Big Jim McLain

Big Jim McLain is a 1952 American film noir political thriller film starring John Wayne and James Arness as HUAC investigators hunting down communists in the postwar Hawaii organized-labor scene. Edward Ludwig directed.

Quick facts: Big Jim McLain, Directed by, Written by, Prod... ▼

Big Jim McLain
The 1952 promotional poster for Big Jim McLain
Directed by	Edward Ludwig
Written by	Richard English (story) James Edward Grant Eric Taylor
Produced by	Robert M. Fellows John Wayne
Starring	John Wayne Nancy Olson James Arness Alan Napier Veda Ann Borg
Cinematography	Archie J. Stout
Edited by	Jack Murray
Music by	Paul Dunlap Arthur Lange Emil Newman
Color process	Black and white
Production company	Wayne-Fellows Productions
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date	August 30, 1952 (1952-08-30)
Running time	90 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$2.6 million (US rentals)[1]

This was the first film in which Wayne played a contemporary law enforcement officer, instead of an Old West lawman. Near the end of his career, in the mid-1970s, he took on two more such roles, (Brannigan and McQ), each time playing an urban cop.