization,” he continued. “We’ve got to be very careful to shoot around the paved roads. Even then we’re lucky if we don’t end up with some retired millionaire’s desert swimming pool in the background” 4 ACTIVE INVOLVEMENT — Harold Rosson, who returned to active participation in films, after an eight-year hiatus, when he agreed to serve as cinematographer on the Howard Hawks’ produced and directed action-packed adventure, “El Dorado,” Paramount Pictures’ Technicolor Western opening. ........ Bes he! at the ................. Theatre, carries a lot of motion picture history around with him. Rosson, who was once married to Jean Harlow, has worked on an impressive group of motion pictures, among them “The Wizard Of Oz,” “The Garden Of Allah” (for which he won a special Academy Award), “Boom Town,” “Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo,” “The Asphalt Jungle” and “The Bad Seed.” “El Dorado” stars John Wayne and Robert Mitchum and has a screenplay by Leigh Brackett. Mat 1D THIS WAY. COACH? oo. 6 John Wayne gives shooting lessons to a willing learner, played by James Caan, in Howard Hawks’ “El Dorado,” opening alse Poe at: the): coscieeme Theatre. Starring Wayne and Robert Mitchum, the Technicolor Western for Paramount Pictures tells the story of a gunfighter and a sheriff in a range war. Charlene Holt and Michele Carey, co-star in the film. Still #10423/63 “El Dorado” Star John Wayne Outspoken Champion of the Younger Generation John Wayne, energetic star of Paramount Picture’s Technicolor Western, “El Dorado,” produced and directed by Howard Hawks and ODENIN Gets MS eee Theatre, takes sharp issue with most critics of the American teenager. He is enthusiastically on the side of America’s young people. He draws the line only at draft-card burners and certain few of the campus demonstrators, but beyond that, almost anything goes. “T think it’s an unfair and ridiculous generalization to say that our young people are without moral values and a sense of responsibility,” he told a recent press conference. “Most of today’s kids are more serious-minded than their parents were. They’re looking for values and there isn’t a thing unhealthy about that. The problem is that this overwhelming majority of our young people aren’t getting the publicity the trouble-makers get. They’re not news. “And as far as the demonstrators are concerned, a lot of those are just being used by grown-ups and they’ll wake up in time. As for the draft-card burners, I think most young people condemn it as much or more than the older folks.” Wayne theorized that perhaps some of the demonstrations are substitutes for the lack of healthy outlets for excess energy. “When I was a kid,’ he recalled, “Halloween was a time when practically anything went. Today, it’s a dainty trick-or-treat and that’s all. What’s wrong with letting out some of that pent-up emotion and energy on a real Halloween or on an explosive Fourth of July. Give the kids back some of the things they used to enjoy without hurting people and you can stop worrying about them.” Wayne, seven times a father himself, speaks from experience. “My kids have turned out all right so far,” he said with his still boyish grin. “And the first four are full grown. All of them knew I’d stick by them through anything, but the one thing I demanded was that they shouldn’t lie to me. “T tried to raise them in as right a way as possible,” Wayne continued. “I insisted they get an education, but as far as telling them what to do, no-sir. That was up to them. And that’s the way it’s going to be with the youngsters.” Wayne’s “El Dorado” co-star is Robert Mitchum. The cast also includes James Caan, Charlene Holt, Michele Carey and Arthur Hunnicutt. FMT TT MTT TT ET ET TTT ILE ET TT TT On OOOO UU OUCUICOUOILO CTO I UOTE I OT UTOI UOT UCC IC IOC OIL OEIC IEICE CULO LOU OUL OER O ODEO EOE LE ERLE Lei Cob toe ib Eh QUEL SYNOPSIS (Not For Publication) In the Broken Heart Saloon at Eldorado, two old friends, each with a reputation, meet again. But J. P. Harrah (ROBERT MITCHUM) greets Cole Thornton (JOHN WAYNE) with a pointed rifle. Harrah is sheriff now and according to his deputy, Bull Thomas (ARTHUR HUNNICUTT), Thornton has been hired by rancher Bart Jason (EDWARD ASNER) to take part in a range war. Thornton admits Jason sent for him but he doesn’t know why. Harrah explains that Jason is trying to take water away from Kevin MacDonald (R. G. ARMSTRONG). Thornton says he will ride out to Jason’s to turn the job down. As he leaves, he meets Maudie (CHARLENE HOLT), who owns the saloon. She throws her arms around him, sees Harrah, and bursts out laughing when she finds her old flame and her current one are friends. Warned that Thornton has gone to Jason’s, MacDonald has posted his son Luke (JOHNNY CRAWFORD) on a ridge with instructions to fire a warning if the gunman appears. Thornton is on his way back from Jason’s when Luke wakes from a doze, sees him, and fires wildly. Thornton, thinking himself the target, shoots and drops the boy. Luke explains the error then, to escape the pain of his mortal wound, shoots and kills himself. Thornton takes the body to MacDonald’s place, finds the rancher with his other three sons, Saul, Matthew and Jared (ROBERT ROTHWELL, ADAM ROARKE, CHUCK COURTNEY), and before he can relate what happened, MacDonald’s daughter, Joey (MICHELE CAREY), a wild thing in buckskin pants, has seen Luke dead and tries to shoot Thornton. She fails and rides off again in grief and fury. As Thornton leaves, she ambushes him at a creek, dropping him with a rifle bullet. He manages to get back on his horse and escapes to Maudie’s place, where Doc Miller (PAUL FIX) treats him. The bullet is dangerously close to his spine, however, and Doc advises him to go to a better surgeon for removal. They move him to Harrah’s house where Joey, having learned of Luke’s suicide, calls to apologize. When he’s well enough to travel, Thornton leaves Eldorado. Months later, he is sitting in a cantina near the Mexican border. A young man (JAMES CAAN), later introduced as Mississippi, enters and calls one of the players at a card table by name, Charlie Hagan, reminding him that he and three others had killed an old river gambler. He says he caught up with the other three and killed them. Now it’s Charlie’s turn. But Mississippi isn’t wearing a gun. Hagan rises, drawing his. Mississippi, however, throws a knife, killing Hagan. One of the other men, Milt (ROBERT DONNER) goes for his gun, but Thornton steps in, draws faster, and stops him. The evident leader of the card-playing group and a fast gunman, is Dan McLeod (CHRISTOPHER GEORGE). Thornton has heard of him. McLeod and his boys are going tot Eldorado to work for rancher Jason and invites Thornton to join up. Thornton warns him about Harrah. McLeod says, “He got tangled up with a petticoat and has been blind drunk ever since,” and when Thornton declines the offer, “It’s probably just as well. Sooner or later we'd have to find out which of us was faster.” When Thornton arrives in Eldorado, he finds Harrah stone drunk. Sickness overwhelms him and, temporarily, he can not perform his duties. Later, three McLeod men attack Jared MacDonald in Maudie’s place. Jared is wounded. With shaking hands, Harrah buckles on his gun and returns to his duty. Thornton, Mississippi and Bull follow. There is a long gunfight and all three of McLeod’s men meet their deeth. Then, Harrah arrests Jason, who appeals to McLeod for aid. McLeod refuses to help and is told to get out of town by Harrah at noon the next day. The McLeods ostentatiously ride out of town before the deadline. That night, McLeod and his men return and open fire on the sheriff’s office. Thornton, Mississippi, Harrah and Bull return it. Two horsemen fall, but Harrah is hit in the leg. The next day, Mississippi and Bull are on patrol when they see two of McLeod’s men. Mississippi ducks into a doorway with Bull following. As they leave, Mississippi sees boots beneath a fence and fires through it with his shot gun. A man falls dead, but his companion escapes. Thornton and Mississippi chase the sniper. Suddenly, the bullet near Thornton’s spine pinches the nerve. He drops and, at that moment, Mississippi is hit over the head. McLeod and his men take Thornton to jail and offer to trade Jason. Harrah accepts. Thornton’s right hand is still partially crippled when, next day, Joey appears to report that Jason and McLeod are holding her brother Saul and will kill him unless her father signs over the water. Harrah hobbles aboard Maudie’s buggy. Bull, seizing a bow and arrow, and Mississippi go with him. Thornton, realizing he can still work a rifle, belts on a left-handed holster with his .45 in it, gets into the wagon, but hides a rifle on the seat. Harrah stops the buggy. Mississippi jumps the man guarding the saloon’s back door. Thornton rides up to the front in the wagon. McLeod is on the porch. Inside, Milt, who is holding Jared, falls screaming with an arrow in his back. Harrah, Bull and Mississippi burst, firing, through the rear doorway. Thornton grabs his rifle and fires from under the wagon as McLeod draws and shoots. Thornton is hit in the leg, but he has killed McLeod. Their problems are ended. CAST es Sa iS oe Re ROE OOS = ACE EEE of John Wayne SN asda se <iiecdnvicowien aloes setae ae Robert Mitchum NUE i Sra an th aineacspaceneoncistonscsnitno eget eo Seas James Caan __ | BASSES RE Nie ae ence eeemunneee TONE RES ites. Charlene Holt ISIN CNNS 550 0 2... nccamnsrtpue eee Michele Carey i eeeialiie tala AE NOTE LR OIE GPa Arthur Hunnicutt SS |, a ce MPMn ME coi h R. G. Armstrong UN IN pas ssasamen shia 2iSianinaneaeoo eee eee Edward Asner MO GMI OE Soa aS Ee or ee ec Paul Fix CREDITS Directed and Produced by Howard Hawks, Associate Producer Paul Helmick, Screenplay Leigh Brackett, Cinematographer Harold Rosson, Folm Editor John Woodcock, Art Directors Hal Pereira & Carl Anderson, Set Decorator Ray Moyer. RUNNING TIME: 126 MINUTES TU Te TE We AT NTP TTD TT] PUT TTT TTT TTT TTT TTT TTT TTT TTT TTT TTT TTT TT TTT TTT TTT TT TTT OOOO OOOO CIO ECOG DCO I IOI CU OCC OCOD III ORO O OOOO OOOO ODOUR OU UO eh boat