Storyline Big Jake 1971
In 1909, there is a raid on the McCandles family ranch by a
gang of ruthless outlaws led by John Fain. They massacre the ranch hands and
kidnap Little Jake, the grandson, leaving a ransom note and heading back for
Mexico, where they have been hiding out. Martha, the head of the family, is
offered the help of both the state militia and the Texas Rangers in hunting the
gang. She replies that this will be "a harsh and unpleasant kind of
business and will require an extremely harsh and unpleasant kind of person to
see it through." In consequence, she sends for her estranged husband, the
aging Jacob "Big Jake" McCandles, a near-legendary gunfighter who
wanders the west with his Rough Collie, simply named Dog.
When Jake arrives by train, he and Martha discuss a plan to
take the ransom to the kidnappers, a million dollars in a big red strongbox,
although Jake warns that, "Pay or not, we run the risk of never seeing the
boy again". Then his son Michael rides up on a motorcycle, bringing word
that he has seen the kidnappers in the Chilicothe Canyon. The Texas Ranger
captain is present and offers the services of his men, equipped with three REO
touring cars. They, however, are ambushed and their cars put out of action.
Jake, preferring the old ways, has followed on horseback, accompanied by an old
Apache associate, Sam Sharpnose. He is now joined by his sons, Michael and
James, with whom his relations are tense because of his desertion of the family
ten years before.
That night, Fain rides into their camp to make arrangements
for the handover, telling Jake that they will “send the boy's body back in a
basket" if anything should go wrong. Both men deny any personal stake in
the business, each claiming to be "just a messenger boy". The family
party crosses into Mexico the next day and checks into a hotel. Knowing that
they have been followed by another gang intent on stealing the strongbox, Jake sets
a trap for them and they are all killed. During the attack, the chest is
blasted open, revealing clipped bundles of newspaper instead of money. Michael
and James become suspicious of Jake and the three slug it out, but Jake assures
them that it was both his and Martha's idea. James fears for Little Jake's
life, but Jake tells them they'll have to go in anyway.
A thunderstorm breaks and Pop Dawson, one of the outlaws,
arrives to give them the details of the exchange. He warns them that a sniper
will have a gun trained on the boy in case of a double-cross. Jake arranges for
Michael to follow after them to take care of the sharp shooter and convinces
Dawson that he had been killed in the fight. At the hideout, Jake is led in
alone to where Fain and four other gang members are waiting, one of them
holding a shotgun on the boy. Jake tosses the key of the chest to Fain, who
opens it up to discover that he has been tricked.
Fain orders his brother Will to kill the boy but he is shot
by Jake. Dog is wounded by the sniper and Jake is wounded in the leg before
Michael kills him. Jake tells the boy to escape but Little Jake is hunted by
the machete wielding John Goodfellow, who has already hacked Sam to death. Dog
comes to the rescue and is himself killed before Big Jake arrives and impales
Goodfellow on a pitchfork. Fain rides up and is preparing to finish off the two
of them when Michael arrives from where he had been waiting in ambush and
blasts him off his horse. Before he dies, Fain asks, "Who are you?"
When Jake answers, "Jacob McCandles," Fain says, "I thought you
was dead," as have other characters during the course of the film. “Not
hardly," Jake replies.
With Little Jake rescued, and the broken family bonded, they
prepare to head home.
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Directors: George Sherman, John Wayne (uncredited)
Writers: Harry Julian Fink (story and screenplay), Rita M.
Fink (story and screenplay)
Stars: John Wayne, Richard Boone, Maureen O'Hara
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