History Film / ElDorado

* NiceHat:
** {{Inverted}}: ''Everyone'' singles out Mississippi to ridicule him for his hat, which he wears for sentimental reasons.
** And {{Subverted}} by the same character, wearing a [[ItMakesSenseInContext tray for a potted plant on his head]] as part of a PaperThinDisguise.

* KnifeNut: Mississippi [[SubvertedTrope ...only because he can't use a gun.]]

''For the Creator/{{Gottlieb}} pinball machine, [[Pinball/ElDorado click here.]]''

-->--''Eldorado'' by Creator/EdgarAllanPoe.

''El Dorado'' is a classic 1966 [[TheWestern Western]] movie directed by Creator/HowardHawks, written by Creator/LeighBrackett based on the novel ''The Stars in Their Courses'' by Harry Brown, starring Creator/JohnWayne, Creator/RobertMitchum, and Creator/JamesCaan.

* AgonizingStomachWound: Cole accidentally shoots Luke [=MacDonald=] in the stomach, only seeing a man shooting at him from a ridgetop and not realizing it's a young teenage boy. Luke tells him that his pa told him that gutshot injuries mean the man is destined to die. Cole tries to help, but the minute his back is turned, Luke pulls out a pistol and shoots himself in the head to spare himself anymore pain.

* HeroOfAnotherStory: In any other movie, Mississippi's quest to avenge his father figure, a task which takes him two years and four duels where he has to using a ''throwing knife'' in gunfights since he doesn't know how to use a gun properly, would be the main story. In this one, we meet him at the end of his self-appointed task and instead he's regulated to Cole's sidekick and the position of ComicRelief ButtMonkey.

* IJustShotMarvinInTheFace: During the AfterActionPatchUp, the town's surgeon comments to Cole that a wound in Cole's leg was caused by shot from a shotgun and asks who was using the shotgun. Mississippi, looking embarrassed, confesses to the action, to which Bull quips that the safest place to be when Mississippi fires his gun is ''behind'' him.

* LiteraryAllusionTitle: The title refers to the poem ''Eldorado'' (1849) by Creator/EdgarAllanPoe, which is recited by Mississippi at various points in the film. The hero of the poem is an ageing knight who loses his strength searching for the legendary city of gold, while the hero of the film is an ageing gunfighter whose strength his sapped by his life-threatening wound.

* MysteriousInformant: The Mexican girl sitting by her window who tells Mississippi that the gunmen, he Cole, JP and Bull are after are hiding in the church.

* PosthumousCharacter: Johnny Diamond, an old riverboat gambler who raised Mississippi and was killed during a card game a few years before the story take place. We learn a lot about him from Mississippi who wears his funny-looking top hat as a tribute.

* RecklessGunUsage: During the mid-movie hunt for some of Jason's men, J.P. is juggling his guns around and pointing them at Bull and Cole while he's arguing with them. This is directly ''after'' Cole has just loaded J.P.'s revolver. Somewhat justified in that J.P. is still coming off a miserable binge and could either be drunk or hung over, but you'd think Cole or Bull would tell him to stop it.

** Mississippi, in general, hs a series of running gags. Of particular note is everyone's reaction to his hat and no one being able to say his real name correctly.

* YouKilledMyFather: A slight variation as the man Mississippi was avenging wasn't his father but did raise him.

* MixedAncestry: Nelse [=McLeod=] is part Indian, which makes ex-Indian fighter Bull Harris's "danger sense" tingle.

* ThoseTwoBadGuys: [=McLeod=]'s men Milt and Pedro.

* {{Fanservice}}: Charlene Holt as Maudie, and more specifically Maudie in corset and stockings.

* GenreBlind: Mississippi though he does learn quickly

* HandicappedBadass: Cole Thornton. Joey puts a bullet in his back in revenge for Cole killing her brother. It only bothers him sometimes, but when it bothers him, it bothers him ''hard''.

* KnifeNut: Mississippi.
** [[SubvertedTrope ...only because he can't use a gun.]]

* NeverBringAGunToAKnifeFight: Slight subversion as Mississippi appears unarmed whenever he challenges someone so his opponent armed with a gun thinks he has the advantage. Then is surprised when Mississippi throws a knife he had hidden behind his back inside his jacket.
* NiceHat: {{Inverted}}: ''Everyone'' singles out Mississippi to ridicule him for his hat, which he wears for sentimental reasons.

* [[NoodleIncident Noodle Man]]: When Cole and [=McLeod=] are first introduced, [=McLeod=] describes himself, Cole and another man as the fastest gunfighters in the world. [=McLeod=] mentions the third man is dead, and that's the last we hear of him.
** Cole replies "There's a fourth", but we never know anything else about him either.
** Though given Thornton's interaction with both Robert Mitchum and Bart Jason in previous scenes, it seems that "the fourth man" is probably J. P. Harrah.
* OhCrap: After Mississippi kills a man in his EstablishingCharacterMoment, a mook attempts to kill him, only for the gun to be shot out of said Mook's hand by Cole Thorton. Thorton then taunts the man to pick up the gun and draw. Before the mook can prove he is TooDumbToLive, [=MacLeod=] forbids him from doing so saying that he can't afford to lose another man. When the Mook complains of his boss' lack of faith in him, [=MacLead=] correctly identifies Thorton for who he is. The Mook doesn't say anything, but the look on his face is more than enough.

* OnlyAFleshWound: Averted in that Joey shoots Cole in the back and he recovers, but the bullet is lodged against his spine, which occasionally causes him painful spasms and his right arm to temporarily go numb.

* RunningGag: J.P. Harrah can never seem to remember meeting Mississippi, probably because he was too [[TheAlcoholic schnockered]] to stand most of the times they are introduced.

** Mississippi, in general, is a series of running gags. Of particular note is everyone's reaction to his hat and no one being able to say his real name correctly.

* ThoseTwoBadGuys: [=McLeod=]'s men Milt and Pedro.

-->'''''J.P.:''' [[CrowningMomentOfFunny No wonder he carries a knife!]]''

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

* [[DeterminedHomesteader Determined Homesteaders]]: The [=MacDonalds=].

** Missippi, in general, is a series of running gags. Of particular note is everyone's reaction to his hat and no one being able to say his real name correctly.

* Fanservice: Charlene Holt as Maudie, and more specifically Maudie in corset and stockings.

** To ''ShootThePianoPlayer'', directed by noted Creator/HowardHawks admirer Creator/FrancoisTruffaut.

A few months later, Cole Thornton reappears in a small town on the Mexican border. In a local cantina he witnesses a young man, Mississippi (James Caan), approaching a group of tough guys and challenging one of them. The man is the last of four men who had killed an old gambler, his surrogate father, and Mississippi wants revenge. The man's boss, gunslinger Nelse [=McLeod=] (Christopher George), is intrigued and watches, because Mississippi does not carry a gun. In a duel across the table, Mississippi manages to kill his opponent with a thrown knife before he can shoot. Thornton then saves Mississippi's life by shooting the gun out of the hand of another of [=MacLeod's=] men who now wants to avenge his late comrade. Impressed by his quick draw, [=MacLeod=] offers Thornton to take the dead man's place in his outfit for his next job - a range war in El Dorado. It should not be too difficult, he says, the only person who could interfere is the local sheriff, and he now is too drunk to shoot straight. Thornton politely refuses.

** A belt buckle that Creator/JohnWayne sports in many scenes features the Red River D brand, an homage to his first collaboration with Creator/HowardHawks, Creator/RedRiver''.

'''El Dorado''' is a classic 1966 [[TheWestern Western]] movie directed by Creator/HowardHawks, written by Creator/LeighBrackett based on the novel ''The Stars in Their Courses'' by Harry Brown, starring Creator/JohnWayne, Creator/RobertMitchum, and Creator/JamesCaan.

'''El Dorado''' is a classic 1966 [[TheWestern Western]] movie directed by Creator/HowardHawks, written by Creator/LeighBrackett based on the novel ''The Stars in Their Courses'' by Harry Brown, starring JohnWayne, Creator/RobertMitchum, and Creator/JamesCaan.