One of my favorite memories as a kid was watching Big Jake with my Dad.

I did something at school that got me a week’s restriction. No TV was the big one. The restriction started on a Friday night and was supposed to last for a week. But Big Jake came on that Thursday night.

My Dad called me into the den and explained that even though I was still on restriction, he wanted me to watch the movie with him, as it was one of his favorites.

It was a very special memory for me.

Big Jake is a typical end of his career, John Wayne Western.

IMDb sums it up best:

The McCandles ranch is run over by a gang of cutthroats led by the evil John Fain. They kidnap little Jacob McCandles and hold him for a million dollar ransom. There is only one man who is brave enough and smart enough to bring him back and that man is Big Jake.

Of course John Wayne is the bad ass Big Jake. He has been gone for so long most people think he is dead. It is a great movie filled with great one-liners such as my two favorites:

Jacob ‘Big Jake’ McCandles: And now you understand. Anything goes wrong, anything at all… your fault, my fault, nobody’s fault… it won’t matter - I’m gonna blow your head off. No matter what else happens, no matter who gets killed I’m gonna blow your head off.

And

[to his son]
Jacob ‘Big Jake’ McCandles: You can call me Dad, you can call me Father, you can call me Jacob and you can call me Jake. You can call me a dirty old son-of-a-bitch, but if you EVER call me Daddy again, I’ll finish this fight.