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House Un-American Activities Committee investigators Jim McLain and Mal Baxter come to Hawaii to track Communist Party activities. They are interested in everything from insurance fraud to the sabotage of a U.S. naval vessel. After receiving useful information from a reporter named Briggs, the agents begin searching for Willie Nomaka, a party treasurer, who allegedly has experienced a nervous breakdown and has been seeing Dr. Gelster, a psychiatrist. The doctor's secretary, Nancy Vallon, is helpful as well. She is a widow; McLain asks her on a date, and a romance develops. Nomaka's landlady, Madge, assists in the investigation, flirting with McLain. Nomaka's ex-wife also helps him. He is eventually found to be staying in a sanitarium, heavily drugged and unable to speak. Party leader Sturak gives orders to Dr. Gelster to get rid of him. Gelster also kills McLain's partner, Baxter, by mistake with an injection of truth serum. As the investigators close in, Sturak attempts to make Gelster confess to his party membership so the case can be closed and so others can continue their nefarious work. Their meeting is interrupted by McLain who instigates a brawl. Police arrive to place party leaders under arrest, but ultimately he and Nancy Vallon see them plead the Fifth Amendment and go free.Read full review
Remember those black-and-white films they used to show in high school, that warned of the dangers of sex, drugs, or drunk driving? This 1952 release has the same propagandist feel. John Wayne is an agent searching for Communists. In 1952, a Communist in the United States was about as welcome as a leper --- and there are lepers in this movie, too! The Communists drug people, drive them insane, falsely imprison them in mental asylums, and literally commit murder. Women fall in love with John Wayne at first sight. He not only gets a communist doctor's receptionist to inform on her boss, he proposes to the receptionist --- midway through their first date! They spend the remainder of the date in church --- not getting married, but thanking God for each other. There's a scene at Pearl Harbor. where the sunken naval ship Arizona is used to illustrate how brave Americans died to preserve Democracy. It's a powerful analogy --- until you remember that Pearl Harbor was bombed by the Japanese, not Communists; Russia was, in fact, America's ally in World War II. Although the fear of Communism was a serious matter, the situations in this film are so unlikely they seem amusing. The dialogue is stilted and the actors, including Wayne, recite their lines with little emotion. You may be shocked and offended by the intolerant portrayal of all Communists. Or, if you are a die-hard patriot, you may applaud the film's all-American conservative values. Watch it for a true picture of how many Americans thought & felt in a bygone era. Read full review
Verified purchase: No
beautiful picture with great color. great characters
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
My brother is a HUGE John Wayne fan, so anything about Wayne is a hit for him. This was a birthday gift, and he was both surprised and happy to have a little known film starring the Duke. He started quoting facts about the communist hunt before watching the film. Thanks for having a film my brother didn't have in his collection.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
A good John Wayne movie. Very entertaining.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
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