Things I learnt from this film...
1) The Commies were the bad guys; well, after 1945, at least.
2) Never, ever, call John Wayne 'white trash'.
3) The Chief of Police in Honolulu in 1952 should hopefully have never left his day job to become an actor, based on his work in Big Jim McLain.
4) People who have second thoughts and leave the Communist Party on reflection, all believe they have committed a "crime against humanity".
5) If you join the Communist Party even if you do nothing wrong, expect to be disowned by your parents and reported to the appropriate authorities.(People such as Big Jim McLain).
6) On rejecting the Communist Party some people like to atone for their "crimes against humanity", by engaging in socially beneficial work like nursing lepers.
7) Even when investigating communists in Hawaii, Big Jim likes to have the weekends off, sight-see and go out with his gal. Sensible guy...leading a balanced lifestyle. We don't see enough of this in movies. Heroes recreating.
8)"Big Jim" looked small when standing beside James "The Thing" Arness.
9) No one carries guns in Hawaii in 1952. They just duke it out and no one dukes it out better than "The Duke".
10)James Arness was indeed a natural blond.
After due consideration of your post, I feel obliged to inform you that, suspecting you of Communist sympathies, I have reported you to the relevant authorities. Hope you don't mind!
shareNow you've done it Jason! I won't be able to sleep at night. I'll be forever awaiting that knock at the front door from someone just like Big Jim McLain, calling to bring me to account for my crimes against humanity.
Anyone know of a handy leper colony nearby?
Hey, you guys have nothing to worry about. Remember, as we learned from the film, all you have to do is plead the Fifth, and you get to go right back to your well-paying jobs, poisoning still more impressionable minds with Communism.
So you see, all those actors and writers and directors who never again worked in Hollywood after being exposed as former Reds by HUAC weren't really blacklisted. They merely gave up their well-paying jobs poisoning our people so that they could do penance for their shameful pasts by living in voluntary poverty...sometimes even moving to foreign countries and never seeing their homes again.
Something else I learned from this movie: Always remember to bring your girlfriend along when you make a bust of a bunch of dangerous thugs. Nancy Olsen looked so adorable riding along with the cops when they raided Alan Napier's Commie cell.
Yes, the film is propaganda. But we are looking back on a time we didn't live in. I wonder how history will judge our movies and choices.
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