Big Jim McLain

1952 film by Edward Ludwig

Big Jim McLain

The 1952 promotional poster for Big Jim McLain

Directed by| Edward Ludwig
Written by| Richard English (story)
James Edward Grant
Eric Taylor
Produced by| Robert M. Fellows
John Wayne
Starring| John Wayne
Nancy Olson
James Arness
Alan Napier
Veda Ann Borg
Cinematography| Archie J. Stout
Edited by| Jack Murray
Music by| Paul Dunlap
Arthur Lange
Emil Newman
Color process| Black and white

Production
company

Wayne-Fellows Productions

Distributed by| Warner Bros.

Release date

* August 30, 1952 (1952-08-30)

Running time

| 90 minutes
Country| United States
Language| English
Box office| $2.6 million (US rentals)[1]

Big Jim McLain is a 1952 American film noir political thriller film starring John Wayne and James Arness as HUAC investigators hunting down communists in the postwar Hawaii organized-labor scene. Edward Ludwig directed.

This was the first film in which Wayne played a contemporary law enforcement officer, instead of an Old West lawman. Near the end of his career, in the mid-1970s, he took on two more such roles, (Brannigan and McQ), each time playing an urban cop.

## Plot[edit]

The House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) fails once again to get convictions of known American Communists, who stand behind the Fifth Amendment during their Congressional testimonies to avoid self-incrimination.

Investigators Jim McLain (Wayne) and Mal Baxter (Arness) are sent to Hawaii to track Party activities, with hopes of gaining enough hard evidence against members there to earn convictions. They become interested in everything from insurance fraud to the sabotage of a U.S. naval vessel and plans to have local unions go on strike to prevent the loading and unloading of ships on the Honolulu docks.

After receiving useful information from reporter Phil Briggs (Vernon "Red" McQueen), the agents begin searching for Willie Nomaka, a former party treasurer, who is being treated by psychiatrist Dr. Gelster (Gayne Whitman). The doctor's secretary, Nancy Vallon (Nancy Olson), is helpful, as well. McLain asks her on a date and a romance develops.

Nomaka disappears...ostensibly being treated for an (induced) nervous breakdown by Gelster.

Nomaka's landlady, the man-hungry Madge (Veda Ann Borg), assists in the investigation while flirting with McLain. Nomaka's ex-wife (Madame Soo Yong) is willing, but unable to help McLain. Nomaka is eventually found under another name in a sanitorium, heavily drugged and unable to speak. Party leader Sturak (Alan Napier) gives orders to Dr. Gelster to get rid of him, but before Gelster can McLain rescues Nomaka and takes him to safety. Still, he proves of no value to their investigation. Meanwhile, two of the communists kidnap Baxter, and Gelster accidentally kills him by giving him an injection of Sodium Pentothal truth serum seeking to learn how much he had discovered.

In spite of the trauma to McLain this causes, his campaign to wed the also enamored Nancy is undaunted.

Sturak orders the members of the communist cell to attend a meeting. He orders Gelster to confess his party membership to the authorities and identify several nonessential members of the "cell" so the government will believe that the cell has been destroyed and the others can continue their work. Those fingered, including Gelster, are unenthusiastic at being arrested and sacrificing themselves to the Party. The meeting is interrupted by McLain, who seeks out Gelster and punches him for killing Baxter. Vastly outnumbered, McLain is losing the brawl that follows, but the police arrive and place the communists under arrest. The men responsible for Baxter's death are convicted of murder, but ultimately McLain and Nancy see the others plead the Fifth Amendment and go free.

## Cast[edit]

* John Wayne as Jim McLain
* James Arness as Mal Baxter
* Nancy Olson as Nancy Vallon
* Alan Napier as Sturak
* Vernon "Red" McQueen as Phil Briggs
* Gayne Whitman as Dr. Gelster
* Veda Ann Borg as Madge
* Robert Keys as Edwin White
* Sarah Padden as Mrs. Lexiter

## See also[edit]

* John Wayne filmography

## References[edit]

1. ^ 'Top Box-Office Hits of 1952', Variety, January 7, 1953

## External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Big Jim McLain.

* Big Jim McLain at IMDb
* Big Jim McLain at AllMovie
* Big Jim McLain at the TCM Movie Database
* Big Jim McLain at the American Film Institute Catalog

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Films directed by Edward Ludwig

* Rip Van Winkle (1921)
* The Man Who Waited (1922)
* Jake the Plumber (1927)
* Spuds (1927)
* Steady Company (1932)
* They Just Had to Get Married (1933)
* Let's Be Ritzy (1934)
* A Woman's Man (1934)
* Friends of Mr. Sweeney (1934)
* The Man Who Reclaimed His Head (1934)
* Age of Indiscretion (1935)
* Old Man Rhythm (1935)
* Three Kids and a Queen (1935)
* Fatal Lady (1936)
* Adventure in Manhattan (1936)
* Her Husband Lies (1937)
* The Last Gangster (1937)
* That Certain Age (1938)
* Coast Guard (1939)
* Swiss Family Robinson (1940)
* The Man Who Lost Himself (1941)
* Born to Sing (1942)
* They Came to Blow Up America (1943)
* Bomber's Moon (1943)
* The Fighting Seabees (1944)
* Three Is a Family (1944)
* The Fabulous Texan (1947)
* Wake of the Red Witch (1948)
* The Big Wheel (1949)
* Smuggler's Island (1951)
* Big Jim McLain (1952)
* Caribbean Gold (1952)
* The Blazing Forest (1952)
* Sangaree (1953)
* The Vanquished (1953)
* Jivaro (1954)
* Flame of the Islands (1956)
* The Black Scorpion (1957)
* The Gun Hawk (1963)

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