Search - The Black & Blue Collection (3 films} Bluebeard, Black Dragons, & The Black Raven on DVD

Wartime Horrors With Bela Lugosi

Scott T. Rivers | Los Angeles, CA USA | 12/21/2009

(2 out of 5 stars)

""Black Dragons" (1942) mixes a few chills with its bizarre World War II espionage. The results are somewhat dull, but Bela Lugosi helps enliven the proceedings as the sinister plastic surgeon who has a few surprises in store for Japan's Black Dragon Society. A pre-Lone Ranger Clayton Moore plays the disgruntled romantic hero. Ideal for nighttime viewing, with a lurid twist ending. Another Monogram quickie from producer Sam Katzman."

Murder Mystery in Wartime

Acute Observer | Jersey Shore USA | 12/09/2008

(2 out of 5 stars)

"The film shows Washington and the Capitol. [The legislature was considered more important than the Executive Mansion.] A newspaper headline states "Japs Bomb Honolulu". Businessmen talk about building an ammunition dump near the dam. Others talk about sensitive topics. Is there Fifth Column activity going on? Films show fires and as sinking ship. Why are those businessmen so cynical? A stranger calls on Dr. Sanders at home. What happened? A body is found on the steps of the closed Japanese Embassy. What happened? An investigator arrives to gather information. Uncle Bill's niece Miss Alice arrived too. A man arrives to get information, but fails. "He was sound as a dollar." [That's when dollars were made of silver.] What will the visitors find in Mr. Walter's hotel room? A Japanese dagger?

Van Dyke and Ryder return to Dr. Sanders, who gives advice to handle a problem. But they neutralize each other. [Neat, but not believable.] Miss Alice goes to investigate. They find nothing! A body in the cellar shows a lack of proper housekeeping. Two bodies are left on the Japanese Embassy steps. [No anti-littering laws?] Dick will go to see banker Handlin. The butler has disappeared too. Dick Martin brings Handlin back to Washington. There is a shot and the truth finally comes out. Can you believe this Grand Impersonation? [I can't.] What is the fitting reward for the good doctor? Will this Spy Ring be smashed?

The idea behind this film could have been much better with a proper scritpt and bigger budget. It is no secret that many industrialists had fascist sympathies (kept hidden during the war). That "Black Dragon Society" really existed in Japan.
[Does the interior of that house remind you of some other films?]
"