Il grande Jake

A very entertaining John Wayne western. Richard Boone makes a great villian. It's action packed much more in the style of a Clint Eastwood Dirty Harry picture than a vintage John Wayne. Most highly recommended of Wayne's movies in the post-True Grit period.

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.)

From the outset 'Big Jake' will always be a firm favourite of mine, it's the first John Wayne movie I can recall watching, and this is the movie that has made him my all-time favourite movie star and actor.

The movie follows Dukes pursuit of seven kidnappers whom killed a large number of people at his former ranch (now run by his estranged wife) and kidnapped his grandson.

Up until this point in John Wayne's career he had by in large refrained from using excessive violence in his movies. However it could be argued and with some basis that movies such as 'True Grit', 'The Green Berets' and 'The Alamo' to name but three were physically violent in their own right. Regardless of this however 'Big Jake' was to be a dramatic departure for John Wayne due to the fact that on numerous occasions it give an honest depiction of physical violence. The opening shootout at the Candles ranch is a prime example of this, the sequence is extremely well executed by the director and stunt co-coordinators and there are many examples gunshot wounds which add to the realism of the movie.

The screenplay is rather slick with ample action included to satisfy audience expectations. The movie does contain many memorable scenes such as the opening and closing shootouts, Dukes casual killing of a would be assassin and some touching and at times volatile scenes involving Jake and his ex wife played eloquently by the great Maureen O'Hara.

An interesting segment at the start involves a voice-over retelling the transformation of the west from the early 1800's to its relatively civilised state in 1909 (when the film is set). The voice-over also introduces the audience to nine bandits whom act as the heavies in the movie, its fascinating to hear a brief introduction of each bandit and what skill they bring to the group e.g. Fain is the leader, O'Brien the gunfighter and John Goodfellow is proficient with a machete etc etc.

Duke in this movie is accompanied is his pursuit if the kidnappers by a trusted dog (who is very violent) an Indian friend played very well by Bruce Cabot, and his two on screen sons James (Patrick Wayne who is Dukes own son) and Michael (Chris Mitchum). The main protagonist in the movie is John Fain played superbly by Richard Boone and some of the scenes between him and John Wayne are very memorable containing both tension and style. John Wayne's youngest son John Ethan Wayne makes his debut in this movie playing the kidnapped grandson of Jake and acquits himself very impressively to the field of acting.

Despite my fondness for this movie it is not however without its weaknesses, for one the acting by both Patrick Wayne and Chris Mitchum is horrendous and neither one manages to endear the audience to their respective characters. Some sloppy direction also resulted in the disappearance of one of the Fain gang early in the movie, despite being given an introduction at the start of the movie; young Billy simply disappears without any explanation right at the beginning of the raid on the McCandles ranch. Several campfire scenes that are set at night appear much too bright; the director should have masked the lens on the camera more in order to ensure the scenes effectiveness. Finally several stunts involving Mitchum and a motorcycle come across as tired, overblown and generally dull although the director rightly erased the motorcycle from the movie quite early on much to the relief of the audience.

Critics were less than impressed with the movie stating that it was 'overly violent', these were the same critics who praised the Wild Bunch months earlier for being innovative and honest in its depiction of violence. Despite what he critics stated and some of the minor criticisms I have pointed out about this movie it remains a firm favourite and was a big box office hit when first released.

Though Big Jake doesn't go down with the greatest of John Wayne's films I put it in the class of The Comancheros which I also found entertaining. This film is the right mixture of chemistry and action. No doubt helped by the fact that John Wayne was surrounded with family literally.

John Wayne is the estranged patriarch of a family who owns a big cattle spread just as he did in McLintock. A gang of kidnappers came on the place while most everyone was on roundup and killed several people and kidnapped Wayne's grandson. Grandmother Maureen O'Hara sends for her estranged husband to deal with the kidnappers as he sees fit. Being this is a John Wayne movie, you already know how that is.

Son Michael Wayne is the producer and sons Patrick and Ethan play Wayne's son and grandson. This is a bit of a change for Patrick Wayne. From back in the days of The Searchers, Pat Wayne always played callow youths in his father's and in other films. Here he's a grown man and quite bitter at his father. The conflict between them crackles on the screen. Christopher Mitchum, the son of another Hollywood icon, plays another Wayne offspring as does Bobby Vinton.

The action flows pretty good here and the tension does not let up for a moment. There are some good comic moments, but they are well integrated into the plot of the story.

Of the Duke's films post his Oscar from True Grit, Big Jake is one of his best and a personal favorite of mine.

This was a John Wayne film I greatly enjoy and was surprised at the wonderful old automobiles from the 1900's driving up and down every trail and even motorcycles. John Wayne played the role as Jacob McCandles who was looked up to as a man you did not mess with and respected. Maureen O'Hare, (Martha McCandles) seeks the help of her husband after years of being separated when their grandchild is kidnapped for a ransom for One Million Dollars. The gang of crooks is headed by Richard Boone, (John Fain) who will kill women and children in cold blood and think nothing of it. Patrick Waynes son has a role in this film along with the Polish Prince of Music and Song, Bobby Vinton. Maureen O'Hara had a very brief appearance only in the beginning and end of this film and this was also the last film that Wayne and O'Hara appeared together. Very entertaining film, you will not want to miss this great film Classic from 1971.