Comments on: The Late Film: Red Line 7000 and El Dorado

By: Al Lowe

Al Lowe — Thu, 28 May 2009 04:47:19 +0000

When you are an “old movie” buff like me you often get asked the standard question:
What is your favorite movie?
You try to answer it by saying you have a lot of favorites but some relentless interrogator tries to pin you down.
If I have to pick, then I answer “To Have and Have Not.” Hawks is my favorite director. He has stayed popular with me.
Bogart, Wayne, Cary Grant and Marilyn Monroe made some of their best films for him and it is amazing how he was able to tailor his talents to fit those unique personalities.
One interrogator was surprised that I didn’t choose Citizen Kane due to my newspaper background. Well, of course, I like Kane – and Welles – and have seen it many times, but if I am picking a movie so that I can sit back, relax and enjoy, it is probably going to be a Hawks film.
El Dorado and Rio Bravo are among the first VHS films I bought.

I have my own theory on the casting of Nelson in Rio Bravo and I don’t really disagree with you and McCarthy.
The part was that of a young, decent gunslinger. Somebody had to be cast and Nelson does a fine job. The question is: Why does the script have such a character in it?
If you go back to 1957 Hollywood must have been shaken up quite a bit when Pat Boone and Elvis Presley were among the top 10 box office stars. Hollywood then tried to adapt and rock idols were suddenly sharing scenes with filmdom’s biggest names. James Darren joined Gregory Peck, David Niven and Anthony Quinn on their mission to blow up the Guns of Navarone. James Stewart’s daughter has a romance with Fabian in Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation. And Ricky Nelson is among the fastest draws in the West in Rio Bravo. As I said, he does good work but his casting sometimes causes people to write off the picture.

Other questions and a suggestion:
When was this BAM Hawks tribute? How is Andrew Sarris doing? How old is he? He changed a lot of thinking on films some 40 years ago and I think he deserves his own article, if you can somehow get him to agree to an interview.

By: Jenni

Jenni — Thu, 28 May 2009 02:09:07 +0000

Thanks for the answer, and I am glad my theory was wrong!

By: R. Emmet Sweeney

R. Emmet Sweeney — Wed, 27 May 2009 23:06:56 +0000

Jenni-

According to Todd McCarthy’s biography of Hawks, Ricky Nelson was hand-picked by the director. Hawks was acquaintances with Ozzie Nelson, asked to see some episodes of “Ozzie and Harriet” (which Ricky Nelson starred in), “liked what he saw, and signed the boy up.” He also considered Michael Landon and Frank Gifford…

Hawks liked to think of himself as a crowd-pleaser, and also had a penchant for inserting character-revealing musical sequences in his films. So Ricky was definitely his choice, with no arm-twisting needed. I think Nelson gives a rather charming, laid back performance, in any case.

By: Jenni

Jenni — Wed, 27 May 2009 11:20:28 +0000

I just watched Rio Bravo for the first time as an adult. I vaguely remember watching John Wayne westerns as a kid on Saturday nights, NBC showing them a lot, and my Dad watching them. Anyhow, I enjoyed RB a lot. I was surprised how well Dean Martin did with his role as the alcoholic deputy, trying to dry out. What I wondered about was the casting of Ricky Nelson. I can’t imagine that Howard Hawks wanted a teen singing idol to be in his movie. Do you know if the studio twisted his arm into letting Nelson be in Rio Bravo? I can imagine some studio hotshot telling Hawks that Nelson would draw in that coveted movie goer, the teenager.
Thanks for any light you could shed on my theory.

By: Michael J. Anderson

Michael J. Anderson — Tue, 26 May 2009 19:04:21 +0000

Here too…

From a professional standpoint, I’m not sure what to make of Hawks’s lack of popularity at the moment: my selfish impulse is to take heart with a clearer field (I am working on the director myself at the moment). Plus, its hard to think that such a trend could be permanent; Hawks is just too good.

Great piece on the two films. I absolutely agree with you that Redline 7000 is both ‘lousy’ (almost) and ‘underestimated’; and you hit it on the head when you point out its casting deficiencies. One could practically locate the totality of lesser Hawks pictures by locating those in which there are inadequacies in terms of its performances, with Gail Hire being very near the top of the list. Still, for very Hawksian reasons so to speak, this is a very interesting film.

Also, you have definitely succeeded in making me want to revisit El Dorado a.s.a.p.