Revealing mistake: During Cole and Mississippi's night patrol, a bunch of horsemen start making a fuss in the street. When Mississippi dives under their horses, there is an interruption between when he dives, and when he (supposedly) lies in the horses' path. Evidently, this scene was made by joining two cuts.
El Dorado (1966)
1 revealing mistake - chronological order
Directed by: Howard Hawks
Starring: John Wayne, James Caan, Robert Mitchum, Charlene Holt
Factual error: The town of El Dorado is located in Texas, as evidenced by the Texas county map on the wall in the County Sheriff's office. However, while on their journey to the town, Thornton and Mississippi shoot at Saugaro Cact, which is only found in the Sonoran Desert in what was then Arizona Territory.
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Suggested correction: Wayne has expressly stated earlier that he is heading to Sonora. He is returning from Sonora at this time.
Mississippi: Well, we are we headed?
Cole: To see a girl.
Mississippi: To see a girl?
Cole: Yes, a girl! Don't you think I could know a girl?
Trivia: In the scene near the end of the film where Mississippi, JP, and Bull are attempting to sneak into the saloon through the back, Mississippi disables the guard at the back door by disguising himself as a Chinese person. In the original release of the film, he puts on the disguise, then squints his eyes and speaks in vaguely Asian-sounding gibberish. This was deemed insensitive and inappropriate, and when the film is shown on television, the scene cuts awkwardly to avoid the offensive expressions and dialog.
Question: What was the mixture that Mississippi gave to JP Harra?
Answer: The prime ingredient was Ipecac, a nausea-inducing compound (still used today) which so inflames the stomach lining that it's impossible for the patient to hold anything down. Hot mustard in large doses has a similar effect. The other ingredients (croton oil, cayenne pepper, etc) acted as powerful laxatives, so the entire gastrointestinal tract is evacuated in short order. The gunpowder was a fantasy ingredient, no doubt, as gunpowder is known to cause gangrene of internal tissues.
Answer: It was an old folk remedy for a hangover. It was supposed to make someone unable to drink liquor for a short period of time. The fictional potion's ingredients were not specified.
The ingredients of Mississippi's hangover concoction are very surely in the scripted dialogue. Mississippi: "Johnny Diamond had a recipe. Let's see. Cayenne pepper, mustard-the hot kind, ipecac, asafetida, and oil of cloves or was it? No, it was croton oil." Bull: "Croton oil?! I'll be a suck-egg mule. You know what that mixture'll do to a fella?" Mississippi: "Guaranteed kill or cure." The final ingredient is gunpowder.
Answer: Croaking oil, gunpowder, hot mustard, ipecac, asafetida.
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