| Son of Ingagi | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Richard Kahn |
| Produced by | Richard Kahn |
| Written by | Spencer Williams |
| Starring | Zack Williams Spencer Williams |
| Cinematography | Roland Price Spencer Williams Herman Schopp Laura Bowman |
| Editing by | Dan Milner |
| Release date(s) | 1940 |
| Running time | 70 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Son of Ingagi is a 1940 American film directed by Richard Kahn. Son of Ingagi is the first science fiction-horror film to feature an all-black cast.[1][2] The film is about Elanor and Bob Lindsay inheriting the house of the doctor Helen Jackson who had just returned from her trip to Africa. Jackson also had returned with a missing link monster named Ingina as well as African gold. When Ingina drinks the doctor's potion, it puts him into a rage that makes him murder Dr.Jackson. The Lindsay family inherits Jackson's house where they soon find the presence of the monster. Son of Ingagi was written by Spencer Williams based on his own short story House of Horror. The production company was impressed with Williams' script and allowed him to direct and write his own feature film The Blood of Jesus in 1941.
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After the wedding of Eleanor and Bob Lindsay, a doctor named Helen Jackson had a discussion with Detective Nelson (Spencer Williams) and Jackson's attorney asking the them to come over to her place so she can change her will. When Dr.Jackson works in her office she is approached by her brother Zeno, who insist that on Jackson's visits to Africa she must have taken gold and hidden it in her office. In response, Dr.Jackson hits a gong which calls upon the monster Ingina, a missing link monster who she has taken from her previous trip to Africa. Jackson's brother leaves terrified. At the Lindsay's wedding, an explosion erupts, which leads most party-goers to investigate with only Eleanor staying at home. Eleanor is then visited by Dr.Jackson, who explains that she was in love with Eleanor's father and that she had fled to Africa later after he married Eleanor's mother.
Later in her laboratory, Jackson works on a potion for the benefit of human race. Ingina takes the potion and drinks it which causes Ingina to go on a rampage which kills Jackson. The Lindsays later find that they are beneficiaries in Helen's will, and due to her sudden death they are initially suspected of murdering her. Later, the Lindsays are acquitted of the crime, and move into Helen's manor. Eleanor soon discovers that food is mysteriously disappearing. Bradshaw, the executor of the will, comes to urge them to sell the house, and while rummaging through the desk, he carelessly rings the gong, which summons Ingina from the hiding place in the cellar. Ingina reacts to the stranger and kills Bradshaw. Detective Nelson is assigned to solve the mystery of the house and moves into the home. Zeno breaks into the couple's bedroom, but escapes when Eleanor accidentally hits Bob instead of Zeno. After seeing Ingina emerge from the basement, Zeno follows Ingina's path to seize Helen's gold. Zeno finds gold but is caught by Ingina who drags Zeno upstairs for Nelson to find. Eleanor spots Ingina and faints at the sight the creature. Ingina then carries Eleanor downstairs. When Nelson finds Zeno's body he awakens Bob who searches for Eleanor. Ingina accidentally starts a fire, and Eleanor's screams draw Bob and Nelson into the basement where Nelson fails to arrest Ingina. Bob, however, succeeds in locking the beast in a cell while the house and Ingina burn. Nelson emerges from the bushes outside with the bags of gold while Bob and Eleanor escape unharmed.
Spencer Williams' screenplay for Son of Ingagi was based on his own story story titled House of Horror.[3] Alfred N. Sack, whose Dallas, Texas-based company Sack Amusement Enteprises produced and distributed race films, was impressed with Spencer Williams' screenplay for Son of Ingagi and offered him the opportunity to write and direct a feature film.[4] William's resulting film was The Blood of Jesus (1941) while Son of Ingagi was directed by the white American director Richard Kahn.[5] At that time, the only African American filmmaker was the self-financed Oscar Micheaux.[6]
Cynthia Erb, author of Tracking King Kong: A Hollywood Icon in World Culture suggests that the reason the film's monster does not match the title in the film was possibly for box office reasons, as to have it relate to the popular success of the exploitation film Ingagi (1930).[7] Both Richard Gilliam of Allmovie and Erb note that Ingagi was probably influenced by Boris Karloff's character in Frankenstein with Ingina's outbursts of violence and tendency to show emotions of suffering and being mournful.[1][8]
Richard Gilliam of the online film database Allmovie wrote that the film was "One of the more interesting low-budget films of the early '40s" and "Despite what its low-budget origin and lurid subject matter might indicate, Son of Ingagi is both well-written and well-acted. It's no undiscovered classic, but it's also not the bottom-of-the-barrel trash that some references sources claim that it is."[1]