Introduction
Dwain Atkins Esper (October 7, 1894 – October 18, 1982) was an American director and producer of exploitation films.
Biography
A veteran of World War I, Esper worked as a building contractor before switching to the film business in the mid-'20s. He produced and directed inexpensive pictures with eye-catching titles like 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."
Esper's wife, Hildagarde Stadie, wrote many of the scripts for his films. Together they employed extravagant promotional techniques that included exhibiting the mummified body of notorious Oklahoma outlaw Elmer McCurdy, before it was acquired by Dan Sonney.
Esper died in San Diego, California, at the age of 88. He and Hildagarde had two children, Dwain Jr. and Millicent.
Filmography
Director credits
- Sinister Harvest (1930)
- The Seventh Commandment (1932)
- Narcotic (1933)
- Maniac (1934)
- Modern Motherhood (1934)
- Marihuana (1936)
- How to Undress in Front of Your Husband (1937)
- Sex Madness (1938)
- Curse of the Ubangi (1946)
- Will It Happen Again? (1948)
Producer credits
- How to Take a Bath (1937)
- Angkor (1935)
Reissues
- Reefer Madness
- Hell-A-Vision
- 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