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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. Ed Hulse

All Movie Guide

When his grandson (played by real-life son Ethan Wayne) is kidnapped by scurrilous baddie Richard Boone, Big Jake (John Wayne) sets out to deliver the $1 million ransom. On the off-chance that there'll be gunplay, Jake brings along his sons Patrick Wayne and Chris Mitchum. Maureen O'Hara plays Jake's estranged wife and Bruce Cabot provides comedy relief as a scraggly Indian Scout. Hal Erickson

Product Details

• UPC: 097363711544
• Source: PARAMOUNT
• Region Code: 1
• Presentation: Wide Screen
• Sound: Dolby Digital Mono, Dolby Digital Surround, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
• Language: English, Français
• Subtitles: English
• Time: 1:49:00
• Sales Rank: 8,531

This DVD is also available as part of a box set:

• Best of John Wayne Collection 2
• The John Wayne Century Collection
• The John Wayne Western Collection

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