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Big Jim McLain ()


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In the post-war Hawaii, House Un-American Activities Committee investigators Jim McLain and Mal Baxter hunt down Communists.

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Cast verified as complete

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Jim McLain
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Nancy Vallon
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Mal Baxter
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Sturak
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Madge
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Robert Henried
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Poke
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Dr. Gelster
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Olaf
Robert Keys ...
Edwin White
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Lt. Cmdr. Clint Grey
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Mrs. Namaka (as Madame Soo Yong)
Dan Liu ...
Dan Liu (as Honolulu Chief Of Police Dan Liu)
Vernon 'Red' McQueen ...
Phil Briggs (as Red McQueen)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
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Reporter (uncredited)
Charles Baptiste ...
Minor Role (uncredited)
Lulu Mae Bohrman ...
Nightclub Patron (uncredited)
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Dr. Carter (uncredited)
Rennie Brooks ...
Minor Role (uncredited)
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Nightclub Patron (uncredited)
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Nightclub Patron (uncredited)
Beulah Christian ...
Nightclub Patron (uncredited)
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Nightclub Patron (uncredited)
Robert Fellows ...
Soldier Boarding Ship (uncredited)
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Chauncey (uncredited) (voice)
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Nightclub Patron (uncredited)
Lloyd Ford ...
Bouncer (uncredited)
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J.E. Lowry (uncredited)
Akira Fukunaga ...
Minor Role (uncredited)
Kenneth Gibson ...
Nightclub Patron (uncredited)
Joe Gilbert ...
Nightclub Patron (uncredited)
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Nightclub Patron (uncredited)
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Nightclub Patron (uncredited)
Douglas Henderson ...
J.J. Donahue (uncredited)
Ralph Honda ...
Minor Role (uncredited)
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Mr. Lexiter (uncredited)
Kinai Ikuma ...
Reverend Ito (uncredited)
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Night Club Patron (uncredited)
Paul King ...
Nightclub Patron (uncredited)
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Edwin Layton (uncredited)
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Narrator (uncredited) (voice)
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Mrs. Lexiter (uncredited)
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Nightclub Patron (uncredited)
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Nightclub Patron (uncredited)
Kinko 'Lucky' Simunovich ...
Muscle Man (uncredited)
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Reporter (uncredited)
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Nightclub Patron (uncredited)
Joel Trapido ...
Minor Role (uncredited)
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Waiter (uncredited)
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Communist Truck Driver (uncredited)
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Mr. Whalen (uncredited)
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Nightclub Patron (uncredited)

Directed by

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Edward Ludwig

Written by

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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

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

Music by

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Paul Dunlap
Arthur Lange
Emil Newman
Hugo Friedhofer ... (uncredited)
Robert Wiley Miller ... (uncredited)

Cinematography by

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Archie Stout ... director of photography

Editing by

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Jack Murray

Art Direction by

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Alfred Ybarra ... (as Al Ybarra)

Set Decoration by

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Charles S. Thompson ... (as Charles Thompson)

Makeup Department

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

Production Management

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Nate H. Edwards ... production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director

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Andrew V. McLaglen ... assistant director (as Andrew McLaglen)

Art Department

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Hans Otto Wendt ... poster artist : West Germany (uncredited)

Sound Department

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T.A. Carman ... sound (as Tom Carmen)
Tani Marsh ... foley artist (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department

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Neva Bourne ... wardrobe (as Geneva Bourne)

Music Department

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Emil Newman ... musical director (uncredited)
Max Steiner ... composer: stock music (uncredited)

Additional Crew

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Al Murphy ... production assistant (uncredited)
Crew believed to be complete

Production Companies

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Distributors

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Special Effects

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Other Companies

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Storyline

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Plot Summary

The House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) works on the premise that anyone who has been a member of the Communist Party since the end of the war in 1945 is committing high treason, the Committee stymied by most brought before them pleading the Fifth Amendment. This does not sit well with partnered HUAC investigators Jim McLain and Mal Baxter. The latter often lets his emotions get the better of him, from having fought against the Communists in the war. Their next assignment sends them to Honolulu to follow-up on the last investigative team sent there. There, they end up getting help from both the Honolulu Police Department's Chief Dan Liu, and from former Communist Max Veneby. Some of their time is spent looking for a man named Willie Namaka, who they are told may be able to name names. What they are initially unaware of is that the other side is also looking for him to neutralize him in he being a liability. In the process, Jim falls for war widow Nancy Vallon, the assistant to Dr. Gelster, Namaka's doctor, a Communist who was tasked to kill Namaka if he is found. While Jim eventually comes clean to Nancy about who he is and what he is doing in Honolulu, Nancy in return does whatever she can to help him in her connection to Gelster being solely a paycheck. They will discover just how dangerous the issue of Namaka is. Written by Huggo

Plot Keywords
Taglines He's a Go-Get-'Em Guy for the U.S.A. on a Treason Trail that leads Half-a-World Away! See more »
Genres
Parents Guide Add content advisory for parents »
Certification

Additional Details

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Also Known As
  • Big Jim McLean (United States)
  • Marihuana (Germany)
  • El gran Jim McLain (Spain)
  • Uma Aventura Perigosa (Brazil)
  • Marijuana (La droga infernale) (Italy)
  • See more »
Runtime
  • 90 min
Country
Language
Color
Aspect Ratio
Sound Mix
Filming Locations

Box Office

Budget $826,000 (estimated)

Did You Know?

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Trivia Nancy Olson hated the script, but figured six weeks in Hawaii and a chance to work with an icon like John Wayne seemed like 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 television 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 him have the last word. See more »
Goofs Jim states that the USS Arizona "is still carried on Navy lists as a fighting ship of the line." The Arizona was actually officially struck from the Navy Vessel Register in December 1942. See more »
Movie Connections Featured in The John Wayne Anthology (1991). See more »
Soundtracks Yankee Doodle See more »
Crazy Credits Closing credits epilogue: The Incidents in this motion picture are based on the files of the Committee on Un-American Activities, House of Representatives, Congress of the United States. Names and places have been changed. We gratefully acknowledge the cooperation of this Committee. See more »
Quotes Jim McLain: Lot of wonderful things written into our constitution that were meant for honest decent citizens. I resent the fact that it can be used and abused by the very people who want to destroy it.
See more »

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