IMDb > Big Jake (1971)
Big Jake
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Overview

User Rating:
6.9/10   2,962 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
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Director:
Writers:
Harry Julian Fink (writer)
Rita M. Fink (writer)
Contact:
View company contact information for Big Jake on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
26 May 1971 (USA) more
Genre:
Tagline:
They wanted gold. They gave them lead instead! more
Plot:
The McCandles ranch is run over by a gang of cutthroats led by the evil John Fain. They kidnap little... more | full synopsis
User Comments:
Big Jake Holds His Own, Thank You more (45 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

John Wayne ... Jacob McCandles

Richard Boone ... John Fain
Patrick Wayne ... James McCandles

Christopher Mitchum ... Michael McCandles
Bruce Cabot ... Sam Sharpnose
Bobby Vinton ... Jeff McCandles
Glenn Corbett ... O'Brien, aka Breed

John Doucette ... Texas Ranger Capt. Buck Duggan
Jim Davis ... Head of lynching party
John Agar ... Bert Ryan
Harry Carey Jr. ... Pop Dawson (as Harry Cary Jr.)
Gregg Palmer ... John Goodfellow
Roy Jenson ... Gunman at bathhouse in Escondero
Virginia Capers ... Delilah
Bill Walker ... Moses Brown (as William Walker)
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Additional Details

Also Known As:
The Million Dollar Kidnapping (USA) (working title)
more
MPAA:
Rated PG-13 for western violence. (re-rating)
Runtime:
110 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Certification:
Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | UK:15 (video rating) | UK:AA (original rating) | Canada:G (Nova Scotia/Quebec) | Australia:PG (TV rating) | USA:G (home video version) | USA:G (original rating) | West Germany:12 (f) (re-rated) | West Germany:16 (f) (original rating) | USA:G (re-rating) (1972) | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 | Sweden:15 | USA:GP (original rating) | USA:PG-13 (re-rating 2001) | Singapore:PG
Filming Locations:

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
The ranch house used for the McCandles ranch is the same house used for the Chisum ranch in Chisum (1970), a John Wayne western made a year earlier. Note the scenery around the ranch. more
Goofs:
Revealing mistakes: When Jake is seen riding his horse down the steep hill after Michael, dark gloves can be seen on his hands as he controls the horse. These gloves were not on his hands before he started down the hill, and this may be Wayne's double attempting this stunt. more
Quotes:
John Fain: Who are you?
Jake: Jacob McCandles.
John Fain: I thought you were dead.
Jake: Not hardly.
more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in "Daria: Camp Fear (#5.4)" (2001) more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
21 out of 35 people found the following comment useful.
Big Jake Holds His Own, Thank You, 1 November 2005
8/10
Author: ccthemovieman-1 from Lockport, NY, United States

Mark this down as a very entertaining western with more realistic gunfight scenes than most films, meaning the good guys get shot as well as the villains. John Wayne's "The Searchers," a very similar movie story-wise, gets a lot better press than this film but "Big Jake" is just as good, if not better.

To be fair, while the gunfights in here were well done, the fistfights were an insult. Whenever someone got slugged, such as Wayne belting his kids, it had no effect on them, except just to knock them down for a second or two. In real life, folks, chances are you will knocked unconscious if you are hit in the face, especially by a powerful man like Wayne. This has been a ludicrous fact-of-life, however, in all films for 100 years, not just here.

Other than that, the film is a straight hard-nosed one with Wayne and adversary Richard Boone both fascinating. The dialog between the two was especially fun to hear. Too bad there wasn't more of it. Boone did not have enough lines in this film. Wayne's real-life sons in this film didn't impress me with their acting but they weren't horrible either.

Bruce Cabot was a hoot as an old Indian friend of Wayne's. As with most westerns, there is some nice scenery so if you have the opportunity, watch this on widescreen DVD. It was nice-looking movie.

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Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Big Jake (1971)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
An interesting thought. hightp
Where'd the horse come from? Picasner
Dog shalmayan-1
One of the User Commenters (SPOILER WARNING) wtl471629
music baddlezone
Another thing about the ending... (SPOILER) tdefores
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