David F. Friedman
Encyclopedia
David Frank Friedman was an American
filmmaker and film producer
.
pioneer Kroger Babb
during his stay in the army
. This encounter got him interested in films. Working as a regional marketing man for Paramount
, he sensed the money in independent distributing and started his own company in the 1950s, which mainly produced so-called Nudie Cuties, films such as Goldilocks and The Three Bares
, shot in nudist colonies, films that were the closest thing to pornography legally available at the time. This trend was followed by the sexploitation
and "Roughie" genres, depicting simulated sex with a more violent edge, often horror- or crime-related. Examples of Friedman's roughies are The Defilers (1965), The Lustful Turk
(1968), The Head Mistress (1968) and The Adult Version Of Jekyll and Hide (1971, directed by Byron Mabe). Helming one of those movies, Friedman started his working relationship with Chicago-based teacher and filmmaker Herschell Gordon Lewis
.
Friedman went on to produce the latter's 1963 film Blood Feast
, an American exploitation film often considered the first "gore" or splatter film
. He was also the producer of two of the first Nazi exploitation
films, Love Camp 7
(1969) and Ilsa: She-Wolf of the SS
(1974), for which he wouldn't use his real name and was credited as Herman Traeger.
With the advent of hardcore porn as a commercial factor in the mid-'70s, Friedman began to slow down his output. His moto of "Sell the sizzle not the steak" would not allow actual intercourse to be shown in his films. Still, he was president of the Adult Film Association of America, a trade association for hardcore porn producers.
In the early '90s Seattle's Something Weird Video
, owned by Mike Vraney, started to re-issue much of Friedman's work on videocassette, getting him the attention of a new generation of exploitation and b-movie
collectors. He can be heard on the audio commentary track of some of the company's releases. In 2000 Friedman was featured alongside cult filmmakers Roger Corman
, Doris Wishman
, Harry Novak
and others in the documentary SCHLOCK! The Secret History of American Movies, a film about the rise and fall of American exploitation cinema.
In 2001 he co-starred with longtime business partner Dan Sonney
in the documentary Mau Mau Sex Sex (IMDb entry).
Friedman died in Anniston, Alabama
on February 14, 2011 at the age of 87.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
filmmaker and film producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
.
Life and career
Friedman first became interested in entertainment after spending part of his childhood in Birmingham and Anniston, Alabama, traveling carnival sites. He met exploitation filmExploitation film
Exploitation film is a type of film that is promoted by "exploiting" often lurid subject matter. The term "exploitation" is common in film marketing, used for all types of films to mean promotion or advertising. These films then need something to exploit, such as a big star, special effects, sex,...
pioneer Kroger Babb
Kroger Babb
Howard W. "Kroger" Babb was an American film and television producer and showman. His marketing techniques were similar to a travelling salesman's, with roots in the medicine-show tradition...
during his stay in the army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
. This encounter got him interested in films. Working as a regional marketing man for Paramount
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
, he sensed the money in independent distributing and started his own company in the 1950s, which mainly produced so-called Nudie Cuties, films such as Goldilocks and The Three Bares
Goldilocks and The Three Bares
Goldilocks and The Three Bares is the thought-to-be-lost second to last nudie-cutie from the legendary exploitation team of Herschell Gordon Lewis and David F. Friedman. The title can be misleading; the plotline has absolutely nothing to do with the famous fable which inspired the title...
, shot in nudist colonies, films that were the closest thing to pornography legally available at the time. This trend was followed by the sexploitation
Sexploitation
Sexploitation, or "sex-exploitation", describes a class of independently produced, low-budget feature films generally associated with the 1960s and serving largely as a vehicle for the exhibition of non-explicit sexual situations and gratuitous nudity. The genre is a subgenre of exploitation films...
and "Roughie" genres, depicting simulated sex with a more violent edge, often horror- or crime-related. Examples of Friedman's roughies are The Defilers (1965), The Lustful Turk
The Lustful Turk
The Lustful Turk, or Lascivious Scenes from a Harem is a pre-Victorian British erotic epistolary novel first published anonymously in 1828 by John Benjamin Brookes and reprinted by William Dugdale. However, it was not widely known or circulated until the 1893 edition.The novel consists largely of a...
(1968), The Head Mistress (1968) and The Adult Version Of Jekyll and Hide (1971, directed by Byron Mabe). Helming one of those movies, Friedman started his working relationship with Chicago-based teacher and filmmaker Herschell Gordon Lewis
Herschell Gordon Lewis
Herschell Gordon Lewis is an American filmmaker, best known for creating the "splatter film" subgenre of horror...
.
Friedman went on to produce the latter's 1963 film Blood Feast
Blood Feast
Blood Feast is a 1963 American horror film directed by Herschell Gordon Lewis, often considered the first "splatter film". It was produced by David F. Friedman. The screenplay was written by Alison Louise Downe, who had previously appeared in several of Lewis' other films. Lewis also wrote the...
, an American exploitation film often considered the first "gore" or splatter film
Splatter film
A splatter film or gore film is a subgenre of horror film that deliberately focuses on graphic portrayals of gore and graphic violence. These films, through the use of special effects and excessive blood and guts, tend to display an overt interest in the vulnerability of the human body and the...
. He was also the producer of two of the first Nazi exploitation
Nazi exploitation
Nazi exploitation is a subgenre of exploitation film and sexploitation film that involves villainous Nazis committing criminal acts of a sexual nature often as camp or prison overseers in World War II settings...
films, Love Camp 7
Love Camp 7
Love Camp 7 is a 1969 U.S. women-in-prison B-movie directed by Lee Frost and written by Wes Bishop and Bob Cresse, the latter of whom also acts as a sadistic camp commandant.-Plot:...
(1969) and Ilsa: She-Wolf of the SS
Ilsa: She-Wolf of the SS
Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS is a 1975 Nazi exploitation film produced in the USA. The film was directed by Don Edmonds, produced by David F. Friedman and written by Jonah Royston.- Plot :...
(1974), for which he wouldn't use his real name and was credited as Herman Traeger.
With the advent of hardcore porn as a commercial factor in the mid-'70s, Friedman began to slow down his output. His moto of "Sell the sizzle not the steak" would not allow actual intercourse to be shown in his films. Still, he was president of the Adult Film Association of America, a trade association for hardcore porn producers.
In the early '90s Seattle's Something Weird Video
Something Weird Video
Something Weird Video is an American publisher of video tapes and DVDs, based in Seattle, Washington. They specialize in exploitation film, particularly the works of Harry Novak, Doris Wishman, David F. Friedman, and Herschell Gordon Lewis. SWV videos are available on demand to Comcast subscribers...
, owned by Mike Vraney, started to re-issue much of Friedman's work on videocassette, getting him the attention of a new generation of exploitation and b-movie
B-movie
A B movie is a low-budget commercial motion picture that is not definitively an arthouse or pornographic film. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified a film intended for distribution as the less-publicized, bottom half of a double feature....
collectors. He can be heard on the audio commentary track of some of the company's releases. In 2000 Friedman was featured alongside cult filmmakers Roger Corman
Roger Corman
Roger William Corman is an American film producer, director and actor. He has mostly worked on low-budget B movies. Some of Corman's work has an established critical reputation, such as his cycle of films adapted from the tales of Edgar Allan Poe, and in 2009 he won an Honorary Academy Award for...
, Doris Wishman
Doris Wishman
Doris Wishman was an American film director, screenwriter and independent film producer....
, Harry Novak
Harry Novak
Harry Novak, "the sexploitation king," produced and distributed a prolific number of exploitation films from the early 60s to the mid-70s, including William Rotsler's cult classics The Agony of Love and Mantis in Lace and the influential "monster nudie" Kiss Me Quick! among many others...
and others in the documentary SCHLOCK! The Secret History of American Movies, a film about the rise and fall of American exploitation cinema.
In 2001 he co-starred with longtime business partner Dan Sonney
Dan Sonney
Dan Sonney was a director, producer and distributor of exploitation films. He was the son of Louis Sonney, who founded Sonney Amusements, the husband of Margaret Sonney, and a long term business partner of David F. Friedman....
in the documentary Mau Mau Sex Sex (IMDb entry).
Friedman died in Anniston, Alabama
Anniston, Alabama
Anniston is a city in Calhoun County in the state of Alabama, United States.As of the 2000 census, the population of the city is 24,276. According to the 2005 U.S. Census estimates, the city had a population of 23,741...
on February 14, 2011 at the age of 87.
Further reading
- Andrews, David. Soft in the middle: the contemporary softcore feature in its contexts, Ohio State University Press, 2006, ISBN 0814210228.
- Briggs, Joe Bob. Profoundly disturbing: shocking movies that changed history!, Universe, 2003, ISBN 0789308444.
- Burger, Frederick. (2002-02-24). http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/109640955.html?dids=109640955:109640955&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Feb+24%2C+2002&author=FREDERICK+BURGER&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc=Movies%3B+Blood!+Guts!+Gall!%3B+David+Friedman+is+proud+of+the+schlock+he's+inflicted+on+the+public+over+the+years.&pqatl=google"Blood! Guts! Gall!; David Friedman is proud of the schlock he's inflicted on the public over the years."] Los Angeles TimesLos Angeles TimesThe Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
. p. F-4. - RE/Search No. 10: Incredibly Strange FilmsIncredibly Strange FilmsRE/Search No. 10: Incredibly Strange Films is a book about American underground and other films edited by V. Vale and Andrea Juno.Among the subjects covered are the work of filmmakers Russ Meyer, Herschell Gordon Lewis, Frank Henenlotter, Larry Cohen, Doris Wishman, David F. Friedman, Edward D....
RE/Search PublicationsRE/SearchRE/Search Publications is an American magazine and book publisher, based in San Francisco, founded and edited by Andrea Juno and V. Vale in 1980. It was the successor to Vale's earlier punk rock fanzine Search & Destroy , and was started with $100 from Allen Ginsberg and Lawrence Ferlinghetti...
, 1986, ISBN 0-940642-09-3. - Suckling, Nigel. Werewolves, AAPPL, 2006, ISBN 1904332463.
- David F. Friedman. A Youth in Babylon: Confessions of a Trash-Film King, Prometheus Books, 1998.
External links
- David F. Freidman at BhamWiki.com