There has been no tougher or more formidable Western heavy than Richard Boone
He has occasionally depicted hard-bitten nobility, as his portrayal of General Sam Houston in "The Alamo" or the ageing cavalry officer in "A Thunder of Drums"but more often his grim, craggy features have led him to villainy
He was Randolph Scott's intelligent, embittered adversary, smooth as a rattlesnake and twice as treacherous, in the Tall T; he wrapped non-conforming farmers in barbed wire in Man Without a Star; as mean, sadistic Major Salinas, he persecuted Rory Calhoun in Way of a Gaucho; and he gave Paul Newman a rough ride in Hombre. In "Big Jake," he wasas alwaysa powerful presence and one of the screen's most efficient scene-stealer
George Sherman's "Big Jake" was the Duke fifth and final film played opposite the lovely redheaded Maureen O'Hara who plays, here, his wife Martha McCandles
The movie opens in 1909 where nine men crossing the Rio Bravo into Texas
Their leadera sadistic gunrunnerJohn Fain (Richard Boone) is ready for his bloody McCandles' raid where ten people were slaughtered and Big Jakes's grandson, the 8-year-old Little Jacob (Ethan Wayne) is kidnapped, and a ransom note is left demanding one million dollars in $20 Bills for Jacob's safe return
Marthaquite sure that this job requires an extremely harsh and special kind of man to attend it called back her husband, absent for many years, to pay the ransom, and take back home the little boy alive
Jacob McCandles (Wayne)who has never seen his grandsonresponds to his wife's call and organizes a hunting party to track down the dangerous and violent men
With his two sons, his faithful Indian scout (Bruce Cabot), his loyal dog, and with a large red strongbox packed to the back of a good mule, McCandles initiates his very daring hunt
There are some hard feelings among Wayne's resentful boys, and as the film progresses, Wayne's blue eyes were gentle and revealing a wonderful caring father but also his eyes turn to blue steel as he took that decision to get alive his grandson
The heart of the film is Wayne interacting with his wife and what he has in store for his sons next...
Patrick Wayne plays Wayne's older son who is short on ears and long on mouth
Christopher Mitchum rides a 'crazy bicycle,' carries a Bergman 1911, and a rifle with one fancy new telescope...
With great action scenes, great photography and with a terrific Elmer Bernstein musical score, "Big Jake" is one of Wayne best Westerns
