''Black Dragons'' is a 1942 American film directed by

William Nigh William Nigh (October 12, 1881 – November 27, 1955) was an American film director, writer, and actor. His film work sometimes lists him as either "Will Nigh" or "William Nye". Biography Nigh was born Emil Kreuske''Silent Film Necrology'' ...

and starring

Bela Lugosi Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó (; October 20, 1882 – August 16, 1956), known professionally as Bela Lugosi (; ), was a Hungarian and American actor best remembered for portraying Count Dracula in the 1931 horror classic ''Dracula'', Ygor in ''S ...

, Joan Barclay, and George Pembroke. The cast includes Clayton Moore, who plays a handsome detective. The Black Dragon Society also appears in '' Let's Get Tough!'' a 1942 East Side Kids film made by the same team of writer Harvey Gates and producer

Sam Katzman Sam Katzman (July 7, 1901 – August 4, 1973) was an American film producer and director. Katzman produced low-budget genre films, including serials, which had disproportionately high returns for the studios and his financial backers. E ...

Plot

It is prior to the American entry into World War II, and Japan's fiendish Black Dragon Society is hatching an evil plot with the

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in N ...

. They instruct a brilliant scientist, Dr. Melcher, to travel to Japan on a secret mission. There he operates on six Japanese conspirators, transforming them to resemble six American leaders. The actual leaders are murdered and replaced with their likenesses. Dr. Melcher is condemned to a lifetime of imprisonment so the secret may die with him.

Cast

as Dr. Melcher aka Monsieur Colomb / Cell Prisoner * Joan Barclay as Alice Saunders *George Pembroke as Dr. Bill Saunders * Clayton Moore as Dick Martin *

Robert Frazer Robert Frazer (born Robert William Browne, June 29, 1891August 17, 1944) was an American actor who appeared in some 224 shorts and films from the 1910s until his death. He began in films with the Eclair company which released through Universal ...

as Amos Hanlin * Edward Peil, Sr. as Philip Wallace (credited as Edward Piel Sr.) * Robert Fiske as Ryder *Irving Mitchell as John Van Dyke *

Kenneth Harlan Kenneth Daniel Harlan (July 26, 1895 – March 6, 1967) was an American actor of the silent film era, playing mostly romantic leads or adventurer types. Early life Harlan was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of George W. Harlan and ac ...

as FBI Chief Colton *Max Hoffman Jr. as Kearney *Frank Melton as FBI Agent *Joseph Eggenton as Stevens * I. Stanford Jolley as The Dragon (credited as Stanford Jolley) *

Jack Cheatham John Preston Cheatham (December 28, 1894 – March 30, 1971) was an American character actor of the 1930s and 1940s. During his career he appeared in almost 200 films, with 100 of them being features. Life and career Born John Preston Cheat ...

as Policeman (uncredited) *Jack Chefe as Hotel Clerk (uncredited) *

Bernard Gorcey Bernard Gorcey (9 January 1886 – 11 September 1955) was a Russian-born American actor. He began in Vaudeville, performed on Broadway, and appeared in multiple shorts and films. He portrayed ice cream shop proprietor Louie Dumbrowski i ...

as The Cabbie (uncredited) *Jack Holmes as Industrialist (uncredited) *

Ethelreda Leopold Ethelreda Leopold (July 2, 1914January 26, 1998) was an American film actress. She appeared credited in approximately 65 films between 1934 and 1972. She also appeared in commercials. Leopold is familiar to modern viewers for her roles in seve ...

as Girl at Party (uncredited) *Carl M. Leviness as Industrialist (uncredited)

Production

The film was rushed into production following the

attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii ...

. It was to begin filming on 17 January 1942 but this was pushed back until 21 January. The original working title was ''The Yellow Menace''.Gary John Rhodes, ''Lugosi: His Life in Films, on Stage, and in the Hearts of Horror Lovers'' p 123
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Release

The film was released in Los Angeles on the double bill with the Australian film ''

Pituri Pituri, also known as mingkulpa, is a mixture of leaves and wood ash traditionally chewed as a stimulant (or, after extended use, a depressant) by Aboriginal Australians widely across the continent. Leaves are gathered from any of several speci ...

'' (also known as '' Uncivilised''). The ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

'' said that "those who love their mystery and their Lugosi will find this film unusually sinister." The film was colorized in the 1990s.

References

External links