Big Jim McLain 1952

During the late 1940s, HUAC investigators Jim McLain John Wayne and Mal Baxter James Arness are dispatched to Hawaii to track Communist Party activities and gather evidence toward convictions. Their mission sweeps across the shipping lanes and harbor operations, uncovering a tangled web of insurance fraud, saboteurs, and infiltrators inside labor unions that threaten to foul the loading and unloading of ships on the Honolulu docks. A key break comes when a local newspaper reporter shares tips that steer them toward Willie Nomaka, a former Party treasurer, drawing the pair deeper into a case that blends espionage with criminal conspiracies.

Nomaka is under the care of psychiatrist Dr. Gelster [Gayne Whitman], whose secretary Nancy Vallon [Nancy Olson] proves particularly helpful. McLain pursues a developing connection with her on a date, and a genuine romance blossoms amid the danger and intrigue. Meanwhile, Nomaka disappears during treatment for what’s described as an induced nervous breakdown. Nomaka’s landlady, Madge [Veda Ann Borg], grows involved in the investigation, while Nomaka’s ex-wife [Soo Yong] as Mrs. Namaka, a former Communist, supplies crucial background information that helps McLain connect the dots. Nomaka is eventually located under an alias at a Honolulu sanatorium, but he is heavily drugged and unable to speak.

Sturak [Alan Napier], the Party’s leader, orders Dr. Gelster to dispose of Nomaka, yet McLain manages to rescue him and carry him to safety. Sadly, Nomaka’s knowledge proves of little value to the investigators. The danger escalates when two thug Communists kidnap Baxter, and during a tense interrogation, Gelster accidentally kills him with a sodium pentothal injection. The loss steels McLain’s resolve to finish the task, despite the heavy setback.

In the meantime, Sturak convenes a meeting of the Party cell, where he instructs Gelster to confess his party membership to local authorities with the aim of convincing investigators that the cell has been destroyed and that other cells can continue their work unchecked. Gelster is reluctant to sacrifice himself for the Party, and the moment finally erupts when McLain arrives, delivering a hard punch to Gelster for Baxter’s death. The authorities soon arrive, and the insurrectionists are placed under arrest. Those responsible for Baxter’s death are convicted of murder, but the broader implication remains a chilling reminder of how political pressure and fear can shape law enforcement.

As the investigations progress, McLain and Nancy witness other Communist figures choosing to plead the Fifth Amendment to avoid self-incrimination during additional HUAC interrogations. The outcome feels almost cyclical—McLain achieves a measure of justice for Baxter, yet the system leaves him back at square one, continuing the broader struggle that defined his mission and the era.