‘I arrive when the shootings over.’
A British secret agent flies into Los Angeles from the far east with vital intelligence about the Black Dragon Society, a Japanese espionage group. Avoiding an assassination attempt, the operative links up with an American Special Investigator and a Chinese agent to take down the group who have begun terrorist activities on US soil…
Full-blooded, helter-skelter thrills from the brutally efficient Serial Unit of Republic Studios. There’s an almost non-stop parade of fistfights, explosions and last breath escapes over 15 chapters as American agents take on nasty Japanese fifth columnists in their own backyard. It’s blatant wartime propaganda, of course, but perfectly understandable given the world situation at the time.
It’s not just another day at the office for Federal Agent Rex Bennett (Rod Cameron). His current assignment is to investigate the infamous Black Dragon Society and a sudden visit from British diplomat Sir John Cliché (Lawrence Grant) promises to be helpful. The old duffer comes complete with bowler and umbrella (in LA!) but also with something a little more critical; news that top British operative Vivian Marsh (Constance Worth) is arriving with some crucial intel. Cameron wastes no time in pooling resources with Worth and Chinese agent Chang Sing (Roland Got), especially when the British gal confirms that the Japanese mission Stateside is now in the hands of notorious superspy Oyama Haruchi (Nino Pipitone).
‘Don’t worry. you can knock it out of my hand in a couple of seconds…’
In the movie serial’s best traditions, our golden trio needs no additional resources when taking on the bad guys, but that’s ok because the sides are numerically well matched. Pipitone only has two regular lieutenants, Ranga (Noel Cravat) and Lugo (George J Lewis). Sure, there are other gang members, but none last more than an episode, coming and going at the whim of script convenience. This means that most episodes conclude with a bout of energetic fisticuffs, with Cameron and Got going up against Cravat and Lewis in various apartments, warehouses, factories and offices while deadly devices tick away in the background in a final countdown.
But let’s not forget Worth’s role in proceedings. She’s not the usual damsel in distress here. When Rex finds out that the British agent is a woman, he only shows mild surprise, and this non-issue is never verbally raised again. Yes, he does tell her to stay in the car a couple of times while he and Got go into dangerous situations, but she’s not just a passive bystander. She tracks down clues on her own, flies a plane, fakes a fatal car accident to evade pursuit, infiltrates the gang in disguise and wields a Tommy gun with an assurance so impressive that it suggests formal training. This was a surprising, if only occasional, development in movie serials of the 1940s, which perhaps reflected the more responsible roles that women adopted in the workplace while their men were fighting abroad.
‘Confucius, he say Mamma Mia!’
Having said that, this was the golden age of Hollywood when just a little makeup around the eyes could (un)convincingly transform a red-blooded, white caucasian into a sinister oriental. Pipitone was actually an Italian, and his accent wavers hilariously from his native land all the way to Scandanavia, stopping at many other European destinations in between. He may have been cast because of his ability to work with the production’s trained raven, who often sits on his shoulder. Somewhat bizarrely, the bird acts as the spymaster’s offscreen avian assassin, with special responsibility for dealing with those that fall through the trapdoor in front of his desk. This isn’t the only structural improvement to Pipitone’s headquarters, either. There are more secret panels, in situ spear-throwing machinery and oriental trappings and doo-dads galore. The whole place is a fitting tribute to their ability to smuggle anything past the US customs authorities.
Cameron was a big, bluff Canadian who is perhaps best remembered for his roles in Westerns, but he also featured in several cult items, such as ‘The Monster and the Girl’ (1941), ‘Escapement/The Electronic Monster’ (1958) and ‘The Jungle’ (1959). He also reprised his role as agent Rex Bennett in semi-sequel ‘Secret Service In Darkest Africa’ (1943), rooting out a top Nazi officer hiding undercover in Casablanca. That was another assignment for director Spencer Gordon Bennet, who co-helmed here with William Witney. Worth’s career never made it out of the 1940s, although she did manage a handful of minor roles in big studio ‘A’ pictures, such as ‘Frenchman’s Creek’ (1944) and ‘Deadline At Dawn’ (1946).
‘Are you eating properly, Mr Karloff?’
If you can keep in mind the circumstances and times in which this serial was produced and accept it on those terms, then you’re likely to have a fun experience. However, if you’re determined to view it from our more sophisticated and enlightened perspective, you might be best to stay away.
Mark David Welsh 