Plot
The House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) fails to convict many American Communists who use the Fifth Amendment to avoid self-incrimination. HUAC investigators Jim McLain (Wayne) and Mal Baxter (Arness) are sent to Hawaii to track Party activities and gather evidence toward convictions. Their trail leads to insurance fraud, sabotage. and the infiltration of labor unions on the Honolulu docks to foul up the loading and unloading of ships. After receiving information from a local investigative reporter (Vernon "Red" McQueen), the two agents search for Willie Nomaka, a former Party treasurer, who is currently under the care of psychiatrist Dr. Gelster (Gayne Whitman). His secretary, Nancy Vallon (Nancy Olson), proves particularly helpful and McLain asks her on a date. A romance develops.
But Willie Nomaka disappears, ostensibly being treated for an (induced) nervous breakdown. 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), an ex-Communist, provides McLain with some helpful background information. Nomaka is eventually found under an alias at a Honolulu sanitorium, heavily drugged and unable to speak. Party leader Sturak (Alan Napier) orders Dr. Gelster to dispose of him, but McLain rescues Nomaka and sweeps him away to safety. Unfortunately, his knowledge proves of little value. Meanwhile, two thug Communists kidnap Baxter, but Gelster accidentally causes the agent's death while injecting him with sodium pentothal truth serum. As a result of the loss of his partner, McLain resolves to see his task through to the end.
In the meantime, Sturak orders the members of his Party cell to attend a meeting. There, he orders Gelster to confess his party membership to local authorities and identify several nonessential Reds. This way, investigators will believe that the cell has been destroyed. However, this will free other cells to continue their work. Those fingered, including Gelster, are reluctant to sacrifice themselves for the Party. The meeting is interrupted by McLain, who punches Gelster hard for killing Baxter. Vastly outnumbered, though, McLain loses the brawl that follows. But the police arrive and place the insurrectionists under arrest. Those responsible for Baxter's death are convicted of murder. Yet ultimately McLain and Nancy see other Communists plead the Fifth Amendment to avoid self-incrimination during further HUAC interrogations. Seemingly, McLain is back where he started.
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