John Wayne’s introduction in Stagecoach made him a movie star, but one of his final movies has a scene that rivals it. John Wayne fronted 80 Westerns throughout his career, including the groundbreaking likes of The Searchers or Rio Bravo; even Wayne’s final film The Shootist was a Western. Despite becoming a screen icon, the early years of Wayne’s career were a struggle. His first real lead in The Great Trail stalled Wayne’s career for a decade, where he spent much of his time fronting so-called “Poverty Row” Westerns.
It was director John Ford who saw the star potential in Wayne, with Ford becoming the star’s friend and mentor. The John Ford and John Wayne Western movie run is legendary in itself, and in many ways shaped what the genre would evolve into. Wayne’s breakthrough was playing the Ringo Kid in 1939’s Stagecoach, with his introduction scene – where he halts the titular stagecoach while cocking a rifle one-handed as the camera zooms in on his face – practically made him a movie star by itself.
Big Jake’s Character Introduction Rivals John Wayne’s First Appearance In Stagecoach
Stagecoach’s introduction is given some serious competition by “Big Jake” McCandles
John Wayne’s most violent Western is Big Jake, where his titular gunfighter reunites with his estranged family when his grandson is kidnapped. Wayne had a noted distaste for the overt violence featured in movies like The Wild Bunch, with Big Jake being one of the few films he appeared in with blood squibs. To balance out the carnage, Wayne insisted the 1971 Western needed plenty of comedy, which was viewed by some critics as a distraction from its harder edge.
Still, Big Jake has one of Wayne’s best introductions, where Jake spots a man about to be hung by a lynch mob. Wayne’s protagonist decides it’s not his business to intervene – until he spots the gang being needlessly rough with the man’s young son. Despite being outnumbered, Jake not only manages to save the man’s life by hiring him, but the mere mention of his name causes the lynch mob to shrink back in fear.
What’s notable is that Wayne doesn’t appear until nearly the 20-minute mark, with Big Jake building up to his inevitable appearance. In addition to being a great intro, this sequence reveals so much about Wayne’s Jacob McCandles as a character. He’d rather avoid a fight but will intervene if honor demands it, and he clearly has an outsized reputation since his name alone is enough to defuse the situation.
Stagecoach beats Big Jake in just about every other area, but there is some interesting symmetry between Wayne’s introduction in both. In Ford’s Western, the camera zooms in on Ringo Kid as he cocks his Winchester, while in Big Jake, the first shot of McCandles sees the camera zoom out as he points his Winchester at something offscreen.
John Wayne Had Many Fantastic Character Introductions
Wayne understood the importance of making a good first impression
Wayne always credited Stagecoach with making his career and clearly felt Ringo Kid’s introduction was a big part of that. Many of Wayne’s subsequent projects gave his characters memorable intros, with The Searchers being the best example of this. Ford’s 1956 adventure gave Wayne the perfect intro and exit, where his character Ethan emerges from the desert to reunite with his family after being away for years. In The Searchers’ mystic ending, Ethan is then seen turning back from his family, realizing he can never go back to normal life.
Wayne’s title character in Hondo has a similar first appearance to The Searchers, where he suddenly emerges from the desert and into the lives of a homesteader and her son. Another great Wayne introduction is Howard Hawks’ Rio Bravo, whose dialogue-free opening follows Dean Martin’s drunken deputy as he looks to bar patrons to buy him a drink. As he’s about to degrade him by fishing money out of a spitoon, Wayne’s sheriff Chance kicks it over, shaking his head at how far Martin’s Dude has fallen.
Big Jake’s intro is the kind of scene only a movie star of John Wayne’s statue could pull off, and it sets up the tone for the rest of the movie perfectly.
There are dozens of other examples, but despite the above movies all being considered superior to Big Jake, it still arguably offered the star his best intro. It’s the kind of scene only a movie star of Wayne’s statue could pull off, and it sets up the tone for the rest of the movie perfectly.
Big Jake Is One Of John Wayne’s Best Final Movies
This 1971 Western is an underrated John Wayne gem
Big Jake was broadly well-received upon release and sits at 75% on Rotten Tomatoes (albeit, based on less than 10 reviews). The film is neither an exploration of the Old West nor a serious thriller and is intended to be a fun, pulpy ride. The film is notable for pairing Wayne with his son Patrick for the tenth and final time, while Big Jake is also the only time John and Patrick Wayne actually played father and son onscreen.
Wayne’s son Ethan also plays McCandles’ kidnapped grandson, while Robert Mitchim’s son Christopher plays another of Jacob’s sons, Michael. In short, the film was a family affair for its leading man, which might account for why it’s one of the most purely enjoyable of his final batch of roles. While The Shootist or The Cowboys are solid effects, Wayne’s Dirty Harry ripoffs McQ and Brannigan are duds, while his penultimate film Rooster Cogburn is very skippable.
Big Jake, on the other hand, is just a good ride. The cast has great chemistry, the action is well-staged and it doesn’t outstay its welcome. The popularity of the genre was waning in a big way by the early 1970s, with younger viewers seeing Westerns as too old-fashioned and dull. Big Jake is a nice mix of a classic “Oater” but with a quicker pace and snappier dialogue.
Big Jake Also Marked The End Of An Iconic Big Screen Pairing
Big Jake reunited Wayne with one of his favorite co-stars
Big Jake was the end of an era for a famous screen duo too, with the Western being the last John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara movie. Their most famous effort is John Ford classic The Quiet Man, while they also worked together on McLintock! and Rio Grande. The pair formed a genuine friendship offscreen too, with the semi-retired O’Hara claiming to have only appeared in Big Jake to work with Wayne one final time.
Unfortunately, Wayne and O’Hara don’t share much screentime in their final project. Even so, the chemistry between them is still correct and present, even if their characters are supposed to be estranged. O’Hara actually did retire from the business following Big Jake, though she returned 20 years later for the John Candy comedy Only the Lonely. She would later appear in several TV movies, before retiring for good following 2000’s The Last Dance.