Big Jim McLain (1952)

Director: Edward Ludwig
Starring: John Wayne, Nancy Olson, James Arness

Synopsis:
A pair of investigators for the House Un-American Activities Committee go to Hawaii in search of Communist operatives.

Impressions:
When I was doing my reviews of McQ and Brannigan, I found out the only other film John Wayne did as a modern law enforcement officer was this one. Much as The Green Berets runs counter to the accepted narrative about the Vietnam War, this is one of the few movies to place the House Un-American Activities Committee in a heroic role. I'm not going to get mired in the politics here. As far as crime thrillers go, this is only so-so. The movie is as much propaganda for HUAC as it is an ad for the Hawaii tourism board. The characters are fairly engaging and there's a decent blend of humor and action. It's interesting that Honolulu Chief of Police Dan Liu plays himself and is about as stilted as you'd expect a real-life police chief would be when placed in front of a camera and fed lines. As a bit of cinematic oddity, I recommend giving it a shot.

Rating:
Watch It