''A Son of Satan'' is a 1924 silent

race film The race film or race movie was a genre of film produced in the United States between about 1915 and the early 1950s, consisting of films produced for African American, black audiences, and featuring black casts. Approximately five hundred race ...

directed, written, produced and distributed by

Oscar Micheaux Oscar Devereaux Micheaux (; January 2, 1884 – March 25, 1951) was an American author, film director and independent producer of more than 44 films. Although the short-lived Lincoln Motion Picture Company was the first movie company owned and c ...

. The film follows the misadventures of a man who accepted a bet to spend a night in a

haunted house A haunted house, spook house or ghost house in ghostlore is a house or other building often perceived as being inhabited by disembodied spirits of the deceased who may have been former residents or were otherwise connected with the property ...

. Micheaux shot the film in

The Bronx, New York The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County to its north; to its south and west, the New York City bo ...

, and

Roanoke, Virginia Roanoke ( ) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in Virginia, United States. It lies in Southwest Virginia, along the Roanoke River, in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Blue Ridge range of the greater Appalachian Mountains. Roanok ...

."Progressive Silent Film List: Son of Satan"
SilentEra.com.

Cast

* Andrew S. Bishop *

Lawrence Chenault Lawrence Chenault (November 23, 1877 – December 27, 1943)Wintz, Cary D. and Paul Finkelman. Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance. Ebook, Taylor & Francis group. 2004 was an American vaudeville performer and silent film actor. He appeared in ...

Emmett Anthony Emmett Anthony was an American vaudeville comedian who appeared on stage in various revues and shows. In December 1915 he arrived in New Orleans on the ''S.S. Brunswick'' to perform at the Iroquis Theater. He was also in the film ''Son of Satan'' ...

*Edna Morton *

Monte Hawley Monte Hawley (25 October 1901 – 30 November 1950) was an American actor from Chicago, Illinois. Biography He began his entertainment career as one of the original Lafayette Players. He studied under Richard B. Harrison and, after moving to N ...

* Shingzie Howard * Ida Anderson * E. G. Tatum *Dink Stewart *W. B. F. Crowell *Olivia Sewall *Mildred Smallwood * Blanche Thompson *Margaret Brown * Professor Hosay Some of the original cast from the hit Broadway musicals ''

Shuffle Along ''Shuffle Along'' is a musical composed by Eubie Blake, with lyrics by Noble Sissle and a book written by the comedy duo Flournoy Miller and Aubrey Lyles. One of the most notable all-Black hit Broadway shows, it was a landmark in African-Amer ...

'' and '' Runnin' Wild'' appear in the movie, including

Aubrey Lyles Aubrey Lee Lyles (8 January 1884 – 28 July 1932), sometimes credited as A. L. Lyles, was an American vaudeville performer, playwright, songwriter, and lyricist. He appeared with Flournoy E. Miller as Miller and Lyles as a popular African-A ...

and

F. E. Miller Flournoy Eakin Miller (14 April 1885 – 6 June 1971), sometimes credited as F. E. Miller, was an American entertainer, actor, lyricist, producer and playwright. Between about 1905 and 1932 he formed a popular comic duo, Miller and Lyles, with ...

Adelaide Hall Adelaide Louise Hall (20 October 1901 – 7 November 1993) was an American-born UK-based jazz singer and entertainer. Her career spanned more than 70 years from 1921 until her death. Early in her career, she was a major figure in the Harlem Ren ...

, Arthur Cooper, Mildred Baker, Ina Duncan, and Arthur Porter.

Production

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.

Censorship

''A Son of Satan'' ran into distribution problems when state censorship boards rejected the film based on its contents.

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

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 The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to KKK or Klan, is an American Protestant-led Christian terrorism, Christian extremist, white supremacist, Right-wing terrorism, far-right hate group. It was founded in 1865 during Reconstruction era, ...

leader is slain, and a man chokes his wife to death), while

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

censors complained the film’s references to

miscegenation Miscegenation ( ) is marriage or admixture between people who are members of different races or ethnicities. It has occurred many times throughout history, in many places. It has occasionally been controversial or illegal. Adjectives describin ...

would "prove offensive to Southern ladies". In at least one state the film was banned for its title alonePippa Holloway
''Sexuality, Politics, and Social Control in Virginia, 1920-1945''
UNC Press, 2006, .

Lost film

No print of the film is known to exist and it is presumed to be a

lost film A lost film is a feature film, feature or short film in which the original negative or copies are not known to exist in any studio archive, private collection, or public archive. Films can be wholly or partially lost for a number of reasons. ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Son of Satan 1924 films 1924 comedy-drama films 1924 lost films 1920s American films 1924 comedy horror films African-American films American black-and-white films American comedy horror films American haunted house films American silent feature films Films directed by Oscar Micheaux Lost American comedy-drama films Lost horror films Race films Silent comedy-drama films Silent horror films Silent American comedy films Silent American drama films Films shot in New York City Films shot in Virginia Censored films Lost silent American films