  el dorado is a 1966 american western film produced and directed by howard hawks and starring john wayne and robert mitchum. written by leigh brackett and loosely based on the novel the stars in their courses by harry brown, the film is about a gunfighter who comes to the aid of an old friendâa drunken sheriff struggling to defend a rancher and his family against another rancher trying to steal their water. the gunfighter and drunken sheriff are helped by an aging indian fighter and a young gambler. the supporting cast includes james caan as the young gambler, charlene holt, paul fix, arthur hunnicutt, michele carey, and christopher george. el dorado was filmed on location in tucson, arizona and kanab, utah, and was shot in technicolor. the paintings in the credits are by olaf wieghorst, who plays swede larsen in the film. the musical score was composed by nelson riddle. paramount pictures delayed the release of the film in the united states to avoid competing against another paramount film, nevada smith with steve mcqueen. the film was first released in japan on december 17, 1966, and was finally released in the united states on june 7, 1967. the film received critical praise and was successful at the box office, generating north american rentals of $5,950,000 on box-office receipts of $12 million.mccarthy, p. 625. el dorado is the second of three films directed by hawks about a sheriff defending his office against belligerent outlaw elements in the town, after rio bravo (1959) and before rio lobo (1970), both also starring wayne. the plotlines of all three films are a
1960s_Western_(genre)_films 1966_films 1967_films American_Western_(genre)_films English-language_films Films_about_alcoholism Films_based_on_Western_(genre)_novels Films_based_on_novels Films_directed_by_Howard_Hawks Films_shot_in_Arizona Films_shot_in_Utah Paramount_Pictures_films Screenplays_by_Leigh_Brackett