John Wayne Movie:

Editorial Review:
El Dorado
El Dorado (1967) doesn't quite have the scope or ambition of Howard Hawks's greatest Westerns, Red River and Rio Bravo. But this relaxed picture, made near the end of Hawks's marvelous career, still shows the steady, sure hand of a master. Hawks reunites with John Wayne, playing a hired gun mixed up in a range war; Robert Mitchum is Wayne's old pal, now a sheriff in the midst of a hopeless drunken bender. James Caan, in one of his first sizable roles, plays a kid who can't shoot straight and wears a funny hat (every character in the movie makes fun of this hat). As the plot moves along, it begins to resemble Rio Bravo rather closely ("I steal from myself all the time," Hawks was fond of admitting). But in El Dorado the heroes are a bit older, their powers a bit weaker; at the end Wayne must revert to a bit of subterfuge in order to get the drop on the steely gunslinger (ice-cold Christopher George) he needs to put down. As relaxed as the movie is, Hawks and Wayne and company are in good spirits, with plenty of broad humor and easy camaraderie on display. Hawks and Wayne would make just one more film, the disappointing Rio Lobo, before ending their fruitful partnership. --Robert Horton

True Grit
John Wayne hams it up as a one-eyed, broken-down marshal in this 1969 adaptation of Charles Portis's bestselling novel. Kim Darby plays the formal-speaking adolescent who goes to Wayne for help tracking down her father's killer, and singer Glen Campbell straps on his guns to join the quest. Directed by old lion Henry Hathaway (Rawhide), this is largely a showcase for Wayne (who finally won an Oscar®), but it is also a decent Western with a particularly stirring final act. --Tom Keogh

Rio Lobo
The final film by the legendary director Howard Hawks, released in 1970, found him paired with longtime leading man John Wayne in a story slightly similar to their more familiar Rio Bravo and El Dorado. Set at the end of the Civil War, the story finds Wayne playing a Union army colonel who recovers some stolen gold and roots out a traitor. Though a little creaky (Hawks had been making films since 1926), Rio Lobo nevertheless has his trademark, crackling dialogue, appealing characters, and ensemble spirit among the cast. This was a worthy finish to a fantastic career by a first-rank filmmaker. --Tom Keogh

The Best of John Wayne Collection 1 (Rio Lobo / El Dorado / True Grit) Reviews:
Very Good Collection, But Wish The DVD's Had More Features
2007-03-10 - If your a Duke fan like me, you will love the movies on their own merit. I am just not happy that the DVD's didn't have extra features like behind the scenes footage. Oh well, I guess I will have to live with that...

THREE GREAT LATTER DAY DUKE WESTERNS
2005-08-04 - i have to say that the John Wayne Westerns of the mid 60's through the 1970's were always my favorites since they are the ones that I grew up on and saw many at the show such as "The Cowboys" and "The Train Robbers". This set features three of Wayne's best films of this period.

El dorado is basically a remake of Rio Bravo with Mitchum playing the drunken sheriff in place of Dean Martin and James Caan playing the young gun instead of Ricky Nelson. Wayne is Cole Thornton, and aging gunfighter is offered a job by evil land grabber Ed Asner to kill Mitchum and run the rightful landowners off their land. Thornton refuses and instead goes to El dorado to help his friend against the other gunmen Asner hired led by Nelson McCloud played by Christopher George. Caan plays Mississippi a young man who cannot use a gun and is given a sawed off shotgun as his weapon. Arthur Hunnicut plays Bull and essentially takes over the role that Walter Brennan played in "Rio Bravo".


True Grit was perhaps Wayne's most famous role and the one he won an Oscar for playing U.S. marshall Rooster Cogburn who is hired by the young Kim Darby to go after the murderer of her father. They are joined by Texas Ranger Glen Campbell as they hunt down the man who has joined a band of outlaws led by Lucky Ned pepper played by a young Robert Duvall. Wayne is great as the grizzled, drunken, but tough as nails lawman. The climax with Cogburn facing off against the four outlaws single-handedly is one of the great scenes in Western history.

Rio Lobo is yet another remake of Rio Bravo. Wayne essentially playing the same role as he hunts down a rogue former Union officer who turned traitor. This time crazy-eyed Jack Elam takes over the Walter Brennan/Arthur Hunnicut role as the old gun hand. This time Mexican actor Jorge Rivero plays the handsome young gun who was a confederate soldier and has now joined with Colonel McNally (Wayne) to hunt the man down. The Lovely Jennifer O'Neill co-stars along with Chris Mitchum.

True Grit is a classic and the other two are very good westerns. Lots of action and the Duke was still a commanding presence on screen. You can't go wrong with this set. Bravo to paramount!