Big Jack (1949)

Big Jack Horner (Wallace Beery) and his gang are wreaking havoc along the Maryland-Virginia borde in 1802.

But Big Jack’s been wounded and needs a doctor. So his men rescue Dr. Alexander Meade (Richard Conte) from a hanging party.

Where other doctors have failed — and given their lives for their failures — Dr. Meade succeeds, and Big Jack is back to himself in no time.

In fact, he’s so pleased with the results that he decides to make the Meade his personal doctor.

When Meade balks, Big Jack and wife Kate (Marjorie Main) decide ot kidnap a pretty gal, mayor’s daughter Patricia Mahoney (Vanessa Brown) to keep the new doc happy.

Instead, both of them escape back to Monteville, Va., where Meade finds the perfect new home: a supposedly haunted cabin right next to the cemetery.

It’s the perfect spot to continue his experiments, which involve exploring the bodies of the recently departed in the name of science and medicine.

But the doc knows that if anyone discovers his grave-robbing ways, he’s likely to wind up back in a hangman’s noose, just where he was when Big Jack’s men first found him.

Review:

The unique plot and the chemistry between Beery and Marjorie Main make this stand a bit above the star’s other 1940s Westerns.

One of the best scenes comes when Big Jack and Kate head to Benton Forks to find doc a mate. Kate lines up the eligible women, all past their prime.

“They look like spoiled goods to me,” Big Jack pronounces. Until a stage arrives carrying the pretty mayor’s daughter.

Unfortunately, the plot loses steam once the good doc settles in Monteville and Big Jack shows up to lure him back “home.”

This marked the final film for Beery, who started in films during the silent days, was briefly married to silent screen star Gloria Swanson and became a star in the 1930s with roles in films like “The Champ” (1931) and “Treasure Island” (1934).

Beery died of a heart attack on April 15, 1949, three days after this film was released. He was 64.

Directed by:
Richard Thorpe

Cast:
Wallace Beery … Big Jack Horner
Richard Conte … Dr. Alexander Meade
Marjorie Main … Flapjack Kate
Edward Arnold … Mayor Mahoney
Vanessa Brown … Patricia Mahoney
Clinton Sundberg … C. Petronius Smtih
Jack Lambert … Bud Valentine
Charles Dingle … Mathias Taylor
Clem Bevans … Saltlick Joe
Will Wright … Will Farnsworth
Syd Saylor … Pokey
William “Bill” Phillips … Toddy
Andy Clyde … Putt Cleghorn

Runtime: 85 min.

Memorable lines:

C. Petronius Smith, snipping a piece of the hangman’s rope: “I just wanted a piece for good luck, sir. A health charm.”
Dr. Alexander Meade, who has a noose around his neck: “Want to trade pieces with me? Mine’s bigger.”

Big Jack, when Dr. Meade reveals his intent to experiment with medical operations: “You mean cut a hole in a fella like a winder?”
Dr. Meade: “Yes, like a window. To let in the light of science.”
Flapjack Kate: “Don’t seem decent.”

Big Jack to Dr. Meade: “We figured out what it is you were lackin’, go we went and fetched it.” He jerks Patricia Mahoney into the cabin. “Here, meet your mate.”

Big Jack: “What’s this you said about bodies being hard to get?”
Dr. Meade: “It’s not easy.”
Big Jack: “Not easy?”
Dr. Meade: “At least that’s been my experience.”
Big Jack: “Now you come to the right place. At last, I can do something that’s useful to you. Why didn’t you say that was what you was lacking. Why I can supply you with bodies.”
Dr. Meade: “Jack, you don’t understand. They have to die a natural death.”
Big Jack: “That’s too bad. None of my boys ever die thataway.”

Charles Dingle as Mathias Taylor, the Monteville banker with a brand new safe in Big Jack (1949)

Wallace Beery as Big Jack and Marjorie Main as Flapjack Kate listen to a stolen watch in Big Jack (1949)

Trevor Bardette as John Oakes and Vanessa Brown as Patricia, considering whether to let the doctor operate on Oakes’ wife in Big Jack (1949)

Richard Conte as Dr. Alexander Meade, suspicious of Big Jack’s arrival in Monteville in Big Jack (1949)