Big Jim McLain (1952)

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
Emil Newman	....	musical director (uncredited)
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:

Nancy Olson hated the script but she figured six weeks in Hawaii and a chance to work with an icon like John Wayne seemed a good enough reason to accept. Besides, she thought the film would flop and nobody would see it. She was right to a degree - it wasn't one of Wayne's more successful pictures - but she didn't count on the constant TV exposure it has had and says people stop her all the time to say they've seen her in the film. Olson, a staunch liberal Democrat, said she and Wayne would often have political arguments but she would always let Wayne have the last word.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When the plane taking McLain to another island begins taxiing, the door is still partly open.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Ed Wood (1994)

Soundtrack:

Yankee Doodle

This film needs to be viewed in the context of the times.

While Big Jim McLain will hardly rank with the greatest of John Wayne's films, it expresses the conflict between loyal American citizens and law enforcement officials and the threat posed by Soviet agents. Only since the release of some of the USSR archives can we see how real the threat was although rarely as simplistic as the film shows it. Big Jim McLain needs to be viewed in the context of its times just as other US wartime action films reflect the tenor of our role in World War II and how people saw the enemy of that day.