Big Jim McLain

Last updated
Big Jim McLain
Bigjimmclain.jpg
Theatrical poster
Directed by Edward Ludwig
Written byRichard English (story)
James Edward Grant
Eric Taylor
Produced by Robert M. Fellows
John Wayne
StarringJohn 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
Distributed by Warner Bros.
Release date
  • August 30, 1952 (1952-08-30)
Running time
90 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
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.

Contents

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

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

Reception

Polly Cochran of The Indianapolis Star called this movie a "hodgepodge of good ideas and poor execution" and complained about a weak plot. [2]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Wayne</span> American actor (1907–1979)

Marion Robert Morrison, professionally known as John Wayne and nicknamed "the Duke", was an American actor who became a popular icon through his starring roles in films which were produced during Hollywood's Golden Age, especially in Western and war movies. His career flourished from the silent era of the 1920s through the American New Wave, as he appeared in a total of 179 film and television productions. He was among the top box-office draws for three decades and appeared with many other important Hollywood stars of his era. In 1999, the American Film Institute selected Wayne as one of the greatest male stars of classic American cinema.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Garfield</span> American actor (1913–1952)

John Garfield was an American actor who played brooding, rebellious, working-class characters. He grew up in poverty in New York City. In the early 1930s, he became a member of the Group Theatre. In 1937, he moved to Hollywood, eventually becoming one of Warner Bros.' stars. He received Academy Award nominations for his performances in Four Daughters (1938) and Body and Soul (1947).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Arness</span> American actor (1923–2011)

James Arness was an American actor, best known for portraying Marshal Matt Dillon for 20 years in the series Gunsmoke. He has the distinction of having played the role of Dillon in five decades: 1955 to 1975 in the weekly series, then in Gunsmoke: Return to Dodge (1987) and four more made-for-television Gunsmoke films in the 1990s. In Europe, Arness reached cult status for his role as Zeb Macahan in the Western series How the West Was Won. He was the older brother of actor Peter Graves.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alan Napier</span> English actor (1903–1988)

Alan William Napier-Clavering, better known as Alan Napier, was an English actor. After a decade in West End theatre, he had a long film career in Britain and later on in Hollywood. Napier is best remembered for portraying Alfred Pennyworth, Bruce Wayne's butler in the 1960s live-action Batman television series.

<i>The Front</i> 1976 American drama film by Martin Ritt

The Front is a 1976 American comedy drama film set against the Hollywood blacklist in the 1950s, when artists, writers, directors, and others were rendered unemployable, having been accused of subversive political activities in support of Communism or of being Communists themselves. It was written by Walter Bernstein, directed by Martin Ritt, and stars Woody Allen, Zero Mostel and Michael Murphy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lionel Stander</span> American actor (1908–1994)

Lionel Jay Stander was an American actor, activist, and a founding member of the Screen Actors Guild. He had an extensive career in theatre, film, radio, and television that spanned nearly 70 years, from 1928 until 1994. He was known for his distinctive raspy voice and tough-guy demeanor, as well as for his vocal left-wing political stances. One of the first Hollywood actors to be subpoenaed before the House Un-American Activities Committee, he was blacklisted from the late 1940s until the mid-1960s.

Andrew Victor McLaglen was a British-born American film and television director, known for Westerns and adventure films, often starring John Wayne or James Stewart.

<i>The Woman on Pier 13</i> 1949 film by Robert Stevenson

The Woman on Pier 13 is a 1949 American film noir drama starring Laraine Day, Robert Ryan, and John Agar. Directed by Robert Stevenson, the picture previewed in Los Angeles and San Francisco in 1949 under the title I Married a Communist but, owing to poor polling among preview audiences, this was dropped prior to its 1950 release.

<i>Kid Galahad</i> (1937 film) 1937 film by Michael Curtiz

Kid Galahad is a 1937 American sports drama film directed by Michael Curtiz and starring Edward G. Robinson, Bette Davis, Humphrey Bogart and, in the title role, rising newcomer Wayne Morris. A boxing film, it was scripted by Seton I. Miller and distributed by Warner Brothers. It was remade in 1941, this time in a circus setting, as The Wagons Roll at Night, also with Bogart, and in 1962 as an Elvis Presley musical. The original version was re-titled The Battling Bellhop for television distribution in order to avoid confusion with the Presley remake.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Veda Ann Borg</span> American actress (1915–1973)

Veda Ann Borg was an American film and television actress.

Robert Fellows or Robert M. Fellows was an American film producer who was once a production partner with John Wayne and later with Mickey Spillane.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hollywood blacklist</span> Mid-20th century banning of suspected Communists from U.S. entertainment

The Hollywood blacklist was the mid-20th century banning of suspected Communists from working in the United States entertainment industry. The blacklist began at the onset of the Cold War and Red Scare, and affected entertainment production in Hollywood, New York, and elsewhere. Actors, screenwriters, directors, musicians, and other professionals were barred from employment based on their present or past membership in, alleged membership in, or perceived sympathy with the Communist Party USA (CPUSA), or on the basis of their refusal to assist Congressional or FBI investigations into the Party's activities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">House Un-American Activities Committee</span> US investigative committee, 1938–1975

The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA), popularly the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives, created in 1938 to investigate alleged disloyalty and subversive activities on the part of private citizens, public employees, and those organizations suspected of having fascist and communist ties. It became a standing (permanent) committee in 1946, and from 1969 onwards it was known as the House Committee on Internal Security. When the House abolished the committee in 1975, its functions were transferred to the House Judiciary Committee.

<i>The Get-Away</i> (1941 film) 1941 film by Edward Buzzell

The Get-Away is a 1941 American crime drama film directed by Edward Buzzell and starring Robert Sterling, Charles Winninger and Donna Reed. Produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, it is a remake of the 1935 film Public Hero No. 1. It has been listed as a precursor of film noir.

<i>The Singing Marine</i> 1937 film by Busby Berkeley, Ray Enright

The Singing Marine is a 1937 American musical film directed by Ray Enright and Busby Berkeley and starring Dick Powell. It was the last of Powell's trio of service-related Warners films: 1934's Flirtation Walk paid tribute, of sorts, to the Army, and 1935's Shipmates Forever to the Navy. This one is distinguished by its two musical sequences directed by Busby Berkeley.

Martin Berkeley was a Hollywood and television screenwriter who cooperated with the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) in the 1950s by naming dozens of Hollywood artists as Communists or Communist sympathizers.

<i>The Fearmakers</i> 1958 film by Jacques Tourneur

The Fearmakers is a 1958 American film noir crime film directed by Jacques Tourneur and starring Dana Andrews. The screenplay is based on the 1945 novel of the same name by Darwin Teilhet. The film centers on seemingly nonpartisan political messages that are shaped by a public-relations firm secretly controlled by communists determined to undermine the American government.

<i>The Pittsburgh Kid</i> 1941 film by Jack Townley

The Pittsburgh Kid is a 1941 American sports film directed by Jack Townley and starring Billy Conn, Jean Parker and Dick Purcell.

Big Jim may refer to:

McClain's Law is an American made-for-TV police procedural directed by Vincent McEveety and broadcast on November 20, 1981. It is structured as a two-hour pilot episode for James Arness' police detective series McClain's Law which broadcast 14 one-hour episodes Friday nights on NBC between November 27, 1981 and March 20, 1982.

References

  1. 'Top Box-Office Hits of 1952', Variety, January 7, 1953
  2. https://www.newspapers.com/image/105427173/?match=2&terms=%22Big%20Jim%20McClain%22 "Patriotic Film Has Wayne Tracking Down Communists" The Indianapolis Star, September 5, 1952, p. 14.