Son of Ingagi

Definitely recommended only for die-hard fans of dusty old movies, this is one you've almost definitely never seen. Long out of circulation in any form, this very tame 1940s 'haunted house' type thriller is unique because it features an all-black cast. Otherwise, it is badly dated and so mild that it's a real snore throughout most of the short runtime.

The plot concerns two newlyweds who find themselves visited on their wedding night by a mysterious woman, a certain Doctor Jackson. Doctor Jackson is a severe old woman, and we see her roughing up her attorney and revealing herself to be stubborn and willful. However, she is also touched that the newlyweds have found her important enough to invite to their wedding, and she reveals that she was once romantically linked with the bride's father. Unbeknownst to anybody, Dr. Jackson has drawn up a will that leaves all of her earthly possessions, including her spooky old house, to our protagonists.

Also a secret is the fact that she has a weird ape-man living in her basement, which can only be accessed through a hidden door. The ape-man is summoned with an ominous gong the old lady has, and it appears to be mostly docile. However, Dr. Jackson is experimenting with some kind of potion, which she foolishly leaves sitting out in the basement where the ape-man lives. It drinks the potion and goes homicidally crazy, choking her to death. By wild coincidence, our newlyweds happen to visit the woman at almost the same moment and find her dead, no sign of the ape man. When the police discover that they were the beneficiaries of the old woman's will, they suspect the husband of murder. Cleared of all charges, the husband returns with his bride to move into the house they've just inherited--unaware that the ape man is still lurking in the basement. A few more attacks happen until the inevitable bride-snatching occurs after our lonely ape-man ventures out of the cellar.

The movie was filmed on a few cheap sets, with most of the action wisely taking place in the old dark house, but it's not that memorable of a set. It's poorly established, and we don't get a look at the creepy exterior until the conclusion, when it goes up in flames. The acting is passable, at best, with some comic relief coming from a bumbling detective. The makeup on the ape man is ludicrous, and there is no real explanation for what the creature is or why the doctor has it in her basement. We are to gather she brought it back from one of her excursions to Africa, but that's about all we know. Oh, and it likes cold cut sandwiches, too.

Worth a look for the curious, just don't expect too much. Watch for a couple of lively musical numbers near the beginning of the film, performed by the Four Toppers (not to be confused with the similarly-named Four Tops).

A newlywed couple is visited by a strange old woman who harbors a secret about the young girl's father.

"Son of Ingagi" is allegedly the first science fiction-horror film to feature an all-black cast. Even if the film had no merit (which it does), this alone would make it worthwhile as a historic film.

This is really the brainchild of Spencer Williams (1893-1969), who wrote, acted and helped behind the camera. While today perhaps best remembered as the latter half of Amos and Andy, he was a true talent and a pioneer in the category of "race films".

I would love to see this film properly released. Maybe it has been, but the public domain copy I saw was pretty unbearable and ruined what should have been a lost classic.

Son of Ingagi (1940)

** (out of 4)

A female doctor lives in a large castle where she brought a few things back from Africa. One is a large sum of gold and the other is a half-man, half-ape creature. One day the doctor is killed by the creature and her home is left to a newlywed couple. It doesn't take long for the couple to run into the creature.

SON OF INGAGI is best remembered today for featuring an all black cast, which certainly wasn't the norm for 1940 and especially in the horror genre. I've seen a lot of the race pictures from this era and all of them suffer from having very small budgets and often time not having that much talent in front or behind the camera. This film here is actually pretty entertaining for what it is even with the limitations.

What I enjoyed most about this picture was the monster itself. If you're familiar with the horror films from this period then you know gorillas and killer apes were quite popular and they'd continue to be throughout the decade. If you've seen Bela Lugosi's THE APE MAN then you'll see a few similarities to this picture but I'd argue that the ape creature here is even better since the actor's entire face is covered here (unlike Lugosi who the studio obviously still wanted you to see).

Of course, there are several flaws in the movie, which is to be expected including some pretty fair to bad performances. I would argue that none of the performances are all that good but they had to work with what was available at the time. It should also go without saying that there wasn't too much suspense in the film and as a horror movie it's really not all that horrifying. Still, SON OF INGAGI makes for a decent way to kill a hour.

Before the mid-1950s, movies geared towards African-American audiences, which for the most part were shown in segregated theaters, avoided horror-themed flicks. That was until Sack Amusement Enterprises produced the first, and some film historians say the only black horror film of that era in February 1940's "Son of Ingagi." The low-budget film, written and starring Spencer Williams, who went on to play Andy on television's 'The Amos 'n Andy Show,' has no relation to the classic 1931 exploitation film "Ingagi." The 1940 movie does contain a 'missing link' monster transported from Africa who is kept in the basement of a doctor's home.

Although "Son of Ingagi's" production values were a far cry from the slick films the major Hollywood studios created during the Golden era, the picture does reflect the comfort level of African-Americans' integration within the fabric of American society, unlike most roles blacks found themselves in the A-listed movies. Film critic Mark Welsh notes, "it's really nice to see black people on the screen at this time in history as normal, ordinary men and women, rather than as mugging, idiotic stereotypes used for comic effect." In "Son of Ingagi", newlyweds Eleanor (Daisy Bufford ) and Robert Lindsay (Alfred Grant) are approached by Dr. Jackson (Laura Bowman), who says she knew Eleanor's father intimately and plans to leave her personal inheritance with the couple when she dies. Dr. Jackson has transported a 'missing link' animal similar to a gorilla caged in her house to study. Unfortunately, the monster gets loose, murdering the doctor. The Lindsays inherit her house as promised and move in, not realizing the monster is still lurking around the premises.

"Son of Ingagi" was one of many "race films," a genre popular between 1915 and the early 1950s. These movies, produced outside the Hollywood system, consisted primarily of African-American actors and shown mostly in theaters for black audiences. More than 500 movies were produced during that span, yet only 100 have survived. Alfred Sack, producer for "Son of Ingagi," was a white owner of a small studio that was part of 150 minor film production studios focused on all-black cast pictures for African-American audiences. In the segregated South these films were shown in exclusive black filmgoers' theaters. In the more integrated North, the 'race films' rarely attracted white audiences, and were shown either at matinee times during the day or late at night in regular movie theaters.

Film historian Todd Stadtman points out, "As the products of a segregated America, the Race Films ironically present us with a vision of America that can't be seen anywhere in the commercial cinema of the time. This is an America where blacks are doctors. Lawyers, police detectives, scientists. There is not a white face in sight, and so the black actors are free from having to react to the oh-so-important doings of Caucasians and can instead relate to each other as equals."

The first half of this movie belongs to Laura Bowman. I was interested in her reclusive Dr Helen Jackson character who lives in a house of secrets. On the one hand she is a severe grim-faced Judith Furse type who begrudges the humanity she is hiding from. On discovering a formula to benefit humanity she mutters to herself "Why should I worry about humanity?" But then there is the glimmer of the maternal Jane Darwell type in her character at times. If you like indomitable old ladies and creepy old houses then this could be your type of film. Dr Jackson is able to summon an ape man from a hidden room by striking a gong behind her desk. I reckon this would make a good 1940s horror double bill with 'The Ape Man' from 1943 on a horror hosted show. 'The Ape Man' has Bela Lugosi and Minerva Urecal in it. The second half of 'Son of Ingagi' is more humorous as the ape man and a detective go into a lengthy comic routine involving disappearing sandwiches etc. The story also involves a stash of gold from Africa and a newly-wedded couple who Dr Jackson takes a shine to.