Big Jake

Jacob McCandles, an aging Texas cattleman, has spent years apart from his family. When his grandson is taken by a band of outlaws who demand a million dollars for his return, his wife Martha turns to him for help. Jacob sets out after the kidnappers, joined by two of his sons and an old Indian scout, while the law trails the gang by other means. Paying the ransom is not part of his plan.

Big Jake is a 1971 American western directed by George Sherman, the fourth of the four films in his directing credits listed here, following Murieta (1965). Harry Julian Fink and Rita M. Fink wrote the screenplay, and Michael Wayne produced. John Wayne, whose career was by then in its later western phase, plays Jacob McCandles; Maureen O'Hara appears as Martha, and Richard Boone plays the gang leader John Fain. The cast also includes Patrick Wayne, Christopher Mitchum and Bobby Vinton as Jacob's sons, among 36 credited performers.

The film was made for about 5 million dollars and returned roughly 8 million worldwide. On IMDb it holds a 7.1 rating from around 16,000 votes, and on TMDB a 6.8 from about 255 votes, so viewers there rate it somewhat lower and in much smaller numbers.