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"Black Dragons" is a second feature WWII propaganda film popular at the time. It's not as bad as some would have you believe.

A secret meeting hosted by the respected Dr. William Saunders (George Pembroke)is interrupted by a mysterious stranger names Monsieur Colomb (Bela Lugosi). Shortly thereafter the participants at the meeting begin to turn up murdered, their bodies being placed on the steps of the Japanese embassy in Washington. Colomb is suspected. Federal Agent Dick Martin (Clayton Moore) is assigned to the case and meets Saunders niece Alice Saunders (Joan Barclay) who tries to assist him. The reasons behind Colomb's actions are not explained until the final reel. Until all is explained at the end, the story is hard to comprehend.

Lugosi who had by this time been reduced to appearing in a string of low budget quickies, is actually quite good in this one. He is not allowed to over act as much as he ususlly did and credit for this has to go to director William Nigh. Lugosi's character slinks through the shadows and is reminiscent of his Dracula even to the point of the full close ups of his piercing eyes.

Clayton Moore, a one dimensional actor at best, would become TV's Lone Ranger in a few years. Joan Barclay makes a good heroine.

Although a little dated now, "Black Dragons" is not a bad way to spend an hour.

Poor Bela Lugosi. Just another day at work. A group of saboteurs attempting to disrupt the American war effort from the inside. It's pretty hard to figure out at first because, while we know these guys are up to something, their method of operation just isn't very clear. I won't spoil it, but the ending in pretty amazing. There are a series of murders perpetrated by our hero. A police force that doesn't know what is going on. What a coincidence that all the victims seem to come and go from the same house. There are comments like, "A true patriot would do this or that." It's obvious while suspicion abounds most of the world wouldn't know a spy or a subversive if it jumped up and bit them. I also was surprised to see Clayton Moore (the Lone Ranger) in a romantic role. I never realized that he ever did anything other than sit on a horse. There is, of course, the smugness of the criminals as they think that they are immune from the killer's guest list. Anyway, Bela is sort of a good guy and a bad guy rolled into one. The best scene in the movie is at the end, but I won't spoil it. As a curiosity, and a period piece, it may be fun to watch for some people.

None of the critics have much good to say about it, but BLACK DRAGONS is a much better-than-expected attempt at an entirely new genre: flag-waving horror.

Bela Lugosi is a mysterious man who mysteriously shows up at a renowned doctor's home, soon after which his guests start mysteriously being murdered. Could it be that they had something to hide? Could there be more to them than meets the eye? What initially fails to make much sense is creatively sorted out in a wonderfully fun B-movie manner.

BLACK DRAGONS was made during the Second World War and it shows, quite painfully at times. The use of the term "Japs" will catch some contemporary viewers off guard, but it's really not that bad when you put it into the proper context. The film is clumsily patriotic, and more silly fun than scary or thrilling. Lugosi is an absolute treat, covering up murders and turning on the "Who, me?" act with ease.

It's not a classic, but BLACK DRAGONS is a good, tidy black and white B-film with a certain watch-it-late-at-night appeal. Director William Nigh had a knack for turning poverty row pictures into something special. Some of his other efforts include DOOMED TO DIE and THE FATAL HOUR with another horror icon, Boris Karloff.

This piece of tacky WW2 propaganda has Bela Lugosi kill off various fith columnists and leave their corpses outside the Japanese embassy in Washington (with a prominently placed "Closed" sign on its door). Most of the film has Bela darting in and out of various "hidden" rooms in his main foe's rather small house and sneaking up on people from behind them. For example, everyone enters the cellar by going round the side of the house and through some front doors above the cellar; Bela, however, appears to get in via some inside door (so he doesn't have to leave the house). In a scene near the end he drags one of his victims through a previously unseen curtain in the living room and into some huge, medieval-type room with a long table that had previously not featured in the house at all and had somehow been missed by the large contingent of FBI men. Another scene has him sneak into a small room below the stairs, as hero and heroine ascent the stairs, so he can somehow get into the upstairs room of his Doctor victim before the others. These momentary pleasures, though, are outweighed by the ludicrous climatic flashback plot revelation in which it is revealed that Lugosi is a Nazi plastic surgeon who has transformed Japanese agents into these American-looking fifth columnists. The daftest moment, in a thoroughly daft film, comes when Lugosi is double-crossed by the fiendish Orientals and thrown into a cell into which, conveniently, is another prisoner who looks exactly like him (but sans beard) and is about to be released. The Great Man gives a chuckle and takes out his beard-trimming kit (that the Japanese have helpfully left him with). Welcome to Monogram; a Universe all of its own. See also The Ape Man and The Corpse Vanished for more of the same.

We are treated to eavesdropping on a cabal of fifth-column industrialist leaders snickering over their misdeeds.

So, is this going to be a two-dimensional sabotage movie where the good guys figure out who the bad guys are just in time to save the bacon?

No. This is more insidious. It looks like the cabal has another secret that will be detected and corrected, not out of patriotism but revenge.

Can you guess the secret before it is played out?

Bela Lugosi Dr. Melcher - aka Monsieur Colomb, Cell Prisoner, gets to make his signature light on his eyes look.

Joan Barclay as Alice Saunders plays the love interest.

A very strange poverty row production from the period where horror star Bela Lugosi was resigned to taking whatever roles he could get. However, this entry in what we might safely call Bela's "Monogram Nine Series" is really far-out! He plays a strange visitor who first arrives at a reputed doctor's home in the guise of a patient, and then starts to take over the place, holding the doctor prisoner in his own house, and also killing a group of other important men who are associated with him. Lugosi has an old score to settle with these well-to-do types, and it involves his former association with the Nazis and the Japanese. By the time the 61 minutes are over, all will be explained (sort of!). If you're expecting too much sense out of a crazy movie like this, you can forget about watching it. This is not a horror film (though the ending may qualify) but it's a strange one and a rather offbeat curiosity for Bela Lugosi fans. He's also got a few really absurd lines which are a lot of fun. ** out of ****

1942's "Black Dragons" came third in the run of 9 Monogram titles for Bela Lugosi (working title "Yellow Menace"), a great improvement on the listless "Spooks Run Wild," its topicality and implausible plotline not preventing it from being one of his better vehicles of the decade ("Bowery at Midnight" easily tops them all). America's recent entry to WW2 finds a meeting of powerful businessmen engaged in strategy at the Washington D. C. home of Dr. Bill Saunders (George Pembroke) when a stranger arrives, a patient calling himself Monsieur Colomb (Lugosi), proceeding to put the drugged doctor to bed while taking up residence as permanent houseguest. By morning, the corpse of Kearney (Max Hoffman Jr.), one of the Saunders guests, is found on the steps of the now closed Japanese Embassy, with a Japanese dagger in his cold hand, just as the doctor's niece Alice (Joan Barclay) unexpectedly shows up to visit her uncle. Puzzled at the locked door to Saunders' bedroom, she is soon befriended by FBI agent Dick Martin (Clayton Moore), who appears too late to prevent the death of Wallace (Edward Peil Sr.), sneaking into the house in search of something only to find a fatal encounter with Colomb. Now that two of the six are deceased, the panicked Van Dyke (Irving Mitchell) is targeted for elimination by Ryder (Robert Fiske) in the Saunders basement, each one shooting the other to spare Colomb from killing them himself (their bodies are also dumped at the Japanese Embassy). Only New York banker Hanlon (Robert Frazer) is left to be used as bait for the murderer, but it won't be long before full vengeance is achieved at the expense of Dr. Saunders. The final reveal is shown during the last 7 minutes, as outrageous as a Monogram script can be, but with 17 1/2 minutes screen time Lugosi enjoys one of his few meaty roles at this stage, with an attractive leading lady in Joan Barclay seemingly drawn to him (no wonder, as they previously costarred in Sam Katzman's 1936 serial "Shadow of Chinatown"). Wallace is attacked from behind in a loud struggle leading to a humorous exchange, Colomb claiming to have awkwardly stumbled, and that the cries heard were his own humming: "is my voice as bad as that?" It's rather a shame that Alice's flirtatious nature must be shot down, but it must have been a treat for the 59 year old Bela to be flattered on screen for his looks, a far cry from his butler in Universal's upcoming "Night Monster," described by Janet Shaw's beautiful maid as looking like 'something you'd find under a wet rock.' The victims are unfortunately a rather undistinguished lot, but Robert Frazer stands out if only for his appearance in 1932's "White Zombie," plus Lionel Atwill's "The Vampire Bat." Just three months following his only brush with Universal horror, "The Strange Case of Doctor Rx," director William Nigh was previously at the helm for Lugosi's earliest Monogram, "The Mysterious Mr. Wong," best remembered for a Boris Karloff six pack, five Mr. Wong entries plus 1940's "The Ape."

When i first heard about the movie, i figured Bela Lugosi, must be another horror, monster movie. I was greatly surprised about what i saw and i enjoyed the film very much. It supplied great drama and suspense and it kept me watching although the movie hardly lasted more than an hour. I think the story line was a good idea considering the time period and i think it also emphasized the ideas and feelings that Americans were having during that time. And of course Bela Lugosi is a great actor who keeps his audience watching and waiting for his next "strike". I didn't recognize the other actors that were in the movie, but they did very good and believable acting. This movie is a must see and should stand the test of time, although the movies i say that about don't.

The plot of this movie concerns Bela Lugosi killing off rich powerful Americans. Why this is occurring isn't explained until the very end and even then it makes no sense. I have the feeling this was one type of thriller that they grafted a war angle on to when Pearl Harbor was attacked.

Is this a good movie? Not in the conventional sense. Its a warm and fuzzy film with some murder and Bela and feels like the all night monster movie marathons that used to play on TV. I've seen this film several times now, usually late at night, and it some how comforts me. I don't know if its a childhood thing or what but its nice to know that somethings never change, like the (not quite) bad Bela movies of old.

Should you see it? Why not, it can't hurt. Its a movie that makes no sense and just sort of is. Just remember if you so watch it make sure you're tucked into bed and the lights are off...

A hollywood response to the bombing at pearl harbor. Bela lugosi has many names, and also seems to have many roles in this film! Clayton moore, seven years before playing the lone ranger. A group of foreign agents is getting knocked off one by one. So much stock footage used! And some of the poor quality can be attributed to the copyright expiration. Anyone could make a copy of a copy, and sell it. The script is pretty cheesy. The acting is pretty cheesy. But it's interesting to see lugosi and moore. Directed by bill nigh. He had started with mack sennett and the keystone cops in the silents. Also directed a bunch of the mister wong films. Did I mention that it's pretty cheesy?

This is probably the most ridiculous of Bela Lugosi`s nine Monogram movies of the early 1940s, and considering that they include such films as The Ape Man, Voodoo Man, and the Corpse Vanishes, this is quite an accomplishment. This picture, quickly produced following the Pearl Harbour attack, features a gang of Japanese saboteurs posing as US industrialists and their many perils. They say things like "These Americans are like children. They quickly forget the fire that burns their fingers", and "I wish we could blow up more ammunition dumps before we have to leave". The dialogue among them is other worldly! Meanwhile, Bela shows up claiming to be a "very sick man". He tries to project a jaded and philosophical image, saying things like "All men are in danger of dying, the question is when", "One must not flirt with destiny", and "Do you know which way you`re really going?". When the leading lady falls into his arms, he says "Mine can be dangerous", then adds "it`s nothing to worry your pretty head about". A film with both Bela Lugosi and ridiculous dialogue, a great combination.

When I purchased this movie, I was lied to by the case. Twice. It listed the movie as "horror" (it's not) and the case said it had Boris Karloff in it (it has Bela Lugosi, who is better anyway). But that's the case, not the movie itself.

I enjoyed this film. It's a spy tale of Japanese men (played by Chinese) infiltrating American businesses during World War II. And then Bela Lugosi tries to hunt them down one by one.

Not much to say. Low budget, old film, but if you don't mind these things check it out. You'll love the white guy they hired to play the ancient Japanese master... he's on drugs, or at least should be.

Black Dragons was released in 1942 and was apparently designed to capitalize on the hysteria surrounding World War II. This, in and of itself, is interesting enough, as it affords modern audiences a glimpse into the collective mindset of Americans during the post-Pearl Harbor era. There are certainly parallels that can be drawn between some of the psychological implications embedded in Black Dragons with what contemporary U.S. citizens are struggling with in a society still recovering from the unexpected brutality of 9/11, but that's where anything remotely interesting contained in the film stops.

What you really get with this Bela Lugosi vehicle is a dry, sleep- inducing murder mystery that's almost exclusively set in a large house. The story is as muddled as they come. It centers on people who are found dead with Japanese daggers clutched in one hand, and this (it seems) is the stimulus for some sort of massive Eastern conspiracy centered around mind control.

Or something like that.

It's incredibly difficult to make sense of anything that happens, and this isn't just the product of boring writing. The sound of the film ranges from acceptably clear to indeterminably static-filled. At points it sounds like someone is moon-walking across a twenty yard sheet of cellophane. With a film this old, I wouldn't usually linger on something as expected as lackluster sound, but here it really does detract from the overall understanding/appreciation of what's taking place. And that's a bad thing.

Making it to the end of Black Dragons is akin to struggling through a school-assigned documentary: you're watching it because you don't have a choice. In that regard, the most terrifying thing about the film is how much effort it takes to stay awake for the duration of its 64-minute run-time.

Monogram contribution to the war effort. Bela Lugosi plays a Nazi doctor involved in a plot to surgically alter Japanese saboteurs to look like American leaders so they can take their places. A maskless (and Tonto-less) Lone Ranger saves the day. One of the more dreadful of all the cheapies Lugosi made for poverty row. The plot actually sounds like it could be interesting or even somewhat offensive, which itself can be interesting. Unfortunately, it's just a dull way to spend an hour. Lugosi is relatively subdued, which means his critics can't make fun of him as much but it also means his performance isn't very memorable. I like my Bela performances with lots of ham, thank you.

Everyone viewing this film must remember it was produced in the 1940's and at the time it was a GREAT "B" film and was probably shown along with another feature film on Saturday nights at the local movie houses. If you like Bela Lugosi and want to see him give a great performance which is a different role than he usually portrays, this is the film for YOU! I was able to view this film in Digital Color and it made a world of difference viewing these great veteran actors. Bela Lugosi (Dr. Melcher/Monsieur Colomb, "The Body Snatcher",'45, plays a Nazi who tries to get even with the Japs during WWII. Joan Barclay, (Alice Saunders), "Falcon Out West",'44, investigates all the murders that seem to be happening at the Japanese Embassy and Clayton Moore (Dick Martin), "The Lone Ranger & The Lost City of Gold",'58 gave a great supporting role. By the way, Clayton Moore was considered in his career the best actor to perform the Lone Ranger on Radio and the Movies for years. This is a Classic film and should be ENJOYED and not picked a part. Money was hard to find and we were fighting the BIG WW II ! Hollywood produced lots of "B" films, but Bela Lugosi gave a great performance which will be admired for future generations.