Big Jim McLain

John Wayne (in ties and jackets!) ferrets out Commies in post-WWII Hawaii along with strapping partner James Arness. For a movie so obviously filled with swaggering machismo, the overall results of "Big Jim McLain" are fairly tame, with just a scene or two of fisticuffs outnumbered by the romantic clinches between the Duke and Nancy Olson (who moves quickly). Archie Stout's black-and-white cinematography isn't expressive (the budget here doesn't seem large enough for expressive), and yet his silvery shots of the tropics in all their '50s splendor are memorable. As for Wayne, he walks through the whole thing rather sheepishly; Jim McLain isn't much of a character, and Wayne doesn't look like he's anxious to find one in the writing. The flag-waving, Purple Heart-patriotic drama at hand is tidied up very quickly, and yet the film is directed with an easy-going pace by Edward Ludwig. The title was changed for release around the globe (most often due to redubbing to remove the Communist plotting): in Germany and Austria, it was called "Marihuana"; in Mexico and Chile, it was "Intrigue in Honolulu". ** from ****

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.

I like this movie, but must admit it's rather cheesy. It's not that I disliked the plot of having John Wayne playing an FBI man bent on smashing communism--it certainly is unique and very much like the real life Wayne. No, what makes this movie so campy is James Arness' incredibly silly performance. Unlike Wayne, who seems rather restrained and cerebral in comparison, Arness responds to every commie the same way Mike Tyson responds to Evander Holyfield's ear! He goes nuts and beats the crap out of all of them, so there's not much dialog. He roughly responds to every potential enemy with "you commies make me so mad,..."--then WHAM, BAM, POW!!! Civil liberties aside, it's quite thrilling to watch him in action!

This was made in the midst of the Korean War and during the 'red scare' days and needs to be viewed in that context. The cold war was on and America had recently lost the security of being the sole nuclear power, the US Army was locked in a dismal stalemate after hordes of Communist Chinese soldiers poured over the Korean border launching a surprise attack against the vastly outnumbered UN forces snatching sure victory from them and pushing them back again into South Korea, Soviet pilots were flying against American pilots for the North Korean Air Force, American and allied soldiers in Europe were facing off against a large Soviet and allied communist army, at home there were fears of war with nuclear USSR and scandals as communist party members with links to Soviet agents were uncovered. This was the mess that America found itself in when this movie was made. This mix led in turn to paranoia, some well founded and some not. The answer to this threat seemed to be the House Un-American Activities Committee that used intimidation to do what it thought was necessary to secure American safety (Perhaps there's a lesson for in it us today as our people give away freedoms for safety) This film therefore should be viewed in the context of the times when it was made and not with 50 year hindsight, as doubtless 50 years from now our children will view at least some of the steps taken in the heightening of security today. While some critics have cited the committee for its violations of civil rights, it should be mentioned that many that have criticized this committee also heap praise upon the film industry for its patriotic films of World War II. Unfortunately this is a hypocritical viewpoint as the anti-Japanese films produced certainly helped produce the fear and paranoia that led to the abuse of Japanese-Americans' civil rights and their internment by their own government. The internment of a whole group is a much worse example of civil rights abuse than calling someone before congress resulting in them losing their job. Such is the narrow-sightedness of those who pick and choose their heroes and villains in black and white. The film in question deals with spies and saboteurs and not with (as one review gave me the impression of) the innocent "small fries". In the film the villains are not the idealists who go to American Communist Party meetings call everyone comrade debate Marx and Engel's viewpoints and who should run for election next fall and then go home to their spouses, but agents acting against the United States, and yes this did exist at the time. (People that had been believed innocent victims of communist 'witch hunts' were indeed shown later to have actually been foreign agents when the Soviet archives were opened after the collapse of communism in the USSR)

While facing the same problems as many other patriotic wartime films it does deliver enjoyable scenes and it is certainly mostly superior to many similar films made during World War II. The plot is generally entertaining but seems to suffer from an identity crisis as to whether it is trying to be more a counter espionage film or a romance film set in beautiful Hawaii. In fact a few parts even seem more reminiscent of a travelogue or a Hawaiian tourist advertisement. Despite this the plot does fill out and provides some entertainment. Wayne's acting is good as is that of most other cast members except for James Arness whose emotional outbursts don't come off as very believable when he gets infuriated about the traitorous party members and possibly Soo Fong also when recounting her personal ordeal about her 'recovery' from communism. She may have been trying to do her best with a script that seems to fall apart on this point of making communism sound like alcoholism or drug dependence. (You can almost picture John Wayne doing an 'intervention' and dragging off Stalin to the Betty Ford Clinic. In some ways this part of the movie reminds more of anti-drug or anti-sex exploitation films that have become cult classics such as Reefer Madness) While not the best, once the plot develops it is entertaining. Overall there are better films (and worse) about similar subjects and many better Wayne films but it is worth watching even if it's just to see one of the Korean-Cold War patriotic films or Wayne as a counterspy.

With the benefit of hindsight it's very easy to criticise this movie, but I think it is foolish to completely dismiss it. Forgetting the fact that its script is laughable, plot thin, acting wooden and appreciation of communism astoundingly pathetic, this film is a historical gem which allows one an insight into the right wing U.S paranoia prevalent in the 1950's cold war era.

In 50 years time from now I expect the future generation will find some of our contemporary Hollywood films just as risible. We are all but a product of our time.