Factual error: John Wayne and James Caan are in the gunsmiths shop, and behind the gunsmith on the shelf are some products, one of these products is Bugler tobacco. Bugler tobacco was introduced in the United States in 1932. (01:00:00 - 01:02:00)
El Dorado (1966)
Directed by: Howard Hawks
Starring: John Wayne, James Caan, Robert Mitchum, Charlene Holt
Continuity mistake: In the final scene at the sheriff's office, Mitchum has his feet up on the table top, and the boot soles are clean. But after Wayne walks out, there is suddenly a spot on a boot sole. (This is visible in the video)
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.
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.
Sheriff J. P. Harrah: What the hell are you doin' here?
Cole: I'm lookin' at a tin star with a... drunk pinned on it.
Kevin MacDonald: What do you expect us to do?
Cole: Why don't you ask the sheriff?
Kevin MacDonald: The sheriff? Ya think I'm gonna wait on him?
Sheriff J. P. Harrah: Just give me an hour Macdonald. You can wait that long to die.
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?
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.
Question: When Wayne exits Jason's ranch by guiding his horse backwards (a display of fine horsemanship and/or animal training, by the way), you may notice that he is holding his right hand exactly the same way as he does later in the movie when he has the bullet-against-the-spine problem and is temporarily paralyzed toward the end of the movie. Perhaps he did have a problem with his hand at that time, and the script was altered accordingly?
Answer: He is holding his gun hand ready. Just in case any of Jason's men get any ideas, hence the line "hey fancy vest". He was just being ready.
Answer: Cole was ensuring his gun hand was ready if someone tried something. In this scene he does hold his right hand up close to his chest, but the difference is that, in this scene his palm is not showing. With his palm not showing he is basically telling Bart Jason's men, "I'm ready to draw so don't try anything stupid." When he had the spasms in his arm, he would hold his hand palm up.
Question: When JP is taking a bath in the jail, his leg is propped up out of the water. It reveals a significant ankle injury. From what?
Answer: Earlier in the movie, Colt and Mississippi are doing a nighttime patrol of the town, when men on horses charge at them. There is a shoot out and JP comes running to help. He gets shot in the leg.
That did not address the ankle injury. It looks badly bruised not a gun shot. Can you tell what happened?
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