El imperio maldito

If anyone who doesn't know much about those wondrous movie cliffhangers of the 40s should ask you to choose one for their viewing, I would take out my DVD copy of "G-Men Vs. the Black Dragon" as the ultimate best. The action and the cliffhanger endings are spectacular. You see all the classic dangers in the rip-roaring l5 chapters: exploding cars, buildings, planes, the saw-mill, the burning buildings. What really makes this serial stand out are the great production values, a tight script and a terrific cast that gives their all. Rod Cameron is incredibly like the fantasy action hero he enacts. Tall, handsome as hell, stern and serious minded, and his body movements are wonderful to watch. Assisting him are two equally outstanding crime fighters; Roland Got and the beautiful, feisty Constance Worth, an Australian actress, who proved she could handle a machine gun and a fist with the best of them all. This is one thing I've always loved about these serials: most female characters would jump right in and help out the hero, rather than fainting every few minutes or standing by and wringing their hands. With the newly restored and released "Daredevils of the West," many serial lovers are praising it as the greatest of all serials and this chapter play really delivers the goods. But it's this stunningly photographed, edited and acted--with a fantastic musical score--production that is always ready to be watched in my den. Wish this could be shown in movie theaters today along with a main feature and I'll bet the kids of today will jump into the action just as audiences of 1942 did when it was released. Bravo to Rod, Roland and Constance--fearless crime fighters all!

G-Men vs. the Black Dragon was the first of two serials released in 1943 starring Rod Cameron as Government Agent Rex Bennett. Loaded with action, it is one of the best of Republic's serials. There's at least two knock down drag out fights in every chapter, enhanced by Cameron's athletic prowess, which allowed him to be clearly a part of the fisticuffs (although he is clearly doubled in the more difficult stunts).

The story, set during WWII, involves the evil Japanese price Haruchi (Nino Pipitone) and his secret organization The Black Dragon, trying to sabotage American War efforts while planning an invasion of the U.S. Aided by his two henchmen Rango (Noel Cravat) and Lugo (George J. Lewis), The Black Dragon attempts to steal secret plans, blow up strategic installations and the like only to be thwarted at every turn by Bennett and his two assistants (Constance Worth, Roland Got).

All of the serial cliches are here, the exploding bridge, cars/trucks going over the cliff, warehouses blowing up, narrow last minute escapes etc. The stuntwork is excellent as always and the special effects created by the Lydecker Brothers are amazing for their time. Director William Witney keeps the action flowing and the fights a coming.

Cameron (before going on to bigger and better things) is excellent as Rex Bennett, who just can't seem to stay away from fist fights. Pipitone, Cravat, and Lewis add admirably to Republic's gallery of hissable serial villains. The only weakness in the cast are the wooden performances of Worth and Got as Bennett's assistants.

Still and all, G-Men vs. The Black Dragon represents one of the best examples of the lost art of Saturday matinee serials and should not be missed.

I love serials. Republic had the best action scenes, too. Watching G-Men Vs. The Black Dragon I saw virtually every possible cliffhanger setting: buzz saws, bombs, falling building, plane crashes, cars going over cliffs... all the things that made serials fun. Taking the context of the time period seriously, Japan was a serious threat. Making use of the stereotypical mysterious Asian character and the dedicated American law enforcement agent was a good set up at the time. The plot itself was minor, but the action in G-Men Vs. The Black Dragon was there to compensate for it.

I try to watch movies thinking in the same way that people would have at the time the movies were made. One thing that irritated me was Nino Pipitone's portrayal of the villain, Haruchi. Pipitone sounded more like a European count than a Japanese saboteur. His European ancestry could not be hidden under the eye makeup that made him Haruchi. I never really accepted the character as being Japanese. Perhaps the fact that Haruchi was almost always well dressed in a suit lessened the effect. When I saw Henry Brandon in The Drums Of Fu Manchu I knew he was not Chinese, but his character was so great that I did not care. In G-Men Vs. The Black Dragon the character Haruchi is really just a middle-man working for the Japanese government. He is a representative of the threatening evil rather than being the evil party. Haruchi commands henchmen Ranga and Lugo, who do the majority of the dirty work.

I liked Rod Cameron as Rex Bennett. He could get in a fight, an explosion, or jump from a plane and still make a suit look good. Roland Got as Chang and Constance Worth as Vivian Marsh were also good as Bennett's fellow agents. Vivian Marsh was a woman ready to face the bad guys at any time. I've seen more heroic women in serials than in westerns, so this was a nice change.