G-MEN VS THE BLACK DRAGON (Second view) IN COLOR

Rod Cameron as agent Rex 

G-MEN VS THE BLACK DRAGON (15 chapter Republic serial/1943). Directed by William Witney and Spencer Gordon Bennett. COLORIZED.

Oyama Haruchi (Nino Pipitone), head of the Black Dragon Society, has come to the U.S. as a mummy in suspended animation. When he is revived, he embarks on a campaign of terror and sabotage. Fighting Haruchi are federal agent Rex Bennett (Rod Cameron), Chinese agent Chang Sing (Roland Got), and British agent Vivian Marsh (Constance Worth). Brave and adept as any man, Vivian handles a machine gun with aplomb and can also pilot an airplane. Haruchi's primary assistants are Ranga (Noel Cravat) and Lugo (George J. Lewis) and there is also a crow that attacks people on command after they are unwillingly deposited in an underground chamber via a trapdoor.

Nino Pipitone with pet

Well-directed, briskly-edited and action-packed, with those furious furniture-breaking fisticuffs that Republic serials were famous for, G Men vs the Black Dragon is a highly entertaining and often thrilling serial (and it benefits from being colorized even though the night time sequences are occasionally too dark). An Italian actor, Nino Pipitone played more than one Japanese role, and while you never quite believe he's a true Oriental, he is quite good and effective as Haruchi. The other cast members all play with heroic or villainous enthusiasm, as the case may be. And it's all backed by a rousing musical score by Mort Glickman. 

Vivian (Constance Worth) faces spear death

Highlights of the serial include Vivian tied to a log and nearly being buzz-sawed to death as well as being tied to a chair and almost punctured by a hurtling spear. Rex himself falls from a skyscraper window (saving himself by grabbing a firehose), has a fight in a cockpit and survives more than one plane crash, and is nearly crushed by toppling towers near the endangered Boulder Dam. Constance Worth was an Australian actress who first worked for RKO, then Columbia, then did free-lance work in a variety of B movies. She was married to George Brent for only a few months. In one silly sequence Vivian goes in disguise but doesn't bother to disguise her distinctive voice or accent, but no one is the wiser! 

NOTE: Okay, I already reviewed this serial on this blog about two and a half years ago -- not to mention on my brother blog Great Old Movies -- but discovering a colorized version on youtube made me watch it all over again. Here is my original BMN review, which is actually a little more detailed. 

Verdict: Snappy serial. ***1/2.