black dragon be a second feature wwii propaganda film popular at the time . it not as bad a some would have you believe . a secret meeting host by the respect dr. william saunders ( george pembroke ) be interrupt by a mysterious stranger name monsieur colomb ( bela lugosi ) . shortly thereafter the participant at the meeting begin to turn up murder and their body be place on the step of the japanese embassy in washington . colomb be suspect . federal agent dick martin ( clayton moore ) be assign to the case and meet saunders niece alice saunders ( joan barclay ) who try to assist him . the reason behind colomb action be not explain until the final reel . until all be explain at the end and the story be hard to comprehend . lugosi who have by this time be reduce to appear in a string of low budget quicky and be actually quite good in this one . he be not allow to over act as much a he ususlly do and credit for this have to go to director william nigh . lugosi character slinks through the shadow and be reminiscent of his dracula even to the point of the full close ups of his pierce eye . clayton moore and a one dimensional actor at best and would become tv lone ranger in a few year . joan barclay make a good heroine . although a little dated now and black dragon be not a bad way to spend an hour .