utgard14 John Wayne and James Arness play a couple of HUAC agents who are out to find Communists in Hawaii. Interesting and, at times, hilarious time capsule from the '50s with a riotous performance from Arness. This guy really hates Commies! Despite the serious business of busting Reds, Duke finds time for romance with pretty Nancy Olson. Their love scenes are as close to sappy as Duke ever got. Veda Ann Borg has a great part as a horny landlady ("76 inches...that's a lot of man"). Hans Conried is amusing as a crank. Alan Napier is the head villain but we never get to see Duke sock him so his role is kind of a dud. The rest of the supporting cast is weak. None of John Wayne's usual cast of regulars and friends is present. Whether that's their choice or not, I don't know and I don't want to read too much into it. For some reason the film is set in Hawaii and makes a lot of use of that, even using several Hawaiians in supporting roles. Some of these are very obvious non-actors and the film suffers due to their monotone line delivery. The beginning and end of the movie are the most exciting parts. The middle is pretty dull, thanks in large part to the lackluster romantic plot and Arness missing for a long stretch. Definitely a curiosity fans of the Duke will want to see. Certain types will have hissy fits over the subject matter so I'm sure they will enjoy it for those reasons. It's not a particularly strong movie and there are some laughs to be had, regardless of your political leanings. It's worth checking out at least once.

PartialMovieViewer Even though the script and directing were a bit rough, the storyline was almost OK. The film quality (I know – it was black and white) – sucked, and other than Wayne and Arness, I didn't notice any memorable talent. Nancy Olsen was meh – OK – I guess. As mediocre as this flick is, it is a movie of its time. I got the message loud and clear…the US and the rest of the world were still recovering from a horrible war, and communism is/was a dangerous road go down. I have seem this movie once and doubt I will sit through it again. If it wasn't for John Wayne and James Arness, this movie would probably end up starless – but those two are in it – so I will have to hand out five stars.

mark.waltz That's what a Japanese nurse tells House on Un-American Activities Investigator John Wayne (as the title character) about her feelings towards Communism when he questions her about her Communist ex-husband. Wayne's obsessively conservative politics take over his likable box-office appeal in this unfortunate political drama that only paints part of the picture. Halliwell's "Film Guide" described this film as a "Curious and rather offensive star vehicle in which the right-wing political shading interferes seriously with the entertainment value". I do not profess to be an expert on communism, but I do understand that the Red Scare of the late 1940's and 1950's was an era in Hollywood that destroyed many innocent people, and films like this, "The Red Menace" and "I Was a Communist For the FBI" are just as manipulative as the dangers they are preaching against. Layered with an unfortunate narration by Wayne in character, and a prologue of alleged communists being questioned, it is rather obvious from the beginning and ultimately self-serving.Wayne, an All-American hero whose appeal cannot be denied, was certainly entitled to "Freedom of Speech", but with the preachiness of this screenplay, he totally looses credibility. When Communists are seen, they are as obvious as the stereotypical Nazi's of those propaganda filled World War II movies. In the more serious war films, the most dangerous Nazi's were actually those who were cultured yet evil when it came down to performing their mission. Had Hollywood presented a different side of the "Red Scare", rather than just always one, these films might hold up better today. James Arness is perfectly cast as Wayne's co-hort (they seem like brothers), while Veda Ann Borg and Hans Conreid offer amusing supporting roles. I actually began to like the film just a tad bit more every time the blowzy Borg came on screen, especially in her drunken restaurant scene. "72 Inches of a Real Man!" she coos at Wayne as only she could in that femme fatal way. The humor, though, is utilized really to sidetrack the viewer. Filmed in black and white, the photography makes the film really uninvolving considering its Hawaiian setting.

Robert J. Maxwell "Big Jim McClain" is distinctive in several ways. First, it features three of the tallest men in the movies. John Wayne (six-feet, four inches), James Arness (six-feet, six inches), and Allan Napier (seven-hundred-and-twenty-two feet). Second, this, along with "The Green Berets", is the most political movie that John Wayne has ever made. It reflects accurately Wayne's view of the Communist Menace. This is the John Wayne who carried a cigarette lighter inscribed "**** Communism." Boy -- are they shifty -- and ruthless too.Allan Napier is the Russky head of the Hawaiian cell. He says something along the lines of, "I hate these domestic communists. These 'committed' party members. But we need them until we take power. Then -- liquidate." This is a staple of spy movies. They sacrifice one another remorselessly for the good of the cause. They're getting in all over too. After a professor takes the fifth, Wayne grumbles, "Now he's free to go back to teaching economics at the university and contaminate more young minds." We never learn about the nature of the contamination. There is a lone reference to Marx and several bitter comments about "the party line" and "all that baloney," but all we ever see of the Red Menace is that they plot to infect everybody by releasing a horde of sick rats in Honolulu. They could be pod people from outer space. They're pure e-vil.Wayne and Arness are members of the House Un-American Activities Committee, sent to Honolulu to uncover these Red moles who have infiltrated the unions. There is also a plot hatched by Napier to unloose all sorts of evil on the islands and halt shipping -- what with strikes and those infected rats. Arness is accidentally killed by the commies, but Wayne and the Hawaiian police capture the evildoers.It's a terrible movie but fascinating too. Never dull. It's hard to generalize about the acting. Some performances are decent, others are ludicrous. Wayne exudes his usual John Wayneness. Arness, who was The Thing in Howard Hawks' "The Thing From Another World," is likably competent as the sidekick. Nancy Olson is beautiful, in an extra-ordinary way. She plays a medical student and she should know how to do it, medicine having been demystified by her physician father. Captain Liu of the HPD cannot act. Neither can a couple of other members of the cast. An elderly Polish refugee is played like a character role in a movie from the early 1930s -- only badly. The lack of talent on display is embarrassing.As if in compensation the movie takes us on a tour of the sights. See the Pali? Notice John and Nancy riding the surf in a catamaran at Waikiki. Aren't the little native girls cute, doing a slow, hip-swinging hula? It's those darned Russkies who cause trouble in paradise.The intent of the flag-waving should reach the most "low-information" of voters. The opening scene has Daniel Webster practically rising from his grave and asking, "Neighbor, how stands the union?" The chief narration is by Wayne, who sometimes seems to shout his apoplectic, angry pronouncements into the microphone. He gets extra points for believing what he says.There's a humorous interlude involving Veda Ann Borg as a good-natured, alcoholic, nymphomaniac who refers to Wayne as "76" because he is 76 inches tall. "Oh ho, manama nui!" It's at once gripping and hilarious to see Wayne try to shepherd her through a dinner at the Royal Hawaiian.It occurred to me, as Wayne's plane is about to land and the stewardess announces that several fancy hotels can be seen on Waikiki through the window -- the Manoa among them -- that when I was a teaching assistant at a semi-exclusive university, I had cause to counsel a student who was agonizing over her low grades in my class. She didn't want to fail because she'd have to leave and attend a state university and it would kill her father. He was the manager of the Moana Hotel. I never could afford to see the inside of the Moana but years earlier I stole an over-sized towel with the Moana logo from its beach front. I squeaked her through, partly out of guilt.All apologies for that digression into the ironic but, really, it wouldn't have been much more helpful if I'd stuck to a discussion of the movie. It is to film what Grandma Moses is to painting.It's an awful movie, but you might enjoy it. I know I did.