Synopsis
They wanted gold. They gave them lead instead!
An aging Texas cattle man who has outlived his time swings into action when outlaws kidnap his grandson.
1971 Directed by George Sherman
An aging Texas cattle man who has outlived his time swings into action when outlaws kidnap his grandson.
John Wayne Richard Boone Maureen O'Hara Patrick Wayne Christopher Mitchum Bobby Vinton Bruce Cabot Glenn Corbett Harry Carey, Jr. John Doucette Jim Davis John Agar Gregg Palmer Jim Burk Robert Warner Dean Smith Ethan Wayne Virginia Capers Jerry Gatlin Don Epperson Everett Creach Jeff Wingfield Hank Worden Bill Walker Chuck Roberson José Ángel Espinosa 'Ferrusquilla' George Fenneman Bernard Fox Pedro Galván Show All…
Il grande Jake, Büyük Jake, El gran Jack, Wielki Jake, ג'ייק הגדול, Velký Jake, Μονομαχία στη Δύση, Jake Grandão, Большой Джейк, Големия Джейк, 100万ドルの血斗, Gigante entre los hombres, 大侠客, جک بزرگ, Jake visszalő, 빅 제이크, เจคใหญ่, Marele Jake, Le grand Jacob
A lot of the usual yee haw masculinity moments that every average John Wayne picture gets into but it’s a fun time! Wayne plays Jake and he’s going out on a quest to rescue his grandson who has been kidnapped for ransom money. It starts off as a traditional 50’s western and then delves into the 70’s revisionist western violence. It’s also interesting that this film is set in 1902 when society and the Wild West were actually merging. Seeing motor vehicles in the same space as stagecoaches is an interesting thing to set this movie to. It’s right at the point where this lifestyle is about to die out, but Jake will live this way until he dies. Besides…
John Wayne spielt in "Big Jake" mal wieder eine Variation von sich selbst. Als Big Jake McCandles ist er ein sturer, aber furchtloser harter Hund, der sich vor Jahren zurückgezogen hat. Seine Frau Martha (Maureen O'Hara) hat er seit 18 Jahren nicht mehr gesehen, seine Söhne sind ohne ihn zu Männern herangewachsen und er hat sogar einen achtjährigen Enkel – Little Jake (gespielt von Waynes eigenem Sohn) – den er noch nie gesehen hat. Als eine Bande blutrünstiger Banditen Little Jake entführt und ein saftiges Lösegeld verlangt, ist Martha gezwungen, Big Jake um Hilfe zu bitten.
„Big Jake“ ist ein typischer John Wayne Western, in dem er einmal mehr den klassischen Helden spielt. Im Gegensatz zu vielen seiner anderen Filme…
1971 In Review - May
#1
The avenging head of the McCandle clan returns to his estranged family and leads the search for his kidnapped grandson. Big Jake (John Wayne) sets off, his sons in tow, to deliver the ransom to the kidnappers, but has little intention of handing it over without a fight.
For some reason I have only watched one other John Wayne film before. There is no reason for this, I just never seem to get round to watching old westerns.
John Wayne is good here playing up his age as an old-time gunslinger drawn back into action once more when his own son is kidnapped. The film charts the progression of the Old West with the…
This weirdly starts out with about 10 minutes of historical exposition concerning where America was at in 1909 and how the metropolitan progress and civilized erudition of our bustling cities in the East and North hadn’t yet translated to the wild west. Replete with droning voiceover and old timey photographs in a framed slideshow. They even take a potshot at Taft’s weight, outing him for a 300 pounder.
Reminded me of the old film strips we watched in elementary and middle school back in the 80’s and 90’s. My fellow Lb old timers will know what I’m talking about. Nowadays my younguns can’t even get a snow day off thanks to new fangled highly accurate meteorological forecasting causing them to…
Film # 9-of Duke-Tober-A Month of John Wayne Films
Duke-Tober is going to last well into November this year, can't be helped, all those Wayne films I had lined up were put on the back burner, but hopefully I'll chalk them up over the next few weeks. Hondo was technically number 8 in Duke-Tober, a great revisit to a film I really enjoyed first time around, which couldn't be said of George Sherman's Big Jake, one of the few Wayne films that had left me underwhelmed on my only previous viewing. This time around however, it all worked much better, although I still think that the ending is rather abrupt, and that Maureen O'Hara must have owed someone a favour…
*A FEW SPOILERS*
This late-period John Wayne vehicle is absolutely terrible - even in the context of his early '70s movies like Jism and Cahill U.S. Marshal - a film for casually right-wing middle-aged men whose children need to show them some respect.
Wayne phones it in spectacularly as Big Jake, a man so tough, unsentimental and generally John Wayne-like that he's named his dog "Dog". When the grandson he's never seen is swiped by a gang of baddies who for some reason require a very long and boring introductory voiceover, he sets off in pursuit, accompanied by his idiot offspring, who aren't as cool or clever or as good at punching people in the face as he is. One…
DuBFaL-Western-Weeks - Shot 2 - Film-Nr.16
Und noch ein Western mit John Wayne für die Western-Weeks. Big Jake ist ein Spätwestern aus dem Jahr 1971, in dem neben Maureen O'Hara auch Wayne's Söhne Patrick und Ethan Wayne und Robert Mitchum's Sohn Christopher mitwirkten.
Im Jahr 1909 wird der Enkel von Martha (Maureen O'Hara) und Jakob "Big Jake" McCandles (John Wayne) gekidnappt. Mit seinen Söhnen James (Patrick Wayne) und Michael (Christopher Mitchum), einem Indianer und einem Hund macht sich Big Jake auf die Verfolgung der Entführer.
Der Western hat mir ausgesprochen gut gefallen. Zwar war es anfangs extrem gewöhnungsbedürftig Automobile und sogar ein Motorrad auf der Verfolgungsjagd zu sehen, aber das hat sich dann von selbst gelegt 😜. Die Kappeleien und…
"I'm grateful to you both but I don't think this is a job for the rangers or the army. I think this is going to be a very harsh and unpleasant kind of business and it requires an extremely harsh and unpleasant kind of man to see it through" - Enter The Duke.
It's 1909 and the old west is at the end of it's "old" period. The McCandle's ranch is a prosperous sprawling piece of property near the border. Groups of bandits attacking such places aren't as common as they were in the old west but some remnants remain. One day while the ranch hands are off transporting cattle The Fain Gang attacks, killing most of the remaining help…
I always love the story of an aged gunfighter having to saddle up one more time and with us knowing he is tired and haggard but changing his tool set into a mental game rather than a fast pistol. This was interesting because it worked in modernity into the equation. John Wayne really does have a commanding presence plus you have the ever enjoyable Richard Boone who I really think is an amazing talent right down to his dry smokers laugh. The story is solid and worthy of checking out if you like a more pensive western with an amazing cast. Oh and I believe this was George Sherman's last film as a director. I hate to date this but I do believe it is leaving Amazon prime by the end of June so with that do what you will.
Big Jake is enjoyable enough, but the tone is allover the place.
Richard Boone steals the whole show when he is on screen, which is not enough.
I'm just a sucker for this type of western, where the world has moved on and the protagonist is a relic of the past.
Mondo Cinema out...
First time watch: August 2021
Source: Amazon Prime
Big Jake is the 1971 western directed by George Sherman. Starring John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara, Patrick Wayne and Richard Boone the story sees Jake McCandle return home to lead a search for his missing grandson.
There is little to note in Big Jake, it's a familiar cast working to a familiar screenplay. Some of Dukes later films felt like a family affair with Michael Wayne producing and Patrick Wayne supporting whilst regulars Maureen O'Hara starred and the reliable Elmer Bernstein composed again. None of this helped elevate the quality of the screenplay as much of the runtime meanders along in the hope the big climatic conclusion will be pay off enough. Thankfully…