While John Wayne found Western classicThe Wild Bunch"distasteful," that didn’t stop him ripping it off for 1971’sBig Jake. Western iconJohn Wayne won his only Oscar for 1969’sTrue Grit, which is seen as one of his most iconic turns. That same year also saw the arrival of Sam Peckinpah’s shockingThe Wild Bunch.
This saw a gang of aging outlaws pulling one final score in the year 1913, as the Old West was being wiped away.The Wild Bunchis a bleak look at a group of violent men knowing their time is up but going out with a bang. Peckinpah’s use of bloody squibs and slow motion action was also revolutionary.
It influenced future Westerns and filmmakers like John Woo, but the film was incredibly controversial upon release. In a 1971 interview withPlayboy(viaThe Wrap),Wayne was asked his thoughts on gory films likeThe Wild Bunch, and needless to say, the Hollywood vet wasn’t a fanof them.
To me, The Wild Bunch was distasteful. It would have been a good picture without the gore. Pictures go too far when they use that kind of realism when they have shots of blood spurting out and teeth flying, and when they throw liver out to make it look like people’s insides.
Wayne much preferred movies that the whole family could see, even if they dealt with violent themes.Most ofJohn Wayne’s Westernsare fit for family viewing;The Searchersmight beoneof the darkest films he made, but it still features no blood or swearing. That all changed with 1971’sBig Jake, however, which painted the screen blood red.
Big Jake Is Basically “John Wayne Vs The Wild Bunch”
Big Jake also deals with the end of the Old West
While Wayne acknowledged the good qualities ofThe Wild Bunch, the bloodshed truly turned him off.That’s why it’s surprising he agreed toBig Jake, which opens with outlaws massacring a farm, including killing a child, complete withWild Bunch-style squibs. The violence doesn’t let up either, and not evenBig Jake’sdog is safe.
The gang Jake and his family are up against aren’t far off the aging outlaws of Peckinpah’s film either, so maybe the tagline should have been “It’s John Wayne vs The Wild Bunch!” That said,at least the gang in that 1969 Western had a code, whileBig Jake’sFain gang - led by Richard Boone’s John - are just violent thugs.
Being set in 1909, the encroachment of civilians is around the edges of the story, too. This includes cars, motorbikes and automatic pistols entering the frame, though Wayne’s “Big” Jake naturally eschews technology. Needless to say, Jake and his sons kill the gang and save the day, while the Fain gang is wiped out.
Big Jake Is John Wayne’s Most Bloody Western
Wayne tried to balance the scales with more humor
John Wayne with a bloody bullet hole on his arm and Wayne pointing a rifle as Big Jake.
Wayne came from an old-school way of making movies, so the arrival of spicier themes or gore was very much not his taste. Even his later Westerns likeRio Loboor his final WesternThe Shootistwere lacking in overt bloodshed, which really makesthe harshness ofBig Jake’sviolencestand out among his filmography.
The opening massacre is still shocking, especiallybecauseit’s a John Wayne movie. Innocent, unarmed people are shot down, and while it lacks Peckinpah’s slo-mo flair, it remains a startling opener. The finale also features a machete being put to gory use on several occasions, and it genuinely feels like Jake’s grandson (played by Wayne’s son Ethan) could be killed.
While George Sherman is credited asBig Jake’sdirector, John Wayne took over the filming of certain scenes when Sherman fell ill; he refused to take credit for his work, however.
Big Jakedefinitely borrows stylistically fromThe Wild Bunch, including the use of blood. Still, Wayne was a little uncomfortable with the intensity of the violence and insisted the film was balanced out with humor. This was a borderline disastrous move, asthe goofiness of certain comedy scenes jars badly withBig Jake’sdarker tone.
Big Jake Is One Of Wayne’s Best Final Westerns
It was a Wayne family affair on Big Jake’s set
Wayne’s 1970s output is a mixed bag, from the lows ofTrue GritsequelRooster Cogburnto the highs ofThe Cowboys. Of the star’s final batch of Westerns,Big Jakemight be the most purely enjoyable.The movie has a solid screenplay with great one-liners, including a fantastic introduction for Wayne’s Big Jakehimself.
Big Jakealso marked Wayne’s final time acting with his Quiet Man co-star Maureen O’Hara.
It’s easy to tell that Wayne is having a good time too, since a lot of his children are working on it with him.Ethan plays Jake’s grandson, Patrick Wayne plays his estranged son, James, while John Wayne’s eldest Michael produced the movietoo.Big Jakealso marked Wayne’s final time acting with Maureen O’Hara (The Quiet Man).
For those looking for an introduction to Wayne’s Westerns,Big Jakeis a good place to start. It’s a tad more modern than his earlier movies, it moves fast and it gives Wayne a role that plays to his strengths. Bloody as it can be, it’s reasonably tame compared to the more modern-day likes ofAmerican Primeval.
Big Jake
Cast
A ruthless gang kidnaps the grandson of Jacob McCandles, leading the estranged patriarch to reunite with his family to deliver the ransom. Accompanied by his sons, Jacob tracks down the outlaws, confronting both violent criminals and his own strained family relationships along the way.
The Wild Bunch
The Wild Bunch is a Western drama film by director Sam Peckinpah, released in 1969. A group of aging outlaws decides to take on one last heist before retiring from their lives of crime. However, Pike Bishop, the head of the gang, discovers that they’ve been betrayed by a former partner, forcing them into a final standoff.
