History Film / BigJake

* IJustShotMarvinInTheFace: Big Jake casually sticks a derringer pistol into the front of his pants, pointing straight down to his groin. It probably wasn't loaded, but he doesn't actually bother to check. There is also a scene in which Michael [=McCandles=]' [[CoolGun fancy new semi-automatic pistol]] fires wildly out of control, causing all of the other members of the ransom party to dive for cover.

* FriendlySniper: Michael, who is a smiling, deferential guy whose a good shot with a telescopic sight.

* SonOfAWhore: Kidnapper Kid Duffy. The first person he killed was one of his mothers clients.

* UncertainDoom: Bert Ryan the [=McCandles=] foreman, the two broncobusters, the old cobbler and the younger cook who are shot during the kidnapping. One of them survived based on a line from Jake that seven [=McCandles=] people are dead and one is crippled (not counting Jeff), after Moses Brown and implicitly the two children are said to have been killed earlier on, but it isn't revealed who the survivor is (presumably either the broncobuster shot in the back climbing the fence or the cook, the only two besides the boy whose wounds weren't shown much after they were shot).
* UnderestimatingBadassery: Like nearly everybody else in the movie (see PhraseCatcher above), the kidnappers assume that Jacob [=McCandles=] is ''dead''. It naturally never crosses their minds that he might be [[{{Determinator}} the one coming after them]]. Had they known he was alive, it's very likely they would have kidnapped ''somebody else's'' grandson. This may be a piece of FridgeBrilliance, actually, since it isn't until the very end that John Fain confirms that he, too, thought [=McCandles=] was dead.

* [[YouSaidYouWouldLetThemGo You Said You Would Let Him Go]]: Actually [[spoiler: [[InvertedTrope inverted]]]] in this case.

* HeroicDog: Dog who is somehow able to figure out what Jacob [=McCandles=] wants him to do just from hearing his name called.

* ApronMatron: Martha [=McCandles=].
** With more than a bit of IronLady as well.

* BadassFamily: The [=McCandles=]s' are tougher than the Texas Rangers apparently.

Set in [[TheEdwardianEra 1909]], rather than the 19th century, like most Westerns, ''Big Jake'' deals tangentially with [[TwilightOfTheOldWest the closing of the American West and the ''end'' of the age of cowboy heroes like those played by John Wayne throughout his career.]] Automobiles, motorcycles, oil wells, and semi-automatic pistols all make appearances, and both Big Jake and his Indian companion Sam (Bruce Cabot) are old and grey, worn out by years of hard living.

A 1971 [[TheWestern Western]] movie starring Creator/JohnWayne, Creator/RichardBoone, Creator/MaureenOHara and Creator/{{Jim Davis|Actor}}. In 1909, a gang of brutal ruffians led by John Fain (Boone) violently kidnaps the grandson of Martha [=McCandles=] (O'Hara), who runs a large and lucrative cattle ranching operation. When the thugs demand a ransom, Mrs. [=McCandles=] decides it is time to call in her long-lost husband, Jacob [=McCandles=] (Wayne)- a rough and unpleasant man, to do a rough and unpleasant job.

Not one of [[Creator/JohnWayne The Duke]]'s most famous Westerns, it is an interesting treat for dedicated fans. it was made relatively late in the careers of most of those involved, Wayne and his colleagues brought their many years of experience in making Westerns to bear on ''Big Jake'', resulting in a competently-made, easygoing, consistently entertaining film. In addition to older, experienced Western actors, the film also featured two of John Wayne's [[RealLifeRelative real-life sons]], as well as the son of Creator/RobertMitchum. [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic The score was pretty good too]].

Set in [[TheEdwardianEra 1909]], rather than the 19th century, like most Westerns, ''Big Jake'' deals tangentially with [[TwilightOfTheOldWest the closing of the American West and the ''end'' of the age of cowboy heroes like those played by John Wayne throughout his career.]] Automobiles, motorcycles, oil wells, and semi-automatic pistols all make appearances, and Jacob [=McCandles=] (as well as his Indian companion, Sam) are both old and grey, worn out by years of hard living.

A 1971 [[TheWestern Western]] movie starring Creator/JohnWayne, Creator/RichardBoone, and Creator/MaureenOHara. In 1909, a gang of brutal ruffians led by John Fain (Boone) violently kidnaps the grandson of Martha [=McCandles=] (O'Hara), who runs a large and lucrative cattle ranching operation. When the thugs demand a ransom, Mrs. [=McCandles=] decides it is time to call in her long-lost husband, Jacob [=McCandles=] (Wayne)- a rough and unpleasant man, to do a rough and unpleasant job.

A 1971 [[TheWestern Western]] movie starring Creator/JohnWayne, Richard Boone, and Creator/MaureenOHara. In 1909, a gang of brutal ruffians led by John Fain (Boone) violently kidnaps the grandson of Martha [=McCandles=] (O'Hara), who runs a large and lucrative cattle ranching operation. When the thugs demand a ransom, Mrs. [=McCandles=] decides it is time to call in her long-lost husband, Jacob [=McCandles=] (Wayne)- a rough and unpleasant man, to do a rough and unpleasant job.

-->--'''From [[TrailersAlwaysSpoil the promotional material]]'''

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/john_wayne_big_jake1_wwwfreevintageposterscom.jpg]]

-->'''--from [[TrailersAlwaysSpoil the promotional material]]'''

* UncertainDoom: Bert Ryan the [=McCandles=] foreman, the two broncobusters, the old cobbler and the younger cook who are shot during the kidnapping. One of them survived based on a line from Jake that seven [=McCandles=] people are dead and one is crippled (not counting Jeff), after Moses Brown and implicitly the two children are said to have been killed earlier on, but it isn't revealed who the survivor is (presumably either the broncobuster shot in the back climbing the face or the cook, the only two besides the boy whose wounds weren't shown much after they were shot).

* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Billy [=DeVries=] oof the Fain gang disappears in the middle of the original kidnapping and his fate is never referenced.

* KickTheDog: Several. In one instance, a member of lynch mob gratuitously kicks a young boy, prompting Big Jake to get involved in the situation, when previously he had been suject to the BystanderSyndrome. There are also several examples involving the gang of kidnappers, the most egregious of which belong to the machete-wielding [[FatBastard overweight]] kidnapper. One of these [[spoiler: involves an actual dog]].

** Jeff [=McCandles=] is shot and falls through a railing during the kidnapping, then gets back up, soots one of the kidnapeprs before being shot again and manages to survive that.

* EvilOldFolks: Pop Dawson, the oldest of the gang and a former member of the James gang is a mean old man who needlessly shoots a young boy running for cover during the kidnapping.

* UncertainDoom: Bert Ryan the [=McCandles=] foreman the two broncobusters, the old cobbler and the younger cook who are shot during the kidnapping. One of them survived based on a line from Jake that seven [=McCandles=] people are dead and one is crippled (not counting Jeff), after Moses Brown and implicitly the two children are said to have been killed earlier on, but it isn't revealed who the survivor is.

* ApronMatron: Martha [=McCandles=]

* BystanderSyndrome: "I haven't interfered in anybody's business since I was eighteen year old... and it damn near got me killed."

* CantBatheWithoutAWeapon: There's a shower scene, and Jake knows someone's after him, so he keeps a shotgun in the shower. When the guy comes in to kill him, Jake has the shotgun in his hands and uses it to shoot through the thin wooden door of the shower stall.

* BatmanGambit: Big Jake needs to convince one of the kidnappers that one of the members of the ransom party has died, even though he is still alive. When the kidnapper demands to see the body, Jake tells him it is sitting in the jailhouse, with all the other dead bodies, knowing that the kidnapper (a career criminal) will be highly averse to going anywhere ''near'' a jailhouse.

* FauxAffablyEvil: The Boone character.
* FriendlySniper: Michael.

* MadeOfIron \ RasputinianDeath: The machete-wielding kidnapper is [[spoiler: attacked by an angry dog (twice!), shot with a pistol (also twice), stabbed in the stomach with a knife, and finally dies after being stabbed in the stomach with a pitchfork]].