Big Jim McLain (1952)

User Rating:

5.0/10   

Director:

Edward Ludwig

Writers:

Stephen Vincent Benet (quotes from "The Devil and Dan'l Webster")
James Edward Grant (written by) ...
(more)

Release Date:

30 August 1952 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Action | Crime | Romance

Tagline:

He's a Go-Get-'Em Guy for the U.S.A. on a Treason Trail that leads Half-a-World Away!

Plot:

U.S. House Un-American Activities Committee investigators Jim McLain and Mal Baxter attempt to break...

Plot Keywords:

Communist Party | Hawaii | Widow | Sabotage | Subpoena

Cast

John Wayne	...	Jim McLain
Nancy Olson	...	Nancy Vallon
James Arness	...	Mal Baxter
Alan Napier	...	Sturak
Veda Ann Borg	...	Madge
Hans Conried	...	Robert Henried
Hal Baylor	...	Poke
Gayne Whitman	...	Dr. Gelster
Gordon Jones	...	Olaf
Robert Keys	...	Edwin White
John Hubbard	...	Lt. Cmdr. Clint Grey
Soo Yong	...	Mrs. Namaka (as Madame Soo Yong)
Dan Liu	...	Dan Liu, Honolulu Chief of Police (as Honolulu Chief of Police Dan Liu)
Vernon 'Red' McQueen	...	Phil Briggs (as Red McQueen)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Peter Brocco	...	Dr. Carter (uncredited)
Franklyn Farnum	...	Nightclub extra (uncredited)
Robert Fellows	...	Soldier boarding ship (uncredited)
Paul Fix	...	Voice of Chauncey (uncredited)
Bess Flowers	...	Nightclub extra (uncredited)
William Forrest	...	J.E. Lowry (McLain's supervisor) (uncredited)
Sam Harris	...	Nightclub extra (uncredited)
Douglas Henderson	...	J.J. Donahue (soldier boarding ship) (uncredited)
Paul Hurst	...	Mr. Lexiter (uncredited)
Edwin Layton	...	Himself (uncredited)
Harry Morgan	...	Narrator (uncredited)
Sarah Padden	...	Mrs. Lexiter (uncredited)
Jeffrey Sayre	...	Nightclub dance extra (uncredited)
Bert Stevens	...	Nightclub dance extra (uncredited)
Deane S. Tavennier	...	HUAC Committee member (uncredited)
Harry Tyler	...	Waiter (uncredited)
Peter Whitney	...	Commie truck driver (uncredited)
Jay Wilsey	...	Mr. Whalen (uncredited)

Directed by
Edward Ludwig

Writing credits
Stephen Vincent Benet		(quotes from "The Devil and Dan'l Webster")
James Edward Grant		(written by) &
Richard English		(written by) &
Eric Taylor		(written by)
Richard English		(short story) uncredited
James Atlee Phillips		uncredited
William Wheeler		(story) uncredited

Produced by
Robert Fellows	....	producer
John Wayne	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Paul Dunlap
Arthur Lange
Emil Newman
Hugo Friedhofer		(uncredited)
Charles E. King		(uncredited)
Robert Wiley Miller		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Archie Stout		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Jack Murray

Art Direction by
Alfred Ybarra		(as Al Ybarra)

Set Decoration by
Charles S. Thompson		(as Charles Thompson)

Makeup Department
Web Overlander	....	makeup artist
Fae M. Smith	....	hair stylist (as Fae Smith)

Production Management
Nate H. Edwards	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Andrew V. McLaglen	....	assistant director (as Andrew McLaglen)

Sound Department
T.A. Carman	....	sound (as Tom Carman)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Neva Bourne	....	wardrobe (as Geneva Bourne)

Music Department
Max Steiner	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Warner Bros. Pictures (presents)
• Wayne-Fellows Productions

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (1952) (USA) (theatrical) (as Warner Bros.)
• Warner Bros. (1953) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Warner Home Video (2007) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Committee on Un-American Activities, House of Representatives, Congress of the United States  the incidents in this motion picture are based on the files of (as the Committee on Un-American Activities, House of Representatives, Congress of the United States)
• Committee on Un-American Activities, House of Representatives, Congress of the United States  we gratefully acknowledge the cooperation of (as the Committee on Un-American Activities, House of Representatives, Congress of the United States)

Also Known As:

Jim McLain

Runtime:

90 min | West Germany:85 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (MPAA rating: certificate #16057) | West Germany:12 (f) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:U (passed with cuts)

Filming Locations:

Honolulu, O'ahu, Hawaii, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

The German title is "Mathuana". In this dubbed version for the German market John Wayne plays a hunter of marijuana smugglers, not an investigator for the Un-American Activities Commitee ferreting out Communists, as in the original film.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Jim returns one morning from looking for Baxter's murderer, he finds Nancy asleep. The amount of the rug covering Nancy changes between when he kisses her and when she wakes.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Ed Wood (1994)

Soundtrack:

My Old Kentucky Home, Good-Night

Honest Story of the Communist Threat

While the brainwashed elite criticize this story of how Communism threatened the security of America in the 1950s, any unbiased viewer will understand a piece of history that has since been revised.

This movie was made while the liberal elite defended their liberalism by making a straw man of Senator McCarthy. John Wayne understood the real threat of Communism and their spies in America. Making this movie was unpopular then, nevertheless now; Wayne was a brave patriot who should be commended for doing the principled thing, however unpopular.

The liberal politicians and the media has waged war on the fight against communism for 40 years. That repeated mantra of group thinking has obscured the real attitudes of that era. This movie is valuable for the independent minded; it shows a history and culture that Hollywood wants to deny and ignore in the same way the Klan wants to deny and ignore the Holocaust.

It is not Wayne's best film. It is probably the least seen. However, a student of history or a student of Wayne's character should view the movie.