Big Jake (1971)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

George Sherman

Writers:

Harry Julian Fink (writer)
Rita M. Fink (writer)

Release Date:

26 May 1971 (USA)

Genre:

Western | Action

Tagline:

They wanted gold. They gave them lead instead!

Plot:

The McCandles ranch is run over by a gang of cutthroats led by the evil John Fain. They kidnap little...

Plot Keywords:

Ransom | Presumed Dead | Motorcycle | Locomotive | Mexican

Cast

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)

Also Known As:

The Million Dollar Kidnapping (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for western violence. (re-rating)

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

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:

Durango, Mexico

Company:

Batjac Productions

Trivia:

70mm blow-up version released in Spain under the title "El Gran Jack".

Goofs:

Continuity: As Jake is riding his horse beside the Rangers in the automobiles, he rides the horse into a creek. As he goes in, his coat is unbuttoned all the way, but as the scene cuts from James and back to Jake, his coat is suddenly buttoned up to his chest.

Quotes:

Jake: [Big Jake and Sam Sharpnose try to get a hotel room] Give us a room.
Hotel desk clerk: The dog is all right, but, ah, we do not allow Indians.
Jake: Do you allow Eskimos?
Hotel desk clerk: Yes.
Jake: Well, he's an *Eskimo*.
[he and Sam head up the stairs]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Golden Saddles, Silver Spurs (2000) (TV)

Big Jake and Dirty Harry: Same Writers!

Some comments here have mentioned how much the Western "Big Jake" reminds them of "Dirty Harry." Actually, both films were written by the same screenwriters -- Harry and Rita Fink -- though additional writers were brought in on "Dirty Harry." Both films were developed and shot around the same time. "Big Jake" came out in summer 1971, and "Dirty Harry" came out at Christmas 1971. John Wayne said he was offered "Dirty Harry" before Eastwood took it (but Dirty Harry was also supposedly offered to Paul Newman, Frank Sinatra, Bill Cosby and Walter Matthau before Eastwood, too!)

The twice-repeated "do you feel lucky?" speech in "Dirty Harry" and the twice-repeated "your fault, my fault, nobody's fault" speech in "Big Jake" prove to me that the same writers worked on both scripts.

Also, Richard Boone must be singled out. This powerful, amusing actor always made a great villain. Wayne had tried to get him as the villain for several films before "Big Jake" (he'd done a cameo in "The Alamo"). Boone finally said "yes" to "Big Jake" and the verbal showdowns between Big John and Big Boone in "Big Jake" are a wonder to behold.

BTW, Boone turned down a lot of movie parts during the 70's (like the Robert Shaw part in "The Sting") but came to help out his old friend Wayne twice in that decade: "Big Jake" and "The Shootist" (1976.)