James Caan starred opposite John Wayne in the 1966 Western El Dorado, and he had a fiery confrontation with the screen icon that had to be broken up by Robert Mitchum
At the age of 27, James Caan landed the role of knife-throwing gambler Mississippi in Howard Hawks’ first remake of Rio Bravo, titled El Dorado, starring alongside icons John Wayne, who had strong Irish roots, and Robert Mitchum in the 1966 Western—a significant breakthrough for his career.
Over time, Caan recounted some wild tales about the on-set antics and occasional heated clashes with Wayne. Acting beside the towering figure of Wayne, who had a strong on-screen rapport with Maureen O’Hara, meant that Caan, who stood at the same 5ft 7in height as Tom Cruise, had to don three-inch lifts.
The two forged a bond during filming, but not without Wayne’s penchant for playful intimidation aimed at the up-and-coming actor. Caan, who passed away in 2022 and would have celebrated his 85th birthday this week, often reminisced in interviews about how Wayne would teasingly refer to him as “kid” and make quips like “You’re doing a lot of smiling Jiminy Cricket” in reference to his hat.
They’d occasionally engage in chess games during downtime, which once led to a fierce dispute when Caan accused Wayne of cheating—a confrontation so intense that it required Robert Mitchum’s intervention to defuse, reports the Express.
In a 1997 appearance on The Tonight Show, Caan reflected on Wayne’s character: “If he could intimidate you, he’d stay on you forever until you just crumbled. He’d try you. So this one night I remember I was between he and Robert Mitchum and Howard Hawks was about 72 at the time and we’re outside in this big old Western town.”
The Godfather star recalled how Duke would give him directions during filming, telling him to turn around, take a step, and “Give me that look that you me.”
However, every time Caan followed Duke’s instructions, director Howard Hawks would yell “Cut!” and tell him not to take the step. This back-and-forth continued until Caan lost his temper, admitting, “I was gonna hit him!” Luckily, Mitchum intervened and broke up the confrontation.
Caan realized that Duke was intentionally trying to get a rise out of him, saying, “He knew what he was doing, he was having a good time at my expense!” Despite this, the two actors became good friends and would often try to sabotage each other’s scenes. Caan remembered one time when he mouthed “You snake!” at Duke, making him laugh.
However, Duke got his revenge when Caan found his dressing room locked and asked for the key. When the door was finally opened, Caan was met with a room filled with garbage, courtesy of Duke’s prank.
Caan joked that Duke was like a “Garbage just came out! He piled it with garbage, he was like a 12-year-old kid Duke” when it came to playing pranks.