John Wayne made arguably his bloodiest Western in 1971, and the film is even more interesting when a certain making of detail is taken into account. John Wayne fronted 80 Westerns during his career and was still cranking them out at a steady pace during the 1970s. Despite the genre being in decline, most of the actor’s output from this era like The Cowboys or Wayne’s only sequel Rooster Cogburn turned a profit. Unfortunately, most of his final films like Howard Hawk’s Rio Lobo are underwhelming, and the star was starting to show his age.
Even so, his actual last performance in 1976’s The Shootist was one of his best. Despite racking up an impressive bodycount across his 50-year career, John Wayne’s films were rarely bloody. They were produced during a period when movies were intended for the whole family to enjoy, so if Wayne’s character shot anybody, they would typically clutch a bloodless wound and fall over dead. Moving into the 1960s and 1970s, the restrictions on screen violence eased off, paving the way for movies like Bonnie and Clyde and The Wild Bunch.
John Wayne Co-Directed His Goriest Western Big Jake
“The Duke” refused to take co-directing credit on this 1971 adventure
Director George Sherman was in ill health during the filming of Big Jake , so John Wayne took over many of the action or exterior scenes as director.
Wayne wasn’t a fan of screen violence, but even he followed the trend with 1971’s Big Jake. This cast him in the titular role, a famed gunfighter who returns to his estranged family when his grandson is kidnapped. The gang who took the boy demands $1 million in ransom, so “Big” Jacob forms an uneasy trace with his adult sons to get him back. Big Jake is Wayne’s most violent film, right from the opening ranch massacre through to the finale. This features numerous men being gunned down, with Wild Bunch-style blood squibs completing the effect.
Big Jake was helmed by George Sherman, an industry vet who had worked with Wayne many times previously. According to an interview with John Goodfellow actor Gregg Palmer at Pop Culture Classics, Sherman was in ill health during the filming of Big Jake, so John Wayne took over many of the action or exterior scenes as director. According to Palmer, Wayne then refused to take co-directing credit on the film when it was finished.
Wayne only directed a handful of films during his career, including The Alamo. Given his star power, he almost certainly had a lot of creative say on the majority of his sets. Still, the Big Jake situation is unique, and while it sounds like he probably could have pushed for a directing credit, he allowed Sherman to take sole billing. The Western also proved to be Sherman’s last, as he moved into TV for the rest of his career.
Despite Big Jake, John Wayne Hated Violent Films
Big Jake’s violence had to be balanced out by gags
The bloodshed in Big Jake would be considered tame now, but it’s positively startling for a vintage Wayne Western. However, the star made it clear in his now-infamous 1971 Playboy interview (via The Wrap) he was no fan of the “vulgar” state of the movie industry at that time. He derided films like Easy Rider and Midnight Cowboy and found the graphic bloodshed on display in movies like The Wild Bunch particularly distasteful.
Pictures go too far when they use that kind of realism, when they have shots of blood spurting out and teeth flying, and when they throw liver out to make it look like people’s insides. The Wild Bunch was one of the first to go that far in realism, and the curious went to see it.
Again, Wayne worked up quite an impressive kill count across his career, but they mostly lacked gore and were almost always depicted as the morally correct thing for his character to do. John Wayne wasn’t thrilled with increased violence in Big Jake either, and insisted it was balanced out with humor, regardless of how well it fit. This was a mistake in hindsight, since the comedy often jars with the movie’s darker tone.
Big Jake Marked John Wayne’s Final Time Working With Maureen O’Hara
Big Jake was also a total Wayne family affair
Big Jake is also notable for being the final movie where John Wayne co-stars with Maureen O’Hara. The two were close friends in real life and Wayne and O’Hara worked together on five movies, including The Quiet Man. O’Hara claims to have only signed on for Big Jake to work with Wayne again. Not only was it their last screen collaboration, but O’Hara essentially retired from acting after the film.
She briefly retired to performing 20 years later for movies like John Candy’s Only the Lonely, however. Big Jake was also a Wayne family production, with his sons Patrick Wayne and Ethan playing his son and grandson respectively. Big Jake would be the last of 10 projects John Wayne worked on with Patrick too, though it was the only time they actually played father and son.