Just what I expected

Just perfect...

It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

it is finally so absorbing because it plays like a lyrical road odyssey that’s also a detective story.

BIG JIM MCLAIN feels like a big screen outing for the McCarthyist witch-hunts that were going on in Hollywood at the time. This black and white drama/thriller sees John Wayne and James Arness, both taller than tall actors, travelling to Honolulu on the trail of some Communist bad guys in order to bring them to book.The film benefits from a decent and unusual setting with a great number of local character actors playing in support. Unfortunately, the villains in this film are rather weak and not really villainous at all depending on your political persuasion. There are a couple of bouts of fisticuffs but too much of the screen time is bogged down in lethargic romance and time-wasting. You can sense that Wayne is itching to get back in the saddle and go for his guns against a real enemy.

Working for the U.S. House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), tall wizened John Wayne (as Jim McLain) is disgusted as guilty citizens take the Fifth Amendment when asked, "Are you now or have you even been a member of the Communist Party?" With tall young James Arness (as Mal Baxter) as his partner, Mr. Wayne is sent to root out Commies in Hawaii. In the future 50th state, Wayne is attracted to much younger Nancy Olson (as Nancy Vallon). Wayne and Ms. Olson get cozy as the soundtrack plays "Hawaiian Wedding Song"... Located anywhere and everywhere, the Commies are bent on "enslaving the common man." Wayne is there to stamp them out. Veda Ann Borg and Hans Conried make the most of the assignment, and some of it is unintentionally amusing. "Big Jim McLain" is Wayne with the warts showing, and they're not all political.** Big Jim McLain (8/30/52) Edward Ludwig ~ John Wayne, Nancy Olson, James Arness, Alan Napier

This is an awful movie.No matter what your politics, this is one of those jaw dropping bad movies that is so bad it's mesmerizing.Duke and Marshall Dillion scurry around Hawaii chasing an inept bunch of "commie" conspirators, though Big Jim somehow manages to spend the majority of his time wooing Nancy Olson. Stuff happens, just much of it makes little sense. It's hard to imagine this bunch involved in a struggle for world conquest. It's all about as exciting as traffic tickets.This is Ed Wood caliber cinema here people (just a larger budget). It's just hard to imagine Duke and pretty Nancy Olson stuck in the middle of this nonsense (on the other hand, Uncle Tonoose seems right at home).

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!