Dwain Esper
Dwain Esper | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 7, 1894 Snohomish, Washington, U.S. |
| Died | October 18, 1982 (aged 88) San Diego, California, U.S. |
| Occupations | Filmmaker, producer |
| Spouse |
Hildagarde Stadie (m. 1920) |
| Children | 2 |
Dwain Atkins Esper (October 7, 1894 – October 18, 1982) was an American director and producer of exploitation films.
Biography
Dwain Esper was born in Snohomish, Washington. He was a veteran of World War I.
Career
Esper worked as a building contractor before switching to the film business in the mid-1920s. He produced and directed inexpensive pictures including Sex Maniac, Marihuana, and How to Undress in Front of Your Husband. To enhance the appeal of these low-budget features, he included scenes containing gratuitous nudity and violence that led some to label him the "father of modern exploitation."[1]
Esper's wife, Hildagarde Stadie, wrote many of the scripts for his films.[2] They employed extravagant promotional techniques that included exhibiting the mummified body of notorious Oklahoma outlaw Elmer McCurdy before it was acquired by Dan Sonney.[3]
Maniac (1934)
Maniac, also known as Sex Maniac, an exploitation/horror film directed by Esper, is a loose adaptation of the Edgar Allan Poe story "The Black Cat" and follows a vaudeville impersonator who becomes an assistant to a mad scientist.
Personal life
Esper's wife was Hildagarde Stadie, born 14 July 1895, Chicago, Illinois, died: 21 July 1993, Bullhead City, Arizona, also known as: Mollie Hildagarde, Hildagarde Stadie, Hildagarde Stadie Jackson, and Hildagarde Stadie Esper.[4]
Esper died in San Diego, California at the age of 88.[5] He and Hildagarde had two children.
Filmography
Director credits
- Sinister Harvest (1930)
- The Seventh Commandment (1932)
- a.k.a. Sins of Love (US: reissue title)
- a.k.a. The 7th Commandment (US: poster title)
- Narcotic (1933)
- a.k.a. Narcotic Racket (US: reissue title)
- a.k.a. Narcotic! (US: promotional title)
- a.k.a. Narcotic: As Interpreted by Dwain Esper (US: closing credits title)
- Maniac (1934)
- a.k.a. Sex Maniac
- Modern Motherhood (1934)
- Marihuana (1936)
- a.k.a. Marihuana, the Devil's Weed
- a.k.a. Marihuana, the Weed with Roots in Hell!
- How to Undress in Front of Your Husband (1937)
- Sex Madness (1938)
- a.k.a. Human Wreckage (US: reissue title)
- a.k.a. They Must Be Told (US: reissue title)
- Curse of the Ubangi (1946)
- Will It Happen Again? (1948)
- a.k.a. Love Life of Adolph Hitler (US: reissue title)
- a.k.a. The Strange Love Life of Adolf Hitler (US: reissue title)
- a.k.a. The Strange Loves of Adolf Hitler (US: reissue title)
Producer credits
- Excluding films Esper directed.
- How to Take a Bath (1937)
- Angkor (1935)
- a.k.a. Beyond Shanghai (UK)
- a.k.a. Forbidden Adventure (US: informal reissue title)
- a.k.a. Forbidden Adventure in Angkor (US: reissue title, 1937)
Reissues
- Reefer Madness
- Hell-a-Vision
- a.k.a. Hell-o-Vision (US)
- Man's Way with Women
- Freaks (uncredited) as Forbidden Love, and later Natures Mistakes with Sam Alexander providing a live appearance with some disfigured members of his 'troupe'
- Cain: Aventures des mers exotiques
- a.k.a. Cain
References
- ^ Senn, Bryan (2006). Golden Horrors: An Illustrated Critical Filmography of Terror Cinema, 1931-1939. McFarland & Company. p. 263. ISBN 978-0786427246.
- ^ Cline, John; Weiner, Robert G., eds. (2010). From the Arthouse to the Grindhouse: Highbrow and Lowbrow Transgression in Cinema's First Century. Scarecrow Press. p. 42. ISBN 978-0810876545.
- ^ Schaefer, Eric (1999). Bold! Daring! Shocking! True: A History of Exploitation Films, 1919-1959. Duke University Press. p. 122. ISBN 978-0822323747.
- ^ "Dwain Esper papers, 1928-1984". Online Archive of California. California Digital Library.
- ^ "Dwain Esper Obituary". Variety. 27 October 1982. ISSN 0042-2738.
External links
- Dwain Esper at catalog.afi.com
- Dwain Esper at the TCM Movie Database
- Dwain Esper at IMDb