Big Jake (1971)

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:

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.

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.

Quotes:

John Fain: Who are you?
Jake: Jacob McCandles.
John Fain: I thought you were dead.
Jake: Not hardly.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Daria: Camp Fear (#5.4)" (2001)

Big Jake Holds His Own, Thank You

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.