A Son of Satan

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A Son of Satan
Directed by Oscar Micheaux
Written byOscar Micheaux
Produced byOscar Micheaux
StarringAndrew Bishop
Lawrence Chenault
Shingzie Howard
Edna Morton
Release date
  • September 18, 1924 (1924-09-18)
CountryUnited States

A Son of Satan is a 1924 silent race film directed, written, produced and distributed by Oscar Micheaux. [1] The film follows the misadventures of a man who accepted a bet to spend a night in a haunted house. [2] Micheaux shot the film in The Bronx, New York, and Roanoke, Virginia. [3]

Contents

A Son of Satan ran into distribution problems when state censorship boards rejected the film based on its contents. New York censors objected to the film’s depiction of violence, particularly against women and animals (a cat is killed onscreen in one scene, a Ku Klux Klan leader is slain, and a man chokes his wife to death [4] ), while Virginia censors complained the film’s references to miscegenation would "prove offensive to Southern ladies". In at least one state the film was banned for its title alone [5] [6] [7]

No print of the film is known to exist and it is presumed to be a lost film. [3] Micheaux Film Corporation production; distributed by Micheaux Film Corporation. / Produced by Oscar Micheaux. Scenario by Oscar Micheaux. / Standard 35mm spherical 1.37:1 format. / Working title: The Ghost of Tolston’s Manor. The production began shooting on March 26, 1923, in the Bronx, New York. Some location photography was taken in Roanoke, Virginia, and in Clason’s Point, New York. Approximately 20,000 feet of film was shot during production. The film was granted a New York State exhibition license on September 18, 1924.

Cast

Some of the original cast from the hit Broadway musicals Shuffle Along and Runnin' Wild appear in the movie, including Aubrey Lyles and F. E. Miller, Adelaide Hall, Arthur Cooper, Mildred Baker, Ina Duncan, and Arthur Porter.

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L'Homme qui vendit son âme au diable is a 1921 French silent film comedy directed by Pierre Caron. The plot was similar to Faust and The Student of Prague, about a man who makes a diabolical deal with the Devil.

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The Dungeon is a 1922 race film directed, written, produced and distributed by Oscar Micheaux, considered the African-American Cecil B. DeMille due to his prolific output of films during the silent era, one of his greatest works being Body and Soul (1924). The Dungeon was his first horror effort, an early blaxploitation take on the Bluebeard legend.

The Other Person is a 1921 Dutch-British silent mystery film directed by Maurits Binger and B.E. Doxat-Pratt. It was a co-production between a Dutch film company and a British film company.

Harry Agar Lyons was an Irish-born British actor. He was born in Cork, Ireland in 1878 and died in Wandsworth, London, England in 1944 at age 72.

Lord Arthur Saville's Crime is a 1920 Hungarian silent crime film directed by Pál Fejös and starring Ödön Bárdi, Lajos Gellért and Margit Lux. It was also released as both Mark of the Phantom and Lidercnyomas. The film was based on the 1891 short story Lord Arthur Savile's Crime by Oscar Wilde. It was one of Pal Fejos' earliest films and is now considered lost. It was photographed by Jozsef Karban.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alwin Neuß</span> German actor and film director

Carl Alwin Heinrich Neuß was a German film director and actor, noted for playing Sherlock Holmes in a series of silent films during the 1910s. He also played the dual role of Jekyll and Hyde in the 1910 Danish silent film version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, directed by August Blom. He played Jekyll and Hyde again in the 1914 German silent film Ein Seltsamer Fall, scripted by Richard Oswald.

The Grinning Face, aka The Man Who Laughs, is a 1921 Austrian-German silent horror film directed by Julius Herska and starring Franz Höbling, Nora Gregor and Lucienne Delacroix. It is an adaptation of the 1869 novel The Man Who Laughs by Victor Hugo.

Figures of the Night (German:Nachtgestalten) is a 1920 German silent horror film written, directed and produced by Richard Oswald and starring Paul Wegener, Conrad Veidt, Reinhold Schünzel and Erna Morena. It is based on the novel Eleagabal Kuperus by Karl Hans Strobl. Strobl was the editor of a German horror fiction magazine called Der Orchideengarten which was said to have been influenced by the works of Edgar Allan Poe. Strobl was an anti-Semitic and later willingly joined the Nazi Party, which may explain why he has become an obscure literary figure today.

The Sorrows of Satan is a 1917 British silent fantasy film directed by Alexander Butler and starring Gladys Cooper, Owen Nares and Cecil Humphreys. It was made at Isleworth Studios. It was based on the 1895 novel of the same name by Marie Corelli (1855–1924). The plot involves a poverty-stricken author who is so depressed about his life that he agrees to sell his soul to the Devil.

References

  1. "A Son of Satan (1924) | Full Cast & Crew", IMDb.
  2. "Overview: A Son of Satan", AllMovie.
  3. 1 2 "Progressive Silent Film List: Son of Satan", SilentEra.com. Archived January 9, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  4. Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 280. ISBN   978-1936168-68-2.
  5. Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 280. ISBN   978-1936168-68-2.
  6. “Movie Censorship and American Culture” by Francis G. Couvares, University of Massachusetts Press, 2006, ISBN   1-55849-575-4
  7. Pippa Holloway, Sexuality, Politics, and Social Control in Virginia, 1920-1945, UNC Press, 2006, ISBN   0-8078-5764-5.