Ingagi (1930)
March 15, 1930Release Date
Plot.
Where to Watch.
This Movie Is About.
Cast & Crew.
Daniel Swayne
Explorer
Sir Hubert Winstead
Explorer
Charles Gemora
Ingagi - The Gorilla
Arthur Clayton
Explorer
Louis Nizor
Narrator
William Campbell
Director
Adam Shirk
Writer
William Alexander
Producer
Edward Gage
Composer
L. Gillingham
Cinematographer
Ed Joyce
Cinematographer
Fred Webster
Cinematography
George Summerton
Cinematography
Harold Williams
Cinematography
Grace McKee
Editor
Media.
Details.
Release DateMarch 15, 1930
StatusReleased
Running Time1h 22m
Box Office$4,000,000
Genres
Wiki.
Ingagi is a 1930 pre-Code pseudo-documentary exploitation film directed by William S. Campbell. It purports to be a documentary about "Sir Hubert Winstead" of London on an expedition to the Belgian Congo, and depicts a tribe of gorilla-worshipping women encountered by the explorer. The film claims to show a ritual in which African women are given over to gorillas as sex slaves, but in actuality was mostly filmed in Los Angeles, using American actresses in place of natives. It was produced and distributed by Nat Spitzer's Congo Pictures, which had been formed expressly for this production. Although marketed under the pretense of being ethnographic, the premise was a fabrication, leading the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors Association to retract any involvement.The film trades heavily on its nudity and on the suggestion of sex between a woman and a gorilla. Its success motivated RKO Radio Pictures to invest in the 1933 film, King Kong. RKO owned several of the theatres where Ingagi was shown, including one of the first, the Orpheum Theatre in San Francisco, where it opened April 5, 1930.