Starring Hadidjah, Mohamad Mochtar, and Tan Tjeng Bok, the film's plot – inspired by Zorro – follows a young man who became a masked vigilante to take revenge against his conniving uncle.

Through violence, Djoekri (Tan Tjeng Bok) is able to gain control of his brother Mardjoeki's (Bissu Usman [id]) wealth and plantation, Soemberwaras.

Soon Djoekri's activities are targeted by a masked man known as the "Black Wolf" ("Srigala Item"), who also foils Joesoef's attempts to woo Soehaemi (Hadidjah), whom Mochtar loves.

[7] Tan Tjeng Bok, a former stage star with Dardanella, made his feature film debut through Srigala Item.

[11] It was advertised, sometimes under the Dutch name of De Zwarte Wolf, as "sensational, full of action, and mysterious"[b][12] and marketed for all ages.

[12] The film was released in Batavia (modern day Jakarta), the capital of the Indies,[10] and by July 1941 it had reached Surabaya, in Eastern Java,[12] and Singapore, then part of British Malaya.

[13] An anonymous review of Srigala Item in the Surabaya-based daily Soerabaijasch Handelsblad was positive, predicting the film would be a commercial success.

[15] He writes that the film's theme of an oppressed, financially destitute youth who is able to control his destiny by becoming a masked vigilante, allowed viewers to be able to see themselves as the Black Wolf, and thus take revenge against those who had wronged them.