Big Jake - wikipedia Big Jake This article is about the film. For the character in the children 's TV series, see Big Jake ( character ). Not to be confused with Big Brother Jake, Big Rude Jake, or Jake ( disambiguation ). Big Jake The second version of the theatrical release poster. Directed by George Sherman Produced by Michael Wayne Screenplay by Harry Julian Fink R.M. Fink Starring John Wayne Richard Boone Maureen O'Hara Patrick Wayne Christopher Mitchum Narrated by George Fenneman Music by Elmer Bernstein Cinematography William H. Clothier Edited by Harry Gerstad Production company Batjac Productions Distributed by Cinema Center Films through National General Pictures Release date May 26, 1971 ( 1971 - 05 - 26 ) Running time 110 minutes Country United States Language English Box office $7.5 million ( North American rentals ) Big Jake is a 1971 Technicolor Western. It was the final film for George Sherman in a directing career of more than 30 years. It grossed $7.5 million in the US. Contents 1 Plot 2 Main cast 3 Production 4 DVD 5 See also 6 References 7 External links Plot In 1909, there is a raid on the McCandles family ranch by a gang of ruthless outlaws led by John Fain. They massacre the ranch hands and kidnap Little Jake, the grandson, leaving a ransom note and heading back for Mexico, where they have been hiding out. Martha, the head of the family, is offered the help of both the army and the Texas Rangers in hunting the gang. She replies that this will be `` a harsh and unpleasant kind of business and will require an extremely harsh and unpleasant kind of person to see it through. '' In consequence, she sends for her estranged husband, the aging Jacob `` Big Jake '' McCandles, a near - legendary gunfighter who wanders the west with his Rough Collie, simply named Dog. When Jake arrives by train, he and Martha discuss a plan to take the ransom to the kidnappers, a million dollars in a big red strongbox, although Jake warns that, `` Pay or not, we run the risk of never seeing the boy again ''. Then his son Michael rides up on a motorcycle, bringing word that he has seen the kidnappers in the Chilicothe Canyon. The Texas Ranger captain is present and offers the services of his men, equipped with three REO touring cars. They, however, are ambushed and their cars put out of action. Jake, preferring the old ways, has followed on horseback, accompanied by an old Apache associate, Sam Sharpnose. He is now joined by his sons, Michael and James, with whom his relations are tense because of his desertion of the family ten years before. That night, Fain rides into their camp to make arrangements for the handover, telling Jake that they will `` send the boy 's body back in a basket '' if anything should go wrong. Both men deny any personal stake in the business, each claiming to be `` just a messenger boy ''. The family party crosses into Mexico the next day and checks into a hotel. Knowing that they have been followed by another gang intent on stealing the strongbox, Jake sets a trap for them and they are all killed. During the attack, the chest is blasted open, revealing clipped bundles of newspaper instead of money. Michael and James become suspicious of Jake and the three slug it out, but Jake assures them that it was both his and Martha 's idea. James fears for Little Jake 's life, but Jake tells them they 'll have to go in anyway. A thunderstorm breaks and Pop Dawson, one of the outlaws, arrives to give them the details of the exchange. He warns them that a sniper will have a gun trained on the boy in case of a double - cross. Jake arranges for Michael to follow after them to take care of the sharp shooter and convinces Dawson that he had been killed in the fight. At the hideout, Jake is led in alone to where Fain and four other gang members are waiting, one of them holding a shotgun on the boy. Jake tosses the key of the chest to Fain, who opens it up to discover that he has been tricked. Fain orders his brother Will to kill the boy but he is shot by Jake. Dog is wounded by the sniper and Jake is wounded in the leg before Michael kills him. Jake tells the boy to escape but Little Jake is hunted by the machete wielding John Goodfellow, who has already hacked Sam to death. Dog comes to the rescue and is himself killed before Big Jake arrives and impales Goodfellow on a pitchfork. Fain rides up and is preparing to finish off the two of them when Michael arrives from where he had been waiting in ambush and blasts him off his horse. Before he dies, Fain asks, `` Who are you ? '' When Jake answers, `` Jacob McCandles, '' Fain says, `` I thought you was dead, '' as have other characters during the course of the film. `` Not hardly, '' Jake replies. With Little Jake rescued, and the broken family bonded, they prepare to head home. Main cast John Wayne as Jacob McCandles Richard Boone as John Fain ( Leader of Fain 's Gang ) Maureen O'Hara as Martha McCandles Patrick Wayne as James McCandles Christopher Mitchum as Michael McCandles Bruce Cabot as Sam Sharpnose Bobby Vinton as Jeff McCandles Glenn Corbett as O'Brien, aka Breed ( John Fain 's Gang ) John Doucette as Texas Ranger Capt. Buck Duggan Jim Davis as Head of lynching party John Agar as Bert Ryan Harry Carey Jr. as Pop Dawson ( as Harry Cary, Jr. ) ( John Fain 's Gang ) Gregg Palmer as John Goodfellow ( John Fain 's Gang ) Jim Burk as Trooper ( John Fain 's Gang ) Dean Smith as James William `` Kid '' Duffy ( John Fain 's Gang ) Robert Warner as Will Fain ( John Fain 's Brother, John Fain 's Gang ) Jeff Wingfield as Billy Devries ( John Fain 's Gang ) Everett Creach as Walt Devries ( John Fain 's Gang ) Roy Jenson as Gunman at bathhouse in Escondero Virginia Capers as Delilah Hank Worden as Hank Ethan Wayne as Little Jake McCandles William Walker as Moses Brown George Fenneman as Narrator Tom Hennesy as Mr. Sweet Chuck Roberson as Texas Ranger Bernard Fox as the Scottish Shepherd Production John Wayne and Richard Boone at the film 's premiere at John Wayne Theatre at Knott 's Berry Farm in 1971 Written as The Million Dollar Kidnapping, which was used as the shooting title, it was filmed from early October to early December 1970, in the Mexican states of Durango and Zacatecas, including scenes shot at the El Saltito waterfall and in the Sierra de Órganos National Park. John Wayne 's real - life son, Patrick Wayne, portrays James McCandles in the film, while Robert Mitchum 's son, Christopher Mitchum plays Michael McCandles. Wayne 's youngest son Ethan Wayne is seen as his grandson, Little Jake, in the movie. DVD Big Jake was released to DVD by Paramount Home Entertainment on April 29, 2003 as a Region 1 widescreen DVD and on May 31, 2011 as a Region 1 widescreen Blu - ray DVD. See also List of American films of 1971 John Wayne filmography References Jump up ^ Big Jake, Box Office Information The Numbers. Retrieved June 24, 2012. Jump up ^ `` All - time Film Rental Champs '', Variety, 7 January 1976 p 44 Jump up ^ Eyles, Allen ( 1979 ). John Wayne. A.S. Barnes. ISBN 978 - 0 - 498 - 02487 - 0. Jump up ^ Hughes, Howard ( 2008 ). Stagecoach to Tombstone : The Filmgoers ' Guide to the Great Westerns. I.B. Tauris. p. 155. ISBN 978 - 1 - 84511 - 498 - 5. External links Big Jake on IMDb Big Jake at Rotten Tomatoes Big Jake at AllMovie Big Jake at the TCM Movie Database Big Jake at the American Film Institute Catalog Big Jake at Box Office Mojo hide Films directed by George Sherman Wild Horse Rodeo ( 1937 ) The Purple Vigilantes ( 1938 ) Outlaws of Sonora ( 1938 ) Riders of the Black Hills ( 1938 ) Heroes of the Hills ( 1938 ) Pals of the Saddle ( 1938 ) Overland Stage Raiders ( 1938 ) Rhythm of the Saddle ( 1938 ) Santa Fe Stampede ( 1938 ) Red River Range ( 1938 ) Mexicali Rose ( 1939 ) The Night Riders ( 1939 ) Three Texas Steers ( 1939 ) Wyoming Outlaw ( 1939 ) Colorado Sunset ( 1939 ) New Frontier ( 1939 ) The Kansas Terrors ( 1939 ) Rovin ' Tumbleweeds ( 1939 ) Cowboys from Texas ( 1939 ) South of the Border ( 1939 ) Ghost Valley Raiders ( 1940 ) Covered Wagon Days ( 1940 ) Rocky Mountain Rangers ( 1940 ) One Man 's Law ( 1940 ) The Tulsa Kid ( 1940 ) Under Texas Skies ( 1940 ) Frontier Vengeance ( 1940 ) The Trail Blazers ( 1940 ) Texas Terrors ( 1940 ) Lone Star Raiders ( 1940 ) Wyoming Wildcat ( 1941 ) The Phantom Cowboy ( 1941 ) Two Gun Sheriff ( 1941 ) Desert Bandit ( 1941 ) Kansas Cyclone ( 1941 ) Citadel of Crime ( 1941 ) The Apache Kid ( 1941 ) Death Valley Outlaws ( 1941 ) A Missouri Outlaw ( 1941 ) Arizona Terrors ( 1942 ) Stagecoach Express ( 1942 ) Jesse James, Jr. ( 1942 ) The Cyclone Kid ( 1942 ) The Sombrero Kid ( 1942 ) X Marks the Spot ( 1942 ) London Blackout Murders ( 1943 ) The Mantrap ( 1943 ) False Faces ( 1943 ) The West Side Kid ( 1943 ) A Scream in the Dark ( 1943 ) Mystery Broadcast ( 1943 ) The Lady and the Monster ( 1944 ) Storm Over Lisbon ( 1944 ) The Crime Doctor 's Courage ( 1945 ) Renegades ( 1946 ) The Gentleman Misbehaves ( 1946 ) Talk About a Lady ( 1946 ) The Bandit of Sherwood Forest ( 1946 ) The Secret of the Whistler ( 1946 ) Personality Kid ( 1946 ) Last of the Redskins ( 1947 ) Relentless ( 1948 ) Black Bart ( 1948 ) River Lady ( 1948 ) Feudin ', Fussin ' and A-Fightin ' ( 1948 ) Larceny ( 1948 ) Red Canyon ( 1949 ) Yes Sir, That 's My Baby ( 1949 ) Sword in the Desert ( 1949 ) Calamity Jane and Sam Bass ( 1949 ) Comanche Territory ( 1950 ) The Sleeping City ( 1950 ) Tomahawk ( 1951 ) The Golden Horde ( 1951 ) The Raging Tide ( 1951 ) Steel Town ( 1952 ) The Battle at Apache Pass ( 1952 ) Back at the Front ( 1952 ) Against All Flags ( 1952 ) The Lone Hand ( 1953 ) The Veils of Bagdad ( 1953 ) War Arrow ( 1953 ) Border River ( 1954 ) Johnny Dark ( 1954 ) Dawn at Socorro ( 1954 ) Chief Crazy Horse ( 1955 ) Count Three and Pray ( 1955 ) The Treasure of Pancho Villa ( 1955 ) Comanche ( 1956 ) Ten Days to Tulara ( 1958 ) The Son of Robin Hood ( 1959 ) Hell Bent for Leather ( 1960 ) The Enemy General ( 1960 ) None But the Brave ( 1960 ) The Wizard of Baghdad ( 1960 ) The Fiercest Heart ( 1961 ) Panic Button ( 1964 ) Smoky ( 1966 ) Big Jake ( 1971 ) Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Big_Jake&oldid=850318536 '' Categories : 1971 films English - language films 1970s Western ( genre ) films American films American Western ( genre ) films Films directed by George Sherman Batjac Productions films Films scored by Elmer Bernstein Films produced by John Wayne Films set in 1909 Films set in Texas Films set in Mexico Talk Contents About Wikipedia Deutsch فارسی Français Italiano Mirandés Nederlands 日本 語 Português Svenska 3 more Edit links This page was last edited on 15 July 2018, at 03 : 23 ( UTC ). Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. About Wikipedia

Question: where did they film the movie big jake
Answer: the Mexican states of Durango and Zacatecas