Big Jake

Director: George Sherman, John Wayne

Overview

"John Wayne is the star of Big Jake, so we don't have to tell you who plays the title role. When his grandson (played by real-life son Ethan Wayne) is kidnapped by scurrilous baddie Richard Boone, Big Jake sets out to deliver the $1 million ransom. On the

Product Details

Release Date:	04/29/2003
UPC:	0097363711544
Original Release:	1971
Rating:	PG-13
Source:	Paramount
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Mono, Dolby Digital Surround, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	1:49:00
Sales rank:	11,060

Special Features

Closed Caption;Widescreen version enhanced for 16:9 tvs ; English subtitles ; Dolby Digital ; English 5.1 Surround ; English Stereo Surround ; French Mono

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

John Wayne	Jacob McCandles,James McCandles,Little Jake
Richard Boone	John Fain
Maureen O'Hara	Martha McCandles
Christopher Mitchum	Michael McCandles,Actor
Bobby Vinton	Jeff McCandles
Bruce Cabot	Sam Sharpnose
Glenn Corbett	O'Brien
Harry Carey Jr.	Pop Dawson
John Doucette	Buck Dugan
John Agar	Bert Ryan
Gregg Palmer	John Goodfellow
Robert Warner	Will Fain
Jim Burke	Trooper
Dean Smith	Kid Duffy
Virginia Capers	Delilah
William Walker	Moses Brown
Jerry Gatlin	Stubby
Tom Hennessy	Saloon Brawler
Don Epperson	Saloon Bully
Everett Creach	Walt Devries
Jeff Wingfield	Billy Devries
Hank Worden	Hank
Roy Jenson	Gunman at bathhouse in Escondero
John McLiam	Army Officer
Bernard Fox	Scottish Shepherd
Jim Burk	Trooper (Fain gang member)
Chuck Roberson	Texas Ranger
George Fenneman	Narrator
'Chico' Hernandez	Boy on Town
Jerry Summers	Escondero Hotel Desk Clerk
Harry Carey	Actor
Chuck Robertson	Actor
Jimmy Davis	Head of Lynching Party
Elmer Bernstein	Composer

Technical Credits

Rita M. Fink

Rita M. Fink	Screenwriter,Screenwriter
Michael Wayne	Producer
Howard Jensen	Special Effects
Albert Whitlock	Special Effects
Robert Warner	Stunts
John Ferguson	Sound/Sound Designer

Scene Index

Side #1 --
1. Abduction
2. Message for McCandles
3. The Plan
4. Ambushed
5. Our Own Reinforcements
6. On the Trail
7. Next Rendezvous
8. Mexican Village
9. "Smoke'em Out"
10. Ready to Go
11. Exchange

Menu

Side #1 --
Play
Set Up
Audio Options
English 5.1 Surround
English Dolby Stereo Surround
French
Subtitle Options
English
None
Scene Selection

Editorial Reviews

This suspenseful, action-packed 1971 western was a real nostalgia trip for John Wayne. Not only was it directed by George Sherman -- the man behind the camera on several of the Duke's B-western quickies back in the '30s -- but it also teamed him (for the last time) with perennial leading lady Maureen O'Hara. The Wayne of Big Jake is the iconic figure familiar to most baby-boom moviegoers: gravelly voiced, craggy, larger than life, taciturn, and yet oddly avuncular. He plays one of his typically rugged individualists, a long-gone husband who returns to abandoned wife O'Hara when their eight-year-old grandson (played by John Ethan Wayne, in real life the Duke's youngest son) is abducted. Big Jake hits the vengeance trail, hell-bent for leather and in hot pursuit of the kidnappers led by Richard Boone. There's plenty of hard riding and gunslinging before the score is settled, with nary a dull moment. Sherman's direction is facile, his job undoubtedly made easier by a well-developed script with surprisingly tart dialogue. Wayne is pretty much the same as he was in most of his '60s and '70s films, revealing his tender side in scenes with O'Hara but reverting to his hard-boiled persona in the clashes with Boone, who delivers one of his best big-screen performances. Not exactly a formula western, Big Jake nonetheless hews closely to the basic pattern of Wayne's latter-day horse operas. Slick and fast moving, it shows the legendary star still shining brightly in his twilight years.