John Wayne’s Most Violent Movie Is Also His Most Underrated

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John Wayne appeared in many Western films throughout his career. As he got older, he carefully selected roles that aligned with his own values. He even disagreed with fellow Western actor Clint Eastwood, believing Eastwood’s films were too violent and strayed from the classic Western style.

It’s notable that even later in his career, when Clint Eastwood was becoming famous for his roles in Westerns like the ‘Man with No Name’ films, John Wayne continued to appear in action-packed movies. He even won an Oscar for True Grit, a film about a determined young woman who enlists a U.S. Marshal for help with revenge. In 1971, Wayne also starred in Big Jake, a particularly gritty and often overlooked Western that was one of his most violent films.

Big Jake Presents John Wayne At His Most Violent

George Sherman, a director known for many Westerns, finished his career with Big Jake. The film stars John Wayne as Jacob “Big Jake” McCandles, a former gunfighter who distanced himself from his family years ago. When his grandson is kidnapped, Jake is compelled to return and help rescue him.

When Big Jake came out, it surprised a lot of people who watched it and read reviews. It wasn’t the typical John Wayne movie where he played a classic, heroic cowboy rescuing someone. Instead, it showed Wayne as a much more aggressive and violent character, with a level of brutality that was unusual for his films.

It’s surprising to learn this, considering John Wayne once criticized Clint Eastwood for the violence in his films – he even wrote Eastwood a letter after seeing High Plains Drifter. Yet, Wayne’s own movie, Big Jake, actually featured a lot of violence, starting with a large-scale shootout and even using special effects like blood squibs, which were unusual for his films.

John Wayne also played a role in directing the film. He co-directed Big Jake with Henry Sherman, who wasn’t feeling well during production. It was a bit surprising to see such a violent movie, considering Wayne’s involvement behind the scenes.

Big Jake Is The Antithesis Of Classical John Wayne Films

Playing Big Jake marked a departure for John Wayne. Unlike his usual characters, Jake walked away from his family and chose a life of violence instead of facing his responsibilities. This was unusual for Wayne, who typically only appeared in films that showcased positive American values, and he had previously rejected roles with less serious moral failings.

In a 1971 Playboy interview, John Wayne criticized the increasing violence in movies, specifically calling out films like Easy Rider and The Wild Bunch. He believed that excessive blood and gore made these fictional stories feel too real, and he thought it was going too far. In his own film, Big Jake, Wayne attempted to include comedic moments to offset the more violent scenes.

Big Jake Shares A Similarity With The Searchers Concerning Family

The film contains a moment reminiscent of John Wayne’s classic Western, The Searchers. In that movie, Wayne attempts to rescue his niece after she’s kidnapped by a Native American tribe. However, when he discovers she’s happily living with the tribe and has become part of their culture, he decides to kill her, believing he’s “saving her.”

He acts like a classic John Wayne hero, but when he takes the woman and her chosen family home, a powerful scene shows him shut out from his own family as the door closes. This echoes the strained relationship he has with his children in the movie Big Jake.

Jake walked out on his family when his children were small, leaving his wife to raise them alone. Years later, when he tries to reconnect with his grandson, his grown children reject him. They remember how he abandoned them and don’t want anything to do with someone they see as selfish and aggressive. They completely shut him out of their lives.

What sets Big Jake apart is that Jake ultimately reconnects with his family, leaving the possibility open for him to rebuild those relationships, even after years of estrangement. Like The Searchers, though, it’s debatable whether he truly earns that reconciliation. Interestingly, John Wayne’s sons, Patrick and Ethan, played the roles of his character’s son and grandson in the film.

Big Jake Offers Up John Wayne’s Final Collaboration With Maureen O’Hara

John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara appeared in five Westerns together. O’Hara claimed this was because she was the only actress considered strong and assertive enough to play opposite Wayne as a love interest. Their final film together was Big Jake, after which O’Hara decided to retire from acting.

While they made many great films, The Quiet Man is widely considered their best – a moving drama set in the American West, rather than a typical Western. However, their dynamic in Big Jake stood out from their other work. This was likely due to their personal life; the film portrays a couple where the husband abandons his wife and children, leaving her to raise them on her own.

The dynamic between Jake and Martha includes a bit of conflict, which allowed John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara to shine with their effortless on-screen connection. While Big Jake was Wayne’s most action-packed Western, O’Hara’s presence kept it familiar and enjoyable for his fans.

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2025-11-08 17:09