Thursday 27 February 2014

Black History Month Special; "Son Of Ingagi"; The First Black Horror Film

Son Of Ingagi; 1940's Black Horror Film

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From the 1920's through to the late 1950's there was a thriving black film making business in the U.S.A. serving black audiences through a network of black owned movie theatres in black neighbourhoods in all major and midsized cities throughout most of America, including the South. The movies made for these audiences ran the gamut from serious minded social dramas and religious themed works (often made by pioneering black film-maker Oscar Michaux such as "God's Step Children") to comedies to musicals (by Cab Calloway and Louis Jordan) film-noirs (like "Murder In Harlem" and "Lying Lips" both by Michaux, or "Murder On Lennox Ave") and even westerns such as the popular singing cowboy films made by Herb Jefferies, AKA The Black Gene Autry. But the question remains, did black people make silly Grade-B monster movies? Is there a black equivalent to "Plan 9 From Outer Space", "Robot Monster", "The Creeping Terror" or "Teenagers From Space"? Well yes there was actually. Thanks for asking.

Here we have Exhibit A; "Son Of Ingagi". The oldest surviving black horror movie.

Made in 1940 and often described as the first black monster movie "Son Of Ingagi" was in theroy a sequel to "Ingagi" a notorious film made in 1930 which was supposedly a documentary of a jungle expedition to the Congo which discovered a giant apeman (the Ingagi of the title), a tribe of hostile pygmies, witchdoctors and giant tortoises. It later turned out that the footage had all been shot in America and was all faked. The very name Ingagi which was supposedly an African name for "Giant Apeman" was also made up. The film was a money maker though so finally noted black film-maker Spencer Williams wrote and appeared in this knock-off sequel. In between there were at least two other black horror movies made including a zombie movie called "Voodoo Drums" which is apparently now lost and another film called "The Devil's Daughter" which is also not available. So while "Son Of Ingagi" may not be the first black horror film it is the oldest such film surviving.

"SON OF INGAGI"


CAST:
Ingagi ~ Zach Williams
Dr. Helen Jackson ~ Laura Bowman
Robert Lindsey ~ Alfred Grant
Elenore Lindsey ~ Daisy Bufford
Zeno Jackson ~ Arthur Ray
Detective Nelson ~ Spencer Williams
Mr Bradshaw ~ Earl Morris
Police Chief ~ Jessie Graves
And Featuring The Toppers (Steve Gibson, Jimmy Springs, David Patillo and Richard Davis) as themselves
Directed by Richard Kahn
Written by Spencer Williams
Filmed in 1940

PLOT SYNOPSIS (SPOILER ALERT);
Robert and Elenore Lindsey exit from a church on their way to a honeymoon after being married. They meet Mr. Bradshaw, their lawyer. As they depart Dr. Jackson, an elderly woman with a sour face walks up and asks him to come by her place later as she wishes to change her will. As she leaves Detective Nelson, a large fat man, walks up and greets Bradshaw, Dr. Jackson insults him and leaves.
Before the newly weds depart on their honeymoon they return home where the wedding guests arrive to throw them a surprise party. Entertainment is provided by The Toppers, a Doo-Wop group. Dr. Jackson arrives and spies on the party from outside but leaves without knocking.
Suddenly an explosion occurs outside which turns out to be at the foundry where Robert works, he and the other guests rush out to investigate leaving Elenore behind. Dr. Jackson enters to talk to Elenore. It is revealed that Elenore is an orphan who was raised in an orphanage which was secretly financed by Jackson who is a former African Missionary who had been in love with Elenore's father. Jackson gives Elenore a wedding gift of a valuable necklace and leaves.
Arriving to her mansion Jackson discovers and intruder who turns out to be her brother Zeno Jackson, a gambler. Zeno has been blackmailing Dr. Jackson over gold she smuggled into the country from Africa during her missionary work. As he demands more money Dr. Jackson bangs a small gong which she says she got during her missionary work. The gong summons N'Gila, a tall savage creature with long hair, an ape-like face and dirty clothes. He is simple-minded and speaks in grunts. He follows orders of Dr Jackson who uses him to threaten Zeno who flees.
Robert Lindsey has returned home, he reports that the foundry where he works has been destroyed. That night an envelope containing a cryptic message is slid under their door.
Dr. Jackson is at home in her secret laboratory in her basement. She is working on inventing a miracle drug. N'Gila lives in the basement in a small cell. He has cut his hand while scuffling with Zeno and Jackson bandages his hand before returning to her potions. N'Gila drinks one and goes berserk killing Jackson. N'Gila flees.
Robert and Elenore arrive to Jackson's house, they plan to ask here about the cryptic message they received. They find Jackson dead and call the police. They do not find N'Gila's basement cell. Detective Nelson discovers Jackson's will in which she left her fortune and house to Ellenor. Nelson arrests Robert for Jackson's murder. A series of newspaper headlines then inform us that Robert was acquitted.
Robert returns to Elenore and their new home which is Jackson's old mansion. Bradsahaw meets with Elenore, he is now their lawyer and he tries to convince the Lindsey's to sell the Jackson mansion. When Elenore leaves him alone in the study he begins to search through the desk when N'Gila shows up and kills him. Robert arrives home and discovers the body and call the police. Another series of headlines announce Bradshaw's death. Detective Nelson arrives again and tells the Police Chief that he suspects suicide. The Chief ridicules him and orders him to stay at the house and investigate. That night Zeno breaks in to search for Jackson's stache of gold. Robert and Elenore are awoken by the noise. Robert confronts Zeno and they fight until Elenore attempts to hit Zeno with a vase but knocks out Robert instead. Zeno escapes. Detective Nelson has been assigned by the Police Chief to guard the house and is sleeping downstairs and he is woken by the scuffle and runs in. He searches for Zeno but doesn't find him. Deciding Elenore and Robert are lying, Nelson gives up and decides to make himself a sandwich. N'Gila has been spying on Nelson and steals Nelson's food while his back is turned. Nelson is puzzled.
Zeno has discovered the cryptic note left for Elenore. He has also stumbled on to Jackson's secret basement lab where N'Gila lives and begins to ransack it when N'Gila returns. Zeno shoots N'Gila in the head but N'Gila doesn't die. Zeno tries to flee but N'Gila kills him. Elenore is woken by the shots but when she tries to wake Robert he doesn't believe her.
Neslon is also sound asleep on a couch downstairs. N'Gila drags Zeno's body upstairs and dumps him at Zeno's feet. Then N'Gila goes upstairs and finds Elenore who passes out. He carries her to his basement cell. Nelson wakes and finds Zeno's body. He panics and screams waking Robert who discovers Elenore missing. He runs to Nelson for assistance, Nelson calls the Police Chief but does little else.
Meanwhile N'Gila is trying to revive Elenore using Jackson's potions. Unfortunately he knocks over a lantern and starts a fire. Ellenor awakes and starts screaming. Robert and Nelson hear her screams and discover the secret door to the basement, they break it down. Robert rescues Elenore while Nelson tries to arrest N'Gila. They scuffle and Robert pushes N'Gila into his cell and locks it as the flames rise. The mansion burns down as the police and fire trucks arrive. The Police Chief and the Lindsey's believe Nelson has died in the flames. The Chief praises Nelson until Nelson emerges from the bushes where he has been hiding after escaping from the fire. He reports that N'Gila is dead and that he has found Jackson's treasure which he gives to the Lindsey's. They will live happily ever after.

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By any rational standpoint this is a silly low-budget B-Movie quickie no better than those made by the likes of Ed Wood, Phil Tucker or Arch Hall Sr. The direction and acting is bland and non-nondescript. The dialogue is wooden and the story is flimsy and full of obvious loopholes and just plain sloppiness which suggests a too quick shooting schedule. For example the series of spinning newspaper headlines announcing Bradshaw's death appear before Detective Nelson even arrives to investigate. And while we are informed through the ubiquitous spinning newspapers that Robert was acquitted of Jackson's death, we are not told why or anything about his trial. Another oddity is that while we are told several times that Jackson was a missionary in Africa at one point she says that she brought N'Gila (clearly a South African name) back from Singapore!

The character of Detective Nelson is a stock comic relief character of the era, but even by the standards of the time he is exceptionally dense. His raiding the ice-box and sleeping on the job are one thing but deciding that Bradshaw's death was a suicide after noting that he died of massive head injuries, broken ribs and crushed larynx is too stupid for words. On the other hand it is the funniest line in the film.

At the same time while the film is not much better than those made by Ed Wood, Arch Hall or Phil Tucker ("Robot Monster") it is certainly no worse, and it's certainly better than the likes of "The Creeping Terror" or Dwain Esper's "Maniac". The acting and direction while mediocre were not incompetent. The cast had some experience in other all-black productions with Spencer Williams (Detective Nelson) having a particularly noteworthy career. Best known for playing in the Amos & Andy series, he also was a prolific director and screenwriter (he wrote the script for this film) making several films in various genres from religious films to film noirs, he was also a songwriter. Being a big man meant that as an actor he played both comic relief and villain roles successfully for many years. As for the rest of the cast Zach Williams who plays N'Gina had appeared in the original version of "The Four Feathers" and had a bit part in "Gone With The Wind", Daisy Buford (Elenore) also had a bit part in "Gone With The Wind" as well. Other cast members appeared in several other Spencer Williams films, in fact it is probably safe to say that Williams rather than Kahn was the brains behind this film.

Whip-Dipplesheetmusic

The direction by white director Richard Kahn is strictly rote but it does have a few decent sequences. The best comes when Jackson is killed and she knocks over an inkwell which falls on the rug causing an ink stain which resembles flowing blood. The outside shots of the burning of Jackson Manor are realistically done as well.

Some of the themes in the movie are clearly taken from other well known horror movies of the era which add a touch of depth to the otherwise silly story. N'Gila is not just a monster but a misunderstood loner like Frankenstein who doesn't always mean to kill. He is being used by Jackson who he kills almost by accident. He is attacked by Zeno and accidentally provoked by Bradshaw. He does not mean to hurt Elenore and even tries to revive her. His death in a fire is another echo of the deaths of Frankenstein, the Phantom Of The Opera, Hunchback Of Notre Dame, Mighty Joe Young (a King Kong sequel) or the Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff characters in "The Black Cat". The make-up job for N'Gila is perfunctory but it is still better than the classic stupidity of "Robot Monster", "The Creeping Terror" or "Egaah". So that's something.

There is a notable difference between Ingagi and some of the other black films of the time such as those of Oscar Michaux. That is the lack of preaching any social or political agenda. Even when Michaux made genre films like his film noir "Murder In Harlem" he insisted on stopping the action for several minutes at a time to have his characters deliver speeches on black empowerment. This tends to drag out the film and damage it's momentum, especially for modern audiences. Kahn and Williams simply get on with the story as efficiently as possible. This does not mean their is no black empowerment message however. There are no whites in the film at all so all the authority figures (doctor, detective, lawyer) are black. The character of Robert is described as working at a "foundry" but he is always dressed in a respectable suit and tie which suggests he is an office worker or middle management rather than a blue collar worker or custodian. Dr. Jackson is both a rich doctor who lives in a mansion as well as a brilliant scientist. Even the Police Chief is black which is a little unlikely for the era but this is all simply presented matter-of-factly and then the movie rolls merrily on.

Although made in 1940 it is a little behind the times in some ways even for then but if a bit more time and care had been taken in making this film it could have been a decent genre picture, as it is it remains an odd curio of the era. Speaking of which the film does stay within the conservative screen values of the day, note that the newly-weds sleep in separate beds on opposite sides of the room.

Toppers

A note on The Toppers who provide the musical numbers for the wedding party. Led by Steve Gibson they were a fairly well known early Doo-Wop group who recorded a number of singles well into the rock & roll era both as The Toppers and as The Red Caps in various line-ups until 1970. Gibson would also sing with The Ink Spots before dying in the 1980's. This appears to be the only footage of them.

THE TOPPERS ~ "I'M A YOUNG MAN";


Sunday 2 February 2014

Black History Month Special; Oscar Micheau's "Within Our Gates"

Some film-maker (I forget who) once said something to the effect of "The best answer to a film is to make your own". No film-maker better exemplified this than Oscar Micheaux's 1920 film "Within Our Gates".

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"Within Our Gates" was at least partly in response to D.W. Griffith's landmark 1915 epic film "Birth Of A Nation". That film was quickly hailed as a masterpiece that immediately influenced film-makers everywhere. It is still considered one of the most important films of all time and is required viewing at any film studies course. Unfortunately it was also vile racist propaganda that explicitly portrayed a message of white supremacy and inherent black savagery. The premise of the film was to show the White South's version of the Civil War and Reconstruction eras. Namely that;
a) Slavery was benign and the slaves were well treated, loyal and happy until Northern abolitionists and half breeds got them all riled up with wanting their freedoms and stuff.
b) Civil War was thus forced on the South.
c) The War disrupted the South's idyllic way of life. Lincoln wanted to be lenient but was assassinated, leaving radicals and half-breeds in charge who set up corrupt governments which robbed and oppressed honest white folks.
d) Freed black slaves were unable to handle their new responsibilities and became drunken rapists in search of white women.
e) Therefore the K.K.K was formed to protect white women and restore order and the South's "Way of life".

THE KLAN "REDEEMS THE SOUTH FROM BLACK RULE";
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The film is explicit in it's portrayal of blacks. In the Antebellum (pre-war) South slaves are shown as happy, obedient and loyal, at one point actually breaking into a song and dance routine for their kind and considerate masters. After the Civil War blacks are shown as drunken, lazy, slovenly, thieving, rapists who were being exploited by arrogant Northern oppressors. Half breeds are shown as being particularly villainous and dangerous. Anyone who puzzles over some of the oddly retrograde racist comments frequently made today by Tea Party Republicans in the South really should see "Birth Of A Nation" for an example of their world view. That the film would actually play in parts of the South on and off from it's release in 1915 into the Civil Rights Era reveals the film's emotional connection to Conservative Southerners.

Even at the time the film was hugely controversial. There is a famous story that President Woodrow Wilson (a Southerner whose father had been a Confederate officer, as had Griffith's) praised the film as "History wrote written by lightning. The tragedy is that it is all so true."

THE KLAN RIDES TO THE RESCUE:
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(Note; Modern research has shown that this quote was almost certainly a creation of Griffith or the film's writer Thomas Dixon. In fact while Wilson did arrange for a White House showing of the film (as did the Supreme Court), he may have been called away about half-way through and never saw the rest until later if at all. Meaning he probably only saw the first part of the film, that is the dramatic and not-terribly racist Civil War scenes, but perhaps not the second half with the openly racist homage to the K.K.K. At any rate he made he actually made no public comment about the film and the prim & proper Wilson was apparently uncomfortable with the film's sexual violence. Letters from Wilson show that he was in fact resentful about Griffith's claim of a Presidential endorsement and felt he had been used. This kind of publicity stunt was not uncommon at the time and Griffith was if nothing else a shameless self-promoter with many of his claims have since proven to have been exaggerated or downright made up.)

The film's huge success and it's racist themes did not go unchallenged though. From it's release many black leaders and newspapers denounced the film and it's retrograde glorification of the Antebellum and Reconstruction South and it's vicious racism. Protests and boycotts were organized in many cities. Griffith actually felt quite hurt by the angry black response and wrote an editorial insisting that his film was not racist at all. To prove it by 1916 he would make his own film response with his next film "Intolerance". That film is another classic epic, justly famous for it's complex plot-lines and huge panoramic crowd scenes and massive and elaborate sets. Unfortunately the film's message, while no doubt well meaning, is sanctimonious and muddled. Worse it does not even deal specifically deal with race and has no black cast members. Clearly a more direct response was needed. Preferably by a black director. Enter Oscar Micheaux.

Micheaux is often credited as being the first black film director. This is not actually true since George Johnson's Lincoln Motion Picture Company had made a few feature films as early as 1915. There may even be earlier shorts but if so there is no record of this. But even so Micheaux can take credit for making the first truely important black film epic.

OSCAR MICHEAUX;
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Oscar Micheaux was born in Metropolitan, Illinois in 1884 to a family of former slaves from Kentucky, he later married and moved to South Dakota to become a farmer. That didn't work out very well as the farm failed and his wife left him after clearing out their bank accounts. After working as a Pullman Conductor for a while he decided to become a writer, with seven novels starting in 1913. By 1918 he was successful enough that George Johnson's Lincoln Pictures wanted to make one of his novels into a film. However negotiations broke down and Micheaux decided to move into films on his own with his first film "The Homesteader". Unfortunately this film is now lost but it did well enough to finance his most ambitious project yet.

By 1920 much had happened since "Birth Of A Nation". World War One had broken out and even before America had entered the war some blacks had enlisted in the French Army and Air Force where they had distinguished themselves and experienced life in Europe where segregationist Jim Crow laws did not exist. After America thousands more rushed to enlist in the American Army with many seeing action. While in Europe many were exposed to the new sounds of Ragtime and Jazz which became popular among whites. When they returned home they figured they had proven their patriotism and earned the right to be treated as equals. They were wrong. Instead they were greeted with race riots, lynchings and repression as the Klan was reborn and Jim Crow was re-imposed. "Within Our Gates" was an attempt to explain this reality and respond to Griffith's retrograde view of the "Gallant South" and his glorification of the K.K.K.

The film was also a chance to show aspects of black society beyond the simplistic minstrel show stereotypes of the era with a focus on the types of "aspirational" black roles blacks would have to take on to "uplift the race", while denouncing those roles that "held the race back".

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"WITHIN OUR GATES:


Synopsis (spoiler alert);

Cast;
Evelyn Preer ~ Sylvia Landry
Flo Clements ~ Alma Pritchard
Jack Chenault ~ Larry (The Leech) Pritchard
Charles D. Lucas ~ Dr.V. Vivian
William Stark ~ Jasper Landry
Mattie Edwards ~ Mrs. Landry
William Smith ~ William Gentry
James D. Ruffin ~ Conrad
Edward G. Tatum ~ Efram The Manservant
Ralph Johnson ~ Phillip Gridlestone
Grant Gorman ~ Armand Gridlestone
Bernice Ladd ~ Geraldine Stratton
Mrs. Evelyn ~ Elena Warwick
Leigh Whipper ~ Rev. Ned
Grant Edwards ~ Emil Landry

Plot SUMMARY (spoiler alert);

Sylvia Landry is an unemployed black southern school teacher visiting her cousin Alma Pritchard in Boston. She is waiting for her fiancee Conrad to return from Canada where he is working in the bush so they can be married. Alma, who is divorcee, also has a secret crush on Conrad. Alma's step brother Larry The Leech is a thief and a gambler who has designs on Sylvia.

JACK CHENAULT AS LARRY THE LEECH:
red

Alma encourages Larry in his pursuit of Sylvia although she politely rejects him but says they are still friends. Detective William Gentry is on the lookout for Larry The Leech, while he tails him Larry he goes to a gambling game with a professional card sharp named Red and some other players. During the game Red is caught cheating and a gunfight erupts as the lights go out and Red is killed. Gentry bursts in but Larry escapes. In the darkness Gentry can not be sure who fired the fatal shots although the audience knows it was Larry. That night Sylvia has a nightmare in which she sees Larry kill a man. She tells the dream to Alma who dismisses it.

RED AND LARRY THE LEECH;
card-sharks

Meanwhile Alma has intercepted a telegram from Conrad telling Sylvia he is on his way home. Alma hides the note. Conrad arrives while Sylvia is out. Alma flirts with him but he rejects him. She tells him she has been unfaithful with Larry. Sylvia has returned with Larry, Conrad sees them and is enraged. Larry flees as Conrad attacks Sylvia and tries to strangle her. He stops but will not listen to her pleas. He leaves her. She leaves Boston.

The scene now moves to a black school in the south called The Piney Woods School. It is run by Rev.Jacobs and his sister Constance. The school is respected but underfunded and overcrowded. Sylvia comes looking for a job, she is hired. The school is faced with closure due to mounting costs and the government refuses to help. Sylvia agrees to return to Boston and do some fundraising.

Meanwhile back in Boston, Larry has eluded arrest for Red's murder although Gentry still suspects him and keeps him under watch. Also in Boston we meet Dr.Vivian, he is a respected light-skinned black doctor who is a Republican supporter of Teddy Roosevelt. He has been reading about the attempts to fundraise. Sylvia is attacked by a purse-snatcher. Dr.Vivian witnesses this and rescues her along with a white policeman who arrests the purse-snatcher.

We also meet Mrs.Geraldine Stratton who is a middle aged white Southern Society Woman now living in Boston. She is a racist who opposes black suffrage and supports segregationist Mississippi Senator James K. Vardaman's bill to deny blacks the vote.

BERNICE LADD AS GERALDINE STRATTON;
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Sylvia's fundraising efforts have not been successful. One day while sitting on a park bench depressed she sees a small white child about to be hit by an expensive chauffeur driven car. She jumps up and pushes the child out of danger but is hurt herself. The car is owned by Mrs. Elene Warwick, a wealthy and elderly white society widow who has Sylvia and the child rushed to the hospital in her car. As Sylvia recovers Mrs. Warwick visits and asks what she can do to help. Sylvia tells her of her fundraising efforts for the school. Warwick agrees to help and tells her to visit when she is better. When Sylvia visits Warwick's home she promises her $5,000, the amount the school needs for the year.

After a grateful Sylvia leaves, Warwick asks her friend Geraldine Stratton for advice since Stratton is from the South. Stratton tells her that blacks are ignorant and should be kept in line and not educated, nor should they be allowed to vote. She delivers a racist rant and suggests the best way to spend money to keep blacks compliant to is to pay off corrupt preachers like Rev.Ned to keep them in line.

There is a flashback to Rev. Ned who is shown preaching a fiery sermon which urges blacks to reject the money and success of whites so they can instead be rewarded in heaven. Some of his parishioners sleep through his sermon. Then he energetically demands donations. Later he visits his white patrons who tell him that they will not allow blacks to vote. His demeanor has changed. Now he is meek and subservient. He assures them he agrees and he will keep his parishioners in line. The white men laugh and abuse him, he laughs as well and leaves. Outside the room however he feels shame about selling out his people and shuffles off. The flashback ends.

LEIGH WHIPPER AS REV. NED;
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Stratton is still delivering her racist speech to Mrs. Warwick who is visibly disturbed but does not respond. Stratton leaves. Sylvia arrives and talks with Warwick. Sylvia has already send a telegram to Rev.Jacobs promising money but does not say how much, she tells him to wait. Warwick meets again with Stratton and tells her that she can not agree with her racist politics and that she was going to give the Piney Woods School $5,000 but after thinking about it she has decided to raise it to $50,000. Stratton is shocked and offended. She storms out. Warwick shakes her head.

SYLVIA LANDRY AND MRS. WARWICK;
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Dr.Jacobs has been thinking about Sylvia, he dreams of marriage. She declines stating her place is at the school. She returns to Piney Woods with the check from Warwick.

Larry has left Boston for Vicksburg still under suspicion. He has come up with new scams. He decides to blackmail Sylvia (we do not told over what but presumably their non-existant affair) to get the new money for the school. She is distraught and leaves Piney Woods School and returns to Boston. Larry follows her, he is in turn still shadowed by Gentry. Larry returns to crime, breaking into a house to rob their safe. Gentry spots him and bursts in, a gunfight breaks out and Larry is wounded (we do not learn what happens to Gentry) and escapes. He runs into Dr.Vivian who rushes the wounded man to his office and tries to save him but Larry dies. Alma arrives after Larry's death. Dr.Vivian asks her about Sylvia. Alma is feeling guilty and tells him how she broke up Sylvia's engagement to Conrad. Alma then tells him the story of Sylvia's past life in the South.

There is another flashback; Sylvia is a young woman living on a small farm with her adopted parents, Jasper and Mrs. Landry and their young son Emil who appears to be about ten years old. They are poor sharecroppers but have managed to provide for a good education for both Sylvia and Emil. The local landowner is Phillip Gridlestone, an elderly white man. He is a cruel, racist tyrant who lives with his black manservant Efram who is a conniving gossip who sucks up to Gridlestone by spying on the black sharecroppers. He tells Gridlestone that Sylvia Landry has gotten too much education and the Landrys are getting uppity. An angry Gridlestone swears he will put Jasper in his place. Jasper arrives to settle his accounts with Gridlestone. Sylvia has kept careful financial records which disagree with Gridlestone's. Gridlestone is outraged and tells Jasper that "Only the white man's law matters" he reminds Jasper that his father was a slave owner who knew how to keep blacks in line. He strikes Jasper while Efram, who has been listening outside laughs.

EDWARD G. TATUM AS EFRAM THE MANSERVANT;
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Meanwhile we see a poor white Hillbilly farmer outside the window. He is dressed as a stereotypical hillbilly with ragged clothes and beard, he carries a shotgun. We are informed that he owes Gridlestone money and that he has also been abused by him. He sees an opportunity for revenge. He shoots Gridlestone through the window while he accosts Jasper. The Hillbilly then flees as does Jasper. Efram has heard the commotion but not actually seen it. He enters the room and assumes that Jasper has killed Gridlestone and runs off to tell the white townspeople. An armed white mob forms.

THE HILLBILLY GUNMAN:
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Mrs. Jasper has had a premonition of violence. Jasper returns home and the Landry Family flees into the woods, crossing a river. The mob, joined by the Hillbilly chases after them and looses them in the dark. The Hillbilly is accidentally shot dead by the mob while lurking in the woods. Efram has also joined the mob and is enjoying the attention he has gotten. However the mob has gotten frustrated with the Landry's escape and decide to lynch Efram instead.

THE END FOR EFRAM
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The mob eventually catch Jasper, Emil and Mrs. Landry and brutally lynch them, then set fire to their bodies. Young Emil however escapes although he is shot and wounded.

JASPER AND MRS LANDRY ARE LYNCHED;
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Sylvia is not with the Landrys, she is hiding out at a friend's house. She is spotted by Gridlestone's brother Armand who bursts in and attempts to rape her. She tries to fight him off but he is only stopped when he discovers a scar on her left breast which tells him that she is actually the daughter he had with a black woman and abandoned years earlier. He had paid the Landrys to adopt her provide for an education. We are shown newspaper headlines which claim that Jasper murdered a defenseless Gridlestone while drunk. The press accounts say they died while resisting arrest and that Efram died by accident. The flashback ends.

ARMAND GRIDLESTONE ATTACKS SYLVIA:
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Dr.Vivian has found Sylvia, he professes his love and delivers a patriotic speech about America saying that blacks should be proud of their role in it. He proposes marriage, she accepts, they are wed.

DR. VIVIAN AND SYLVIA:
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Aesthetics And Themes;
Exactly how much the film cost and how he raised the cash is not known but his novels had sold well and he had made some wealthy white friends who he was able to tap into. Even so clearly he was operating on a much smaller budget than Griffith had. Micheaux does not use the elaborate sets or the vast army of extras and he reportedly could only afford to a few takes of a given scene so he must have planned out carefully. The film was considered lost for many years until a copy was found in Spain in the 1970's and restored, prior to this it was impossible to properly assess the film from the few stills and newspaper accounts of the time, this also accounts for it's relative obscurity. In the various film history books I have (which predate the film's rediscovery) there is not one mention of Micheaux or his film with only a few black history writers taking note but usually in ways that suggest they had not actually seen the film.

It was always assumed that given Micheaux's limited resources and experience that "Within Our Gates" was a relatively crude film but actually watching it proves conclusively that this is not so.

The film is easily up to the standards of other regular Hollywood productions of the day, including the earlier, pre-big-budget-epic Griffith. Micheaux makes effective use of the full arsenal of close-ups and cross-cutting, although the camera is mostly static and does not have Griffith's trademark tracking shots. The sets seem to be all straight forward locations rather than studio sets. A few sequences show that Micheaux had been paying close attention to Griffth's cross-cutting techniques and put them to effective use to rebut the message of "Birth Of A Nation". Of particular note is the lynching sequence. In Griffith's film the sequence is a dramatic back-and-forth showing the evil black character attempting to rape Lillian Gish's character and the Klan riding to her rescue. The message is clear; white women must be protected from the animal lust of black men, and since the government is not strong enough for the job white men must do so through the Klan. In Micheaux's film the savage lynching of the innocent Landry family by a white mob is inter-cut with the brutal rape of Sylvia by the white plantation owner. Micheaux thus responds to Griffth's fantasy with a far more accurate (if symbolic) portrayal of the reality of white justice in the South. It's also worth pointing out the relatively explicit nature of Micheaux's film. The lynching of the innocent Landry family is brutal and grossly unfair, the mob is even shown putting a noose around the neck of the child Emil, who then escapes after being shot. The mob's bloodlust not being sated by the lynchings, they then set their dangling bodies on fire, a common finale to Southern lynchings, and one glossed over by Griffith. This may in fact be the most truly horrifying in all of silent film.

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The rape scene is also shown as clearly violent and without provocation as the rich white plantation owner attacks Sylvia under the stern fatherly gaze of a portrait of Abraham Lincoln, the great emancipator. This entire sequence is actually one of the most powerful and well constructed in American silent films. Also worth a mention is the sequence showing Mrs.Warwick deciding whether or not give money to Sylvia. She shows meets with Sylvia, shows sympathy and promises help, then meets with Mrs. Stratton who tries to dissuade her. Warwick gives no indication of her intentions. She meets again with Sylvia and then again with Stratton and only then reveals her true intentions. Micheaux does and effective job of stringing the audience along giving no clue to her eventual generosity. The Rev. Ned sequence is well done and has some funny reaction shots from the congregation. They are actually the only signs of humour in this earnest film. It's actually quite surprising that he would show such skill in what was only his second film since he had no prior film or theatre experience. He had clearly been studying other film-makers very carefully, especially Griffith, and he was obviously a quick learner.

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Conservative critics might point out that the white characters in the film are simplistically evil caricatures who exist for no other reason than to be evil racists. The lynch mob are nameless and practically faceless, but there are too many detailed accounts of racist lynch mobs enraged for far less reason than those given in the film to find the events in the film implausible. The actions of Armand Gridlestone are a convenient plot device (would he really chose that particular moment to attack Sylvia?) but he's meant to symbolize the systematized rape of female slaves at the hands of their masters and as a rebuttal of the long held image of black men as sexual predators preying on white women, an image vividly portrayed by Griffith, and deeply resented. It's been noticed that the character of the racist Southern Belle Mrs. Stratton is another direct slap at Griffith in that she bears a striking resemblance to the typical female from Griffith's films such as Mary Pickford, Blanche Sweet and the Gish Sisters; blonde, round faced and wholesome. Micheaux himself admitted that this resemblance was not a coincidence. Conservatives might also object to the Hillbilly characters as being the sort of simplistic stock Hillbilly caricatures that would not be tolerated today. They are shown as ignorant and violent shotgun toting rubes, shirtless and bearded wearing bib overalls, including a gun toting woman. Such stereotypes were however perfectly commonplace in Hollywood features of the time as well, most famously the successful rustic melodrama "Toll'Able David" and even more so in the music industry the advertising for which would rely on the barefoot, bearded, toothless Hillbilly image for the next twenty years. At any rate Micheaux shows the poor whites as also being victims of the Southern economic system as well, pointedly stating that the un-named Hillbilly farmer who shoots Phillip Gridlestone had been abused by the autocratic landowner who had called him "No better than a nigger". The leaders of the whites are instead the wealthy Gridlestones and Strattons with the lynch mob leaders noticeably not being hillbilly types at all but instead dressing in respectable middle-class clothes and living in town rather than in the hills or on the farm. It's perhaps worth noting that Micheaux himself was born and had grown up in Illinois and lived in South Dakota but had never actually lived in the South and most likely never met any poor Southern whites so he may have been willing to accept the hillbilly stereotypes then commonplace.

Micheaux was not without hope for whites though as seen through the saintly character of Mrs. Warwick who acts as a stand-in for those white abolitionists and civil rights workers who had sponsored groups like the NAACP and numerous black schools in the South. Micheaux himself had cultivated some wealthy white friends who had lent him seed money to start his studio. Note that the Piney Woods School was and still is an actual black school in Mississippi. While Micheaux holds white Southerners in contempt he still believes in America as is shown in the final strident speech given by Dr.Vivian in what is easily the least romantic marriage proposal in film history. The very idea of taking that moment to wax patriotic about the occupation of Cuba and World War One would be laughable without the context of the message of the film. Micheaux, like most black leaders of the time, placed his hope in the Republican Party which at the time was still seen as progressive on racial issues. Dr.Vivian is earlier shown reading a magazine with Teddy Roosevelt on the cover and there is that large portrait of Lincoln in Sylvia's room at the end. The character of the white Northern Policeman who arrests the pickpocket is correctly doing his job fairly in protecting Sylvia and Dr.Vivian and does not even beat up the pick-pocket but merely marches him away, in contrast to the indiscriminate violence of the white Southern lynch mob. Micheaux wants racial justice but he is essentially fairly conservative in nature, he believes the system can be made to work if blacks work to better themselves and whites confront their racist past. The attitudes of the white reactionary leadership is shown through the character of the Southern Belle Mrs. Stratton rather than through the Gridlestones or the lynch mob who really just holdovers from the antebellum days. Mrs. Stratton however is a society women, superficially modern and genteel enough to be friends with the saintly Mrs. Warwick until her racism is revealed. The newspaper article she is reading approvingly which explains Sen. Vardaman's bill to deny suffrage to blacks is based on fact. Sen.James K Vardaman was a conservative Democratic senator from Mississippi in the 1910's and 1920's who was a notorious racist demagogue who did indeed introduce bills to repeal the constitutional amendments that guaranteed blacks the right to vote. He also endorsed lynching. It's actually a little unlikely that Stratton and Warwick could have been friends without Stratton's racist attitudes becoming clear earlier but for the purposes of the story we can let that plot loophole slide. Actually even the character of Armand Gridlestone is not completely evil as is revealed that he had been secretly paying for the education and upkeep of Sylvia all along. This makes his attack on Sylvia seem out of place since it's also the first time we even hear about him. That character really should have been more clearly thought out.

Micheaux himself said that he was a follower of Booker T. Washington and Fredrick Douglass rather than W.E.B. DuBoise or Marcus Garvey, he was not a radical. However his attitude towards one of the pillars of the black community, namely the black churches, as shown through the contemptible character of Rev. Ned, is as hard hitting as any atheist diatribe from H.L. Mencken. However Micheaux is not prepared to give up totally on religion as is shown by the character of Rev. Jacobs who runs the Piney Woods School.

The title of the film was taken from a phrase used in Griffith's "Birth Of A Nation" and in Micheaux's hands it seems to refer to his belief that the challenges to be faced by black Americans lie at home (racism, ignorance, subservience, decadence) and the solutions are within the black community through education, hard work, discipline, independence.

Like any good follower of Booker T. Washington Micheaux belives that blacks must uplift themselves and is also not prepared to let black people off the hook. This is shown by the characters of the thieving Larry The Leech and Red The Gambler, the corrupt Rev Ned, the despicably conniving Efram, the violently jealous Conrad and even the selfish Alma who does repent in the end. These themes of black uplift, religion and the quest for middle class respectability would figure in later Micheaux films such as 1927's "The House Behind The Cedars", remade as a soundie in 1932 as "Veiled Aristocrats (both now lost) and 1938's "God's Step Children", which is still amazingly in print.

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Modern Black critics have noted something that his contemporaries apparently did not. That most of the respectable black characters are fairly light skinned including Sylvia and Dr.Vivian while the likes of Rev. Ned, Efram and Red are noticeably darker. However they may be reading too much into this, Larry The Leech is also light skinned while the devout Rev.Jacobs, his sister Constance, their hardworking students and the Landry Family are all dark. It's more likely that Michaux was using the light skin/dark skin contrast to define the urban based characters from the downhome southerners rather than make any value judgements based on skin tone.

THE FILM'S RECEPTION:
The film's message and graphic violence made it instantly controversial. Censors in Chicago, Omaha, New Orleans and other cities held back it's release for two months demanding cuts of the lynching and rape scenes. Not coincidentally some of these cities had been the scene of massive white led race riots in the previous year and officials were afraid of further violence. It wasn't just white authority figures that were worried, some black leaders were concerned that the films portrayal of lynch mob violence might lead to black retaliation. However the consensus formed that the violence and repression of the Jim Crow South must be exposed to those in the North, black and white, who had never experienced it first hand. From accounts of the time it would seem that some cuts were indeed made and that the original version may have been more graphic than the single surviving print seen today. Further evidence of these cuts can be inferred by the existence of film stills showing scenes not in the film as we know it.

The film played to large audiences in black areas in various cities mostly outside the South and received substantial press coverage in the black newspapers garnering favorable reviews. The white media seems to have paid little attention to the film and it was mostly forgotten in the years since. The fact that the existing print was from a copy found in Spain, with Spanish subtitles does show that there must have been some releases in Europe.

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MICHEAUX'S LATER CAREER:

Oscar Micheaux wrote seven novels and made about forty movies and it's been said that he simply told his own story of middle class black uplift over and over again. Micheaux himself admitted that his films "might have been narrow at times", but the same has been said of D.W.Griffith himself, albeit through a different prism. At any rate this is not entirely fair since he (like Griffith) did show enough variety to make a few thrillers and crime stories including "Lying Lips" and "Murder In Harlem" which are still in print and available on DVD. Many of his films are lost but the titles of some suggest a few more crime stories as well.

Micheaux continued to make films well into the sound era. These all appear to have been been starring all black casts (or mostly black) and were certainly aimed at black audiences. He never seems to have worked for a major studio. These films would have been shown at the network of black owned theatres which dotted black neighbourhoods throughout the country until the 1950's. These theatres showed a steady stream of black films such as those made by the prolific actor/director Spencer Williams (in a variety of genres), musicals by Cab Calloway and Louis Jordan, even singing cowboy westerns from Herb Jeffrey, Mantan Morland and the Four Tones as well as films made by Arthur Dreifuss, a white German director who made several films with black casts. There were comedies and romances, there was even the occasional monster movie. No sci-fi or superheros though. These films were all done on limited budgets but those that survive show they were as professionally done as a comparable Hollywood B Movie of a similar budget. Unfortunately most of these films were not saved and few were exported, more research on these films needs to be done. Oscar Micheaux died in 1951 aged 67, largely un-noticed by white Hollywood and film historians. However once a copy of "Within Our Gates" was found in the 1970's and restored it was possible to properly judge it on it's merits and assess it's place in film history, as well as his. He was given a star on The Hollywood Walk Of Fame in 1987 and a posthumous award from The Directors Guild Of America. In 1997 "Within Our Gates" was selected by The Library Of Congress for the National Film Registry as "culturally, historically and aesthetically significant". There is a Micheaux Film Festival in South Dakota and a few legacy awards in his name. In 2010 he was honoured with a U.S. stamp.

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A few words about the cast of "Within our Gates"; most have no known other credits and may have been amateurs although given the incomplete records of the day this is not definitive. Most seem comfortable enough on camera to suggest some experience either in small roles in minor films (which frequently went unbilled in those days) or on the vaudeville stage and theatre groups. A few made other films with Micheaux. Two actors did have full careers however. Evelyn Preer was already established on stage in black theatre groups and would make several films as well. She would also make a name performing as a singer including recording with none other than Duke Ellington. Her career was tragically cut short when she died of complications of child birth in 1932 aged 36. Liegh Whipper, who played Rev. Ned would go on to a long career as a character actor appearing in classic films "Of Mice And Men" and "The Oxbow Incident". He worked almost up to his death in 1975 at the ripe old age of 98.

NOTE; After I wrote this I discovered that quite coincidentally the TIFF Lightbox Theater is doing an Oscar Micheaux Retrospective February for Black History Month.