by Flack » Tue Jul 28, 2020 8:03 am
There's something to be said about a movie that lays its plot out in the first five minutes. Before I had settled into my seat, a group of ruthless outlaws had kidnapped Little Jake, taken him to Mexico, and asked for a million dollars for his safe return. By the time I had opened my beer, estranged patriarch Big Jake (John Wayne), along with his two sons, Sam Sharpnose the Indian, and a dog named Dog had set out to bring Little Jake home alive.
My parents loved John Wayne movies, but boy were things changing quickly. Other movies released in 1971, the same year as Big Jake, included THX-1138, The Andromeda Strain, Vanishing Point, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, A Clockwork Orange, and
Dirty Harry. This was three years after 2001: A Space Odyssey was released, and you would think old school westerns would have seemed dated by then. Maybe they did.
John Wayne, as a man, has not aged well. His racist and homophobic views were exposed in a Playboy interview that frankly lost him a few fans and gained him some others. As recently as last month there were calls to rename John Wayne Airport. The argument whether an artist can be separated from his work continues. Is John Wayne an American icon, a racist jerk, or both?
Likewise, Wayne's character, John "Big Jake" McCandles, is equally flawed. He's abandoned his wife and family, and has three adult sons who would just as soon punch him than shake his hand, but at the end of the day, it is Jake's plan, and leadership, that leads his rag tag crew to where they've taken his grandson, and it's the Duke himself who rides into the camp alone to make the swap.
I've only watched a couple of John Wayne films, but they all harken back to a simpler time. The conflicts are set up early, the journey is simple, and the good guy wins in the end. If only life were so simple.
PS: In 1969, John Wayne won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in Big Jake.
There's something to be said about a movie that lays its plot out in the first five minutes. Before I had settled into my seat, a group of ruthless outlaws had kidnapped Little Jake, taken him to Mexico, and asked for a million dollars for his safe return. By the time I had opened my beer, estranged patriarch Big Jake (John Wayne), along with his two sons, Sam Sharpnose the Indian, and a dog named Dog had set out to bring Little Jake home alive.
My parents loved John Wayne movies, but boy were things changing quickly. Other movies released in 1971, the same year as Big Jake, included THX-1138, The Andromeda Strain, Vanishing Point, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, A Clockwork Orange, and
Dirty Harry. This was three years after 2001: A Space Odyssey was released, and you would think old school westerns would have seemed dated by then. Maybe they did.
John Wayne, as a man, has not aged well. His racist and homophobic views were exposed in a Playboy interview that frankly lost him a few fans and gained him some others. As recently as last month there were calls to rename John Wayne Airport. The argument whether an artist can be separated from his work continues. Is John Wayne an American icon, a racist jerk, or both?
Likewise, Wayne's character, John "Big Jake" McCandles, is equally flawed. He's abandoned his wife and family, and has three adult sons who would just as soon punch him than shake his hand, but at the end of the day, it is Jake's plan, and leadership, that leads his rag tag crew to where they've taken his grandson, and it's the Duke himself who rides into the camp alone to make the swap.
I've only watched a couple of John Wayne films, but they all harken back to a simpler time. The conflicts are set up early, the journey is simple, and the good guy wins in the end. If only life were so simple.
PS: In 1969, John Wayne won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in Big Jake.