Big Jim Mclain

[Sam]

I remember this movie was mentioned some years ago.. John Wayne in "Big Jim Mclain" Here is the youtube link to the movie..

https://youtu.be/_FYOh-6iCHo

[Sam]

I see this didn't get any interest but this was John Wayne in Chinatown, Hanauma Bay and the Pali Lookout..
Old Hawaii.

[Luther's nephew Dobie]

I see this didn't get any interest but this was John Wayne in Chinatown, Hanauma Bay and the Pali Lookout..
Old Hawaii.

Hi Sam,
I always liked this Duke flick though most reviewers rate it as barely average. James Arness and Wayne have good chemistry.
Some nice action, on scene photography of 1952 Hawaii.
I wonder if there are more than a few shared locations shots with Magnum PI or Hawaii 5-0 ?
I like the bit about Daniel Webster, though I know it's corny and dated.
The Communist influenced union angle was way overblown and I recall reading about WW2 and Korea
vets who worked on the docks back
then were beyond irate at "Hollywood" for portraying them as disloyal.
Slogan for the film's PR campaign: "He's A Go-Get-'Em Guy for the U.S.A. on a Treason Trail That Leads Half-a-World Away!"
This was the first Wayne film where he is a modern "cop" instead of the sheriff. He made two more in his career, can
anyone name them? Hint: one of them has a member of the Black Adder cast in it.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Never trust a pretty girl or a lonely midget"...Evil Roy Slade(John Astin)

[Pahonu]

I see this didn't get any interest but this was John Wayne in Chinatown, Hanauma Bay and the Pali Lookout..
Old Hawaii.

Hi Sam,
I always liked this Duke flick though most reviewers rate it as barely average. James Arness and Wayne have good chemistry.
Some nice action, on scene photography of 1952 Hawaii.
I wonder if there are more than a few shared locations shots with Magnum PI or Hawaii 5-0 ?
I like the bit about Daniel Webster, though I know it's corny and dated.
The Communist influenced union angle was way overblown and I recall reading about WW2 and Korea
vets who worked on the docks back
then were beyond irate at "Hollywood" for portraying them as disloyal.
Slogan for the film's PR campaign: "He's A Go-Get-'Em Guy for the U.S.A. on a Treason Trail That Leads Half-a-World Away!"
This was the first Wayne film where he is a modern "cop" instead of the sheriff. He made two more in his career, can
anyone name them? Hint: one of them has a member of the Black Adder cast in it.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Never trust a pretty girl or a lonely midget"...Evil Roy Slade(John Astin)

I’ve seen both McQ set in Seattle and the one in London, whose name I don’t recall. Both are okay, but he was getting up there in age and the action scenes reflect that. I’ve not seen this one however.

Edit:
I just read the synopsis and it describes his character as a HUAC investigator. It seems very much of it’s time! There’s quite a history of the right portraying union members as communists dating back to the first red scare in the 20’s, Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer notoriously so. Also, the 1950’s saw the highest rate of union membership in US history. I can understand the dockworkers feelings about it. I found the other title, Brannigan, made right after McQ.

[Luther's nephew Dobie]

I see this didn't get any interest but this was John Wayne in Chinatown, Hanauma Bay and the Pali Lookout..
Old Hawaii.

Hi Sam,
I always liked this Duke flick though most reviewers rate it as barely average. James Arness and Wayne have good chemistry.
Some nice action, on scene photography of 1952 Hawaii.
I wonder if there are more than a few shared locations shots with Magnum PI or Hawaii 5-0 ?
I like the bit about Daniel Webster, though I know it's corny and dated.
The Communist influenced union angle was way overblown and I recall reading about WW2 and Korea
vets who worked on the docks back then were beyond irate at "Hollywood" for portraying them as disloyal.
Slogan for the film's PR campaign: "He's A Go-Get-'Em Guy for the U.S.A. on a Treason Trail That Leads Half-a-World Away!"
This was the first Wayne film where he is a modern "cop" instead of the sheriff. He made two more in his career, can
anyone name them? Hint: one of them has a member of the Black Adder cast in it.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Never trust a pretty girl or a lonely midget"...Evil Roy Slade(John Astin)

I’ve seen both McQ set in Seattle and the one in London, whose name I don’t recall. Both are okay, but he was getting up there in age and the action scenes reflect that. I’ve not seen this one however.
Edit:
I just read the synopsis and it describes his character as a HUAC investigator. It seems very much of it’s time! There’s quite a history of the right portraying union members as communists dating back to the first red scare in the 20’s, Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer notoriously so. Also, the 1950’s saw the highest rate of union membership in US history. I can understand the dockworkers feelings about it. I found the other title, Brannigan, made right after McQ.

Hi Pahonu,
You win a case of Old Dusseldorf for your answers.
Brannigan has Black Adder's Tony Robinson(Baldrick) as a motorcycle rider who Wayne chases till he winds up in the river. I like Brannigan because it seems to me the producers purposely included
most all the sites tourists - like me - would visit. Piccadilly Circus, Tower Bridge, New Scotland Yard, etc. The Lamb Tavern in Leadenhall is where the big fight scene takes place.
Brannigan, like most of Wayne's last Westerns recycled bits from earlier movies, because they worked and it's what his fans wanted, but by doing that they perhaps short changed the
movies themselves by not striving for something better. Of course his last film,The Shootist, with Lauren Bacall is a great one.
I can't recall where but it now occurs to me that somewhere on these boards we discussed Big Jim McLain in detail.
Somebody mentioned it's shared sites with Magnum and then would post pics of a scene from the Wayne flick, then the same spot as shown on Magnum.

[Luther's nephew Dobie]

Big Jim McLain is on this Sunday, July 11th, at 8 pm on INSP.

Some more Big Jim McLain trivia:
When it was dubbed into German the whole 5th column Communist network angle in Hawaii was dropped. Instead Wayne was a Fed going after pot smugglers. It was even retitled
"Mathuana", German for marijuana.
The changing of the film's title and plot for European tastes reminds me of when Laverne and Shirley was first shown overseas. Their antics as women was so foreign to the Thai
culture that in the opening credits it was stated that 'these two women are escapees from an insane asylum'.
But I digress, back to Big Jim. If you pay attention there are many scenes where they filmed in public instead of on a closed set, the bystanders obviously reacting to seeing Wayne and other stars.
Perhaps they used hidden cameras in sound trucks as was famously done in "The Lost Weekend" as drunken Ray Milland walked the streets of New York.
Even when closed sets were used, regular civilians could get into the act. While "Midnight Cowboy" was filming in NYC, a cab driver darted around some barriers and almost ran into Dustin Hoffman
and Jon Voight in a crosswalk. Hoffman then ad-libs one of the most famous lines in cinema history, "I'm walking here".

[MikeS]

I have always enjoyed the lesser appreciated flicks like this one. The Wings of Eagles and The Quiet Man are a few of my favs too. I really enjoyed John on I Love Lucy - hilarious.

[Luther's nephew Dobie]

I have always enjoyed the lesser appreciated flicks like this one. The Wings of Eagles and The Quiet Man are a few of my favs too. I really enjoyed John on I Love Lucy - hilarious.

Hi Mike S,
The Duke with Lucy was a classic. He also popped up on Maude,Beverly Hillbillies,The Lucy Show when Lucy visited the set of "El Dorado" (or was it "Rio Lobo"). Wayne dressed as
a bunny on Laugh In. You never saw other tough guy superstars willing to do silly stuff on TV like that, Clint Eastwood never.
I take that back, William Holden appeared on I Love Lucy too. And Eastwood early on in his career - as Rawhide was getting popular - appeared on Mister Ed, though I suspect then
TV mogul George Burns might have made that happen.
As for "Wings of Eagles", I thought Wayne did some of his best acting in that one, good choice Mike S.

[MikeS]

I have always enjoyed the lesser appreciated flicks like this one. The Wings of Eagles and The Quiet Man are a few of my favs too. I really enjoyed John on I Love Lucy - hilarious.

Hi Mike S,
The Duke with Lucy was a classic. He also popped up on Maude,Beverly Hillbillies,The Lucy Show when Lucy visited the set of "El Dorado" (or was it "Rio Lobo"). Wayne dressed as
a bunny on Laugh In. You never saw other tough guy superstars willing to do silly stuff on TV like that, Clint Eastwood never.
I take that back, William Holden appeared on I Love Lucy too. And Eastwood early on in his career - as Rawhide was getting popular - appeared on Mister Ed, though I suspect then
TV mogul George Burns might have made that happen.
As for "Wings of Eagles", I thought Wayne did some of his best acting in that one, good choice Mike S.

Hi LnD

The Lucy Show appearance was a classic as well. IIRK that was when John was trying to shoot a saloon fight and Lucy kept interferring... including cracking John on the head herself. I watch that episode any time it's on.

The William Holden episode is another very enjoyable episode... IIRK, Lucy and Ethel are kicked off the bus and Lucy winds up on William Holden's block wall trying to get an orange or somthing - she falls into his backyard, eventually winds up in his house, so much fun, great episode. I think a number of really fun episodes are when they go to Hollywood. I might be getting this episode confused but another with JW was the footprints in cement, by the end of the episode JW brought 6 or 8 additional casts should Lucy screw something up Very Funny. BTW, Little Ricky played in one set of still wet bootprints IIRK

Kinda off-topic but Cousin Ernie (TEF) was another fun episode.

[Little Garwood]

Despite owning it on DVD, I’ve never been much of a fan of Big Jim McLain. The era itself fascinates me, but imo the Duke did a better job battling commie rat bastards in 1955’s Blood Alley, a film which could have been a storyline in Milton Caniff’s Steve Canyon comic strip.

In fact, I would go as far to say that the anti communist propaganda films of this era are more entertaining—and informative, even—than Big Jim McLain. This movie, however, is interesting for its glimpses into 1952 Hawaii and to watch a pre-Gunsmoke James Arness tower over everyone, including John Wayne.

[Pahonu]

Despite owning it on DVD, I’ve never been much of a fan of Big Jim McLain. The era itself fascinates me, but imo the Duke did a better job battling commie rat bastards in 1955’s Blood Alley, a film which could have been a storyline in Milton Caniff’s Steve Canyon comic strip.

In fact, I would go as far to say that the anti communist propaganda films of this era are more entertaining—and informative, even—than Big Jim McLain. This movie, however, is interesting for its glimpses into 1952 Hawaii and to watch a pre-Gunsmoke James Arness tower over everyone, including John Wayne.

Most don’t realize James Arness was over 6-7, like myself, compared to a paltry 6-4 for John Wayne… and Tom Selleck.

The era is certainly fascinating, but the portrayal of unions by many as being communist proved wildly off base and ultimately harmful.