MovieChat Forums > Big Jake (1971) Discussion > Another thing about the ending... (SPOIL...

Another thing about the ending... (SPOILER)

posted 17 years ago by tdefores
13 replies | jump to latest

At the very end, when Jake, his two sons and his grandson all meet up:

One of the sons says "Let's go home, Pa" (or something to that effect) and they all casually walk away.

But, if you think about it, none of them would have individually known that all the bad guys were dead. They would have had to have compared notes and added up kills first. Jake and Michael didn't see James shoot Glen Corbett and the other guy, while James wasn't in positon to see how many villains the others had killed. They should have been crouched down with their guns ready until they had done a little math.

I know this isn't a big deal and that movies sometimes eschew straight realism for dramatic effect and pacing, but it's something that struck me at the end when I watched it again recently. It sure would have been embarrassing if they'd accomplished everything they had only to get shot in the back by a leftover bad guy.

[–] DesertViking 17 years ago

Sort of connecting this posting to another ("One of the user commenters (Spoiler warning)")

Incredibly, not only do they not compare kills to determine whether all of the villains have in fact been dispatched, there is absolutely NO MENTION of the death of Sharpnose. The only one who might know that Sharpnose is killed is John Wayne, and yet he says nothing about him, and neither of the sons asks about him. At the moment when Sharpnose is shot from off of the high wall by John Fain (Richard Boone), and during the time when he is subsequently being hacked to pieces by the machete-wielding John Goodfellow ("Fatty"), John Wayne has his back to the unfolding killing; he is instructing his grandson in the use of the derringer and directing him to run and find his Uncle James. He should be unaware that Sharpnose has been killed, except for the fact that John Fain says to Jake, "I wonder how he's gonna get it, with a bullet or a machete like the indian did." Later on, when the family reunites and agrees, with smiling faces, to go home, not only does no one mention Sharpnose, but it does not even occur to Jake to go find his body and verify that he is in fact dead. All of this made for a terribly weak ending to what would otherwise have been a very good film.

[–] wtl471629 17 years ago

I know this has been mentioned in another post before Desert but also there is no mourning for the dog that actually saved the grandson from being shot and was loyal to Wayne obviously for several years.

[–] Barney-Robel 17 years ago

I loved this movie upon it's original release and always try to tune in when I see it shown on TV. I didn't like that the death of Sharpnose or the dog were recognized at the end, but I figured it was editied out in lieu of being neglected. It wouldn't have taken much to tie it off. It could have been handled similar to how Brody informed Hooper that Quint didn't survive in Jaws. When the two older boys met up with Jake and his grandson they could have asked about the indian and the dog and Jake could have replied with something like, "they didn't make it and we'll need to make arrangements for them on our way out of town." Otherwise, the dialogue in this movie is the best and I have always liked the shower scene.

Long live the Duke.

[–] Dave_at_23 17 years ago

I think it had to do with the little conversation that wayne and the Indian had just before all hell breaks loose.
They talk about hunting buffalo and wish that was what they were about to do.
They knew they were going in and might not be coming out alive

[–] colethornton-1 17 years ago

It's actually one of my favorite endings to a John Wayne movie. Not because of the movie, but because I think it might actually give us a real glimps into the lives of Duke and his sons. When Ethan Wayne looks up at his dad and says, "Sir are you my grandfather", and John Wayne reaches out to hug him...

watch how John Wayne rubs his back as his other son Patrick, comes into the shot and says, "Dad... let's go home".

Then Duke, says "Good idea" and they start to make their exit.

But the movie ends with a still shot of John Wayne looking at Chris Mitchum, but more importantly look at the expression on Patrick Wayne's face as he looks at his dad...

I think it shows the real admiration for his dad and like I said, with the affection shown Ethan, may have been a real glimps into their lives.

[–] tdefores 17 years ago

I also like that aspect of the ending. And if they were just ignoring the necessity about counting up dead villains in order to emphasize the more important emotional aspects, then that would be fine. I have to agree with other posters that the lack of acknowlegement of Sam's death (or to a lesser but still important extent, Dog's death) is a flaw. Sam gave his life to help save Little Jake and deserved some mention because of that.

I think that the movie makers, in their understandable desire to make sure they show us that Big Jake has reconciled with his family, rushed the ending a little bit and left out something equally important. It's still a great Western (and that ending battle with the villains is very well-choreographed and one of my favorite Western action scenes), but the ending is flawed for the reaons stated above.

[–] horrorfilmx 17 years ago

I've always suspected that the freeze-frame ending was the filmmakers' way of ducking the whole issue of how to deal with the death of Sam and Dog. It certainly would have put a damper on the "happy ending".

[–] paulbrasch 17 years ago

One of my fave Duke films with one of the worst endings. How they could neglect Cabot and the dog's death at the end is ridiculous.
Particularly when both were such great characters.
But other than that a great John Wayne film with a great bad guy...the wonderful Richard Boone

Terminate this Thread with extreme prejudice.

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] 17 years ago

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[–] jotatb-1 15 years ago

Speaking of Dog: Is it brown or black? Most of the times I thought he was black, but there was several scenes where he looks brown.

Is it me or....?

[–] bari2525 15 years ago

No -

It wasn't just you! From the first time I saw this movie in the theater, I've been bugged by the constant make up changs to him!!

What a lot of folks don't realize, is that the dog was actually one of the incarnations of "Lassie." They seem to have wanted to keep people from being distracted by Lassie, but all they did was distract people by making them wonder what COLOR he was!!!

It's a great movie, and I think the ending, while strange, may have been the best choice they had.

Courage is being scared to death - but saddling up anyway. John Wayne

[–] PaladinNJ (21510) 6 years ago

Different times. I was always bothered by the lack of a wrap up or that dog and Sam seem to have been forgotten. My father once said to me that back then once the action was done the movie was over.