SARACANITE

Here is a still from El Dorado. One of my favorite movies. Not because it has a great storyline or good directing or was even well acted. I love it because I’m guessing half of it had to be ad libbed. HAD TO BE. And I’m guessing it wasn’t because they were trying to be “edgy” or they were “keepin’ it real” but because John Wayne and Robert Mitchum, didn’t care enough, or were too drunk to remember their lines and just snickered through the whole film. They aren’t trying to impress anyone, they just want to hurry up and make the movie and go fishing or something. What really makes it great, is how you can see how much fun they’re having making this film. You can see them holding back laughter in almost every scene. This is in a genre of it’s own that should be called a Sarcastic Western. It isn’t really camp and it really isn’t really bulldada, just some horses, some guns and about a million double entendres. From Mitchum singing the opening title, to Wayne insulting some guy by calling him “fancy vest”… I had a stupid zombie grin plastered over my face the whole 93 minutes.

Costarring a young James Caan and Ed Asner was still old.