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El Dorado

El Dorado

It's the big one with the big two!

19667.42h 6m

Overview

Cole Thornton, a gunfighter for hire, joins forces with an old friend, Sheriff J.P. Harrah. Together with a fighter and a gambler, they help a rancher and his family fight a rival rancher that is trying to steal their water.

Directed by Howard Hawks
Written by Harry Brown, Leigh Brackett, John Gabriel
Produced by Howard Hawks
Box OfficeBudget: $4.7MRevenue: $6.0M

Top Cast

John Wayne

John Wayne

Cole Thornton

Robert Mitchum

Robert Mitchum

Sheriff J.P. Harrah

James Caan

James Caan

Mississippi

Charlene Holt

Charlene Holt

Maudie

Paul Fix

Paul Fix

Dr. Miller

Arthur Hunnicutt

Arthur Hunnicutt

Bull Harris

Michele Carey

Michele Carey

Josephine (Joey) MacDonald

R.G. Armstrong

R.G. Armstrong

Kevin MacDonald

Ed Asner

Ed Asner

Bart Jason

Christopher George

Christopher George

Nelse McLeod

Themes & Keywords

sheriffbased on novel or booktexasranchsettlerliquorrevolvertwo guns belt

About El Dorado

El Dorado is a western film released in 1966 exploring themes of sheriff, based on novel or book, texas, ranch, settler, liquor. Directed by Howard Hawks, it stars John Wayne, Robert Mitchum, James Caan. Cole Thornton, a gunfighter for hire, joins forces with an old friend, Sheriff J.P. Harrah. Together with a fighter and a gambler, they help a rancher and his family fight a rival rancher that is trying to steal their water.

Movies Similar to El Dorado

Discover titles like El Dorado — ranked by similarity and community votes

We found 15 movies similar to El Dorado

If you enjoyed El Dorado, you'll love these handpicked recommendations. Each title below shares similar themes, tone, and storytelling style. Our algorithm analyzes genres, keywords, director filmography, and cast connections to find the closest matches. Whether you're looking for the same emotional depth, narrative structure, or visual style, these picks are curated to deliver the best viewing experience for fans of El Dorado.

Rio Bravo
41% Match

Rio Bravo(1959)

Movie7.8/10

A small-town sheriff in the American West enlists the help of a disabled man, a drunk, and a young gunfighter in his efforts to hold in jail the brother of the local bad guy.

Red River
34% Match

Red River(1948)

Movie7.3/10

Following the Civil War, headstrong rancher Thomas Dunson decides to lead a perilous cattle drive from Texas to Missouri. During the exhausting journey, his persistence becomes tyrannical in the eyes of Matthew Garth, his adopted son and protégé.

The Outlaw Josey Wales
31% Match

After avenging his family's brutal murder, Wales is pursued by a pack of soldiers. He prefers to travel alone, but ragtag outcasts are drawn to him - and Wales can't bring himself to leave them unprotected.

Rio Grande
29% Match

Rio Grande(1950)

Movie6.8/10

Lt. Col. Kirby Yorke is posted on the Texas frontier to defend settlers against depredations of marauding Apaches. Col. Yorke is under considerable stress by a serious shortage of troops of his command. Tension is added when Yorke's son (whom he hasn't seen in fifteen years), Trooper Jeff Yorke, is one of 18 recruits sent to the regiment.

The Proud Ones
29% Match

Robert Ryan plays an aging sheriff responsible for law and order in a frontier cattle town. Virginia Mayo plays his fiancee. As if handling wild cattle drovers isn't enough, a crooked casino operator from Ryan's past comes to town. An early scuffle in the casino leaves Ryan with vision problems that interfere with his duties. Jeffrey Hunter who came to town with a cattle drive encounters Ryan, who killed Hunter's father when Hunter was young. Feelings of animosity soon change as Hunter begins to sense Ryan is telling the truth about his father. What follows is a plot that continues to thicken to the inevitable showdown.

Shane
29% Match

Shane(1953)

Movie7.3/10

A weary gunfighter attempts to settle down with a homestead family, but a smouldering settler and rancher conflict forces him to act.

Hud
27% Match

Hud(1963)

Movie7.3/10

Hud Bannon is a ruthless young man who tarnishes everything and everyone he touches. Hud represents the perfect embodiment of alienated youth, out for kicks with no regard for the consequences. There is bitter conflict between the callous Hud and his stern and highly principled father, Homer. Hud's nephew Lon admires Hud's cheating ways, though he soon becomes too aware of Hud's reckless amorality to bear him anymore. In the world of the takers and the taken, Hud is a winner. He's a cheat, but, he explains, "I always say the law was meant to be interpreted in a lenient manner."

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
26% Match

Questions arise when Senator Stoddard attends the funeral of a local man named Tom Doniphon in a small Western town. Flashing back, we learn Doniphon saved Stoddard, then a lawyer, when he was roughed up by a crew of outlaws terrorizing the town, led by Liberty Valance. As the territory's safety hung in the balance, Doniphon and Stoddard, two of the only people standing up to him, proved to be very important, but different, foes to Valance.

The Wonderful Country
26% Match

Having fled to Mexico from the U.S. many years ago for killing his father's murderer, Martin Brady travels to Texas to broker an arms deal for his Mexican boss, strongman Governor Cipriano Castro. Brady breaks a leg and while recuperating in Texas the gun shipment is stolen. Complicating matters further the wife of local army major Colton has designs on him, and the local Texas Ranger captain makes him a generous offer to come back to the states and join his outfit. After killing a man in self-defense, Brady slips back over the border and confronts Castro who is not only unhappy that Brady has lost his gun shipment but is about to join forces with Colton to battle the local raiding Apache Indians.

Monte Walsh
26% Match

Monte Walsh and Chet Rollins are long-time cowhands, working whatever ranch work comes their way, but "nothing they can't do from a horse." Their lives are divided between months on the range and the occasional trip into town. Monte has a long-term relationship with prostitute Martine Bernard, while Chet has fallen under the spell of the widow who owns the hardware store. Camaraderie and competition with the other cowboys fill their days, until one of the hands, Shorty Austin, loses his job and gets involved in rustling and killing. Then Monte and Chet find that their lives on the range are inexorably redirected.

Firecreek
26% Match

Firecreek(1968)

Movie6.3/10

A peace-loving, part-time sheriff in the small town of Firecreek must take a stand when a gang of vicious outlaws takes over his town.

Warlock
26% Match

Warlock(1959)

Movie6.7/10

A band of murderous cowboys has imposed a reign of terror on the town of Warlock. With the sheriff humiliatingly run out of town, the residents hire the services of Clay Blaisedell as de facto town marshal. He arrives along with his friend, Tom Morgan, and sets about restoring law and order on his own terms whilst also overseeing the establishment of a gambling house and saloon.