Summary
John Waynemade arguably his bloodiestWesternin 1971, and the film is even more interesting when a certain making of detail is taken into account.John Wayne fronted 80 Westerns during his careerand was still cranking them out at a steady pace during the 1970s. Despite the genre being in decline, most of the actor’s output from this era likeThe CowboysorWayne’s only sequelRooster Cogburnturned a profit. Unfortunately, most of his final films like Howard Hawk’sRio Loboare underwhelming, and the star was starting to show his age.
Even so, his actual last performance in 1976’sThe Shootistwas one of his best. Despite racking up an impressive bodycount across his 50-year career,John Wayne’s films were rarely bloody. They were produced during a period when movies were intended for the whole family to enjoy, so if Wayne’s character shot anybody, they would typically clutch a bloodless wound and fall over dead. Moving into the 1960s and 1970s, the restrictions on screen violence eased off, paving the way for movies likeBonnie and ClydeandThe Wild Bunch.
John Wayne’s Rio Bravo Trilogy, Ranked
John Wayne Western Rio Bravo kicked off an unofficial trilogy of movies including El Dorado and Rio Lobo; here are the three ranked worst to best.
John Wayne Co-Directed His Goriest Western Big Jake
“The Duke” refused to take co-directing credit on this 1971 adventure
Director George Sherman was in ill health during the filming ofBig Jake, so John Wayne took over many of the action or exterior scenes as director.
Wayne wasn’t a fan of screen violence, but even he followed the trend with 1971’sBig Jake. This cast him in the titular role, a famed gunfighter who returns to his estranged family when his grandson is kidnapped. The gang who took the boy demands $1 million in ransom, so “Big” Jacob forms an uneasy trace with his adult sons to get him back.Big Jakeis Wayne’s most violent film, right from the opening ranch massacrethrough to the finale. This features numerous men being gunned down, withWild Bunch-style blood squibs completing the effect.
Big Jakewas helmed by George Sherman, an industry vet who had worked with Wayne many times previously. According to an interview with John Goodfellow actor Gregg Palmer atPop Culture Classics, Sherman was in ill health during the filming ofBig Jake, so John Wayne took over many of the action or exterior scenes as director. According to Palmer,Wayne then refused to take co-directing credit on the film when it was finished.
Wayne only directed a handful of films during his career, includingThe Alamo. Given his star power, he almost certainly had a lot of creative say on the majority of his sets. Still, theBig Jakesituation is unique, and while it sounds like he probably could have pushed for a directing credit, he allowed Sherman to take sole billing. The Western also proved to be Sherman’s last, as he moved into TV for the rest of his career.
Despite Big Jake, John Wayne Hated Violent Films
The bloodshed inBig Jakewould be considered tame now, but it’s positively startling for a vintage Wayne Western. However, the star made it clear in his now-infamous 1971Playboyinterview (viaThe Wrap) he was no fan of the “vulgar” state of the movie industry at that time. He derided films likeEasy RiderandMidnight Cowboyand found the graphic bloodshed on display in movies likeThe Wild Bunchparticularly distasteful.
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. The Wild Bunch was one of the first to go that far in realism, and the curious went to see it.
Again, Wayne worked up quite an impressive kill count across his career, but they mostly lacked gore and were almost always depicted as the morally correct thing for his character to do.John Wayne wasn’t thrilled with increased violence inBig Jakeeither, and insisted it was balanced out with humor, regardless of how well it fit. This was a mistake in hindsight, since the comedy often jars with the movie’s darker tone.
Jacob McCandles
James McCandles
Big Jakeis also notable for being the final movie where John Wayne co-stars with Maureen O’Hara. The two were close friends in real life andWayne and O’Hara worked together on five movies, includingThe Quiet Man. O’Hara claims to have only signed on forBig Jaketo work with Wayne again. Not only was it their last screen collaboration, butO’Hara essentially retired from acting after the film.
She briefly retired to performing 20 years later for movies like John Candy’sOnly the Lonely, however.Big Jakewas also a Wayne family production, with his sons Patrick Wayne and Ethan playing his son and grandson respectively.Big Jakewould be the last of 10 projects John Wayne worked on with Patrick too, though it was the only time they actually played father and son.
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.
