Dwain Esper


Dwain Atkins Esper 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."
Esper's wife, Hildagarde Stadie, wrote many of the scripts for his films. They employed extravagant promotional techniques that included exhibiting the mummified body of notorious Oklahoma outlaw Elmer McCurdy before it was acquired by Dan Sonney.

''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 (short 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.
Esper died in San Diego, California at the age of 88. He and Hildagarde had two children.

Filmography

Director credits

Producer credits

  • How to Take a Bath
  • ''Angkor''

Reissues