David Grant (producer)
Encyclopedia
David Grant sometimes billed as David Hamilton Grant was an English
porn
producer during the late 1960s and 1970s.
, Grant got into a furious row with actor Johnny Briggs
, after Briggs refused to bare all for the film. Briggs feared such exposure could damage his reputation, and a furious Grant threatened to fire him. After the intervention of Briggs’ agent, a compromise was reached and Briggs performed the offending scene with his underpants on. Briggs later recalled this story in his autobiography, noting that after the film he vowed never to work with Grant again. As well as his sex films Grant also produced X-rated cartoons like Sinderella (1972) which ends with the ugly sisters being gang raped by the three bears, and comedy shorts like Escape to Entebbe (1976) a parody of Idi Amin
featuring a browned up John Bluthal
as a Pakistani TV reporter. In 1978 it was announced Grant’s company would produce Love is Beautiful, a British sex film that was to have been directed by Gerard Damiano
and was to star Harry Reems
and Annette Poussin. The film was never made.
In the early eighties Grant turned to video, forming the World of Video 2000 label with fellow 1970s sex film mogul Malcolm Fancey. Grant held the position of company secretary, while Fancey was head of marketing. The company launched onto the video market with several soft porn titles in December 1981. In 1983 Grant noted that Steven Spielberg
’s film ET had yet to be released on home video in the UK, and responded by releasing an old sixties 'B' movie called Night Fright (1968) on video under the title E.T.N - The Extra Terrestrial Nastie, with video artwork that parodied the E.T poster. Universal International Pictures threatened legal action, and the tape was withdrawn then later re-released with different artwork. On the 3rd of February 1984 Grant was imprisoned for distributing ‘video nasty
’ Nightmares in a Damaged Brain
(1981) on video. Grant was sentenced to 18 months in prison (reduced 23 September 1984 to 12 months) for being in "possession of over 200 copies of an obscene article for publication for gain", he was found guilty under section two of the obscene publications act. Grant’s defense lawyer during the trial was Geoffrey Robertson
. After Grant’s imprisonment, World of Video 2000 (and its parent company April Electronics) were placed into liquidation.
One of Grant’s final works in film was ‘Who Bears Sins’, a 1987 video compilation that included clips from his 1970s sex films, mixed in with newer shot on videotape porn vignettes, probably also filmed by Grant. A resident of Cyprus
for most of the 1980s, he left the island under a dark cloud in 1988 when he was deported after assaulting a love rival with a spade. Around the same time The Sun newspaper alleged that Grant had been a drug dealer, and had also “corrupted thousands of children”, during his time in Cyprus. He died in mysterious circumstances in the early 1990s.
Titles marked ‘rejected’ were refused classification by the British censor and therefore banned. Dates refer to the year of distribution, rather than the films actual production dates.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
porn
PORN
Porn is a common short form for pornography. It may also refer to:* Progressive outer retinal necrosis, a disease of the retina* PORN, a French industrial rock band...
producer during the late 1960s and 1970s.
Biography
Originally a photographer, Grant first entered the film world with Love Variations (1969) a sex education film that was based on a ‘marriage manual’ Grant had photographed/published a year earlier. Grant’s sex film empire grew in the 1970s, he opened up a number of adult cinemas, distributed foreign sex films through his "Oppidan" company, and produced his own British sex comedies (Girls Come First, The Office Party, Under the Bed) that were also filmed in hardcore versions for overseas release. Grant liked to refer to himself as the ‘King of Porn’, or the ‘King of Sexploitation’, people who worked with him however would come to nickname the bearded, diminutive Grant ‘The Poison Dwarf’ or 'The Gnome'. Grant enjoyed giving himself Hitchcock cameos in his own films, as well as personally supervising the hardcore scenes for his films. During the making of The Office PartyThe Office Party
The Office Party is a 1976 British comedy film directed by David Grant and starring Alan Lake, David Rayner and Chris Gannon. It depicts the misadventures of staff enjoying an office party.-Cast:* Alan Lake ... Mr. Barnes* David Rayner ... Francis...
, Grant got into a furious row with actor Johnny Briggs
Johnny Briggs (actor)
Johnny Briggs, MBE is an English actor. He is best known for his role as Mike Baldwin in the soap opera Coronation Street, in which he appeared from 1976 to 2006...
, after Briggs refused to bare all for the film. Briggs feared such exposure could damage his reputation, and a furious Grant threatened to fire him. After the intervention of Briggs’ agent, a compromise was reached and Briggs performed the offending scene with his underpants on. Briggs later recalled this story in his autobiography, noting that after the film he vowed never to work with Grant again. As well as his sex films Grant also produced X-rated cartoons like Sinderella (1972) which ends with the ugly sisters being gang raped by the three bears, and comedy shorts like Escape to Entebbe (1976) a parody of Idi Amin
Idi Amin
Idi Amin Dada was a military leader and President of Uganda from 1971 to 1979. Amin joined the British colonial regiment, the King's African Rifles in 1946. Eventually he held the rank of Major General in the post-colonial Ugandan Army and became its Commander before seizing power in the military...
featuring a browned up John Bluthal
John Bluthal
John Bluthal is a Polish-born British film and television actor, mostly in comedy. He is best known for his work with Spike Milligan and for his roles in the television series Never Mind the Quality Feel the Width and The Vicar of Dibley.-Early life:Bluthal was born in Galicia, Poland, of Jewish...
as a Pakistani TV reporter. In 1978 it was announced Grant’s company would produce Love is Beautiful, a British sex film that was to have been directed by Gerard Damiano
Gerard Damiano
Gerard Damiano was an American director of adult films and producer, writer and director of the 1972 cult classic Deep Throat .-Biography:...
and was to star Harry Reems
Harry Reems
Harry Reems is the nom de film of one of the most notorious pornographic actors of the 1970s and star of the 1972 cult classic Deep Throat.-Early life and career:Reems was born Herbert Streicher...
and Annette Poussin. The film was never made.
In the early eighties Grant turned to video, forming the World of Video 2000 label with fellow 1970s sex film mogul Malcolm Fancey. Grant held the position of company secretary, while Fancey was head of marketing. The company launched onto the video market with several soft porn titles in December 1981. In 1983 Grant noted that Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
’s film ET had yet to be released on home video in the UK, and responded by releasing an old sixties 'B' movie called Night Fright (1968) on video under the title E.T.N - The Extra Terrestrial Nastie, with video artwork that parodied the E.T poster. Universal International Pictures threatened legal action, and the tape was withdrawn then later re-released with different artwork. On the 3rd of February 1984 Grant was imprisoned for distributing ‘video nasty
Video nasty
"Video nasty" was a colloquial term coined in the United Kingdom by 1982 which originally applied to a number of films distributed on video cassette that were criticized for their violent content by the press, commentators such as Mary Whitehouse and various religious organizations.While violence...
’ Nightmares in a Damaged Brain
Nightmare (1981)
Nightmare is a 1981 horror film directed by Romano Scavolini.-Synopsis:...
(1981) on video. Grant was sentenced to 18 months in prison (reduced 23 September 1984 to 12 months) for being in "possession of over 200 copies of an obscene article for publication for gain", he was found guilty under section two of the obscene publications act. Grant’s defense lawyer during the trial was Geoffrey Robertson
Geoffrey Robertson
Geoffrey Ronald Robertson QC is an Australian-born human rights lawyer, academic, author and broadcaster. He holds dual Australian and British citizenship....
. After Grant’s imprisonment, World of Video 2000 (and its parent company April Electronics) were placed into liquidation.
One of Grant’s final works in film was ‘Who Bears Sins’, a 1987 video compilation that included clips from his 1970s sex films, mixed in with newer shot on videotape porn vignettes, probably also filmed by Grant. A resident of Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
for most of the 1980s, he left the island under a dark cloud in 1988 when he was deported after assaulting a love rival with a spade. Around the same time The Sun newspaper alleged that Grant had been a drug dealer, and had also “corrupted thousands of children”, during his time in Cyprus. He died in mysterious circumstances in the early 1990s.
Filmography
- Love Variations (1969, director as ‘Terry Gould’)
- Sex, Love and Marriage (1970, director as ‘Terry Gould’)
- Sinderella (1972, co-producer, writer)
- Au Pair GirlsAu Pair GirlsAu Pair Girls is a 1972 British comedy film directed by Val Guest.The film is part of the British 1970s soft core sex comedy film. It also had cameo appearances by mainstream actors such as John Le Mesurier and Richard O'Sullivan.-Plot:...
(1972, story) - Snow White and the Seven PervertsSnow White and the Seven PervertsSnow White and the Seven Perverts is a 1973 German X-rated animated short film based on the fairy tale Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. It was directed and produced by David Grant and Marcus Parker-Rhodes....
(1973, co-producer, writer) - Secrets of a Door to Door Salesmen (1973, producer)
- The Over Amorous Artist (1974, producer)
- The Great McGonagall (1974, producer)
- Pink Orgasm (1975, uncompleted, footage later edited into ‘Who Bears Sins’ (1987))
- Girls Come First (1975, co-producer)
- Dear Marjorie Boobs (1976, producer)
- The Office Party (1976, director,producer, writer)
- Escape to Entebbe (1976 co-director,producer)
- Under the Bed (1977, director, co-producer)
- Over Exposed (1977, unreleased, footage later edited into ‘Who Bears Sins’ (1987))
- The Kiss (1977, co-producer)
- End of Term (1978, producer)
- Marcia (1977, script/co-director)
- You’re Driving Me Crazy (1978, director, co-writer)
- Love is Beautiful (1978, unfilmed)
- Electric Blue 001 (1980, video, includes Grant's "Snow White and the Seven Perverts", no other Grant involvement)
- Who Bears Sins (1987, director, video compilation)
Films distributed by David Grant
- Easy Virtue (1972, rejected)
- Succubus (1973)
- The Apprentice (1973, rejected)
- Wet Dreams (1974 rejected)
- Confessions of a Sex Maniac (1974)
- A Man of Our Time (1974)
- The Last House on the LeftThe Last House on the Left (1972 film)The Last House on the Left is a 1972 horror film written and directed by Wes Craven and produced by Sean S. Cunningham.The story is inspired by the 1960 Swedish film The Virgin Spring, directed by Ingmar Bergman, which in turn is based on the 13th century Swedish ballad "Töres döttrar i Wänge"...
(1974, rejected) - The Growling Tiger (1974)
- Best of the New York Film Festival (1975)
- Woman’s Best Friend (1975, rejected)
- Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS (1975, rejected)
- Take an Easy Ride (1975)
- Far Gone- Too Far Gone (1975)
- Crimson Acceleration (1975)
- Submission aka Pets (1975)
- The Bruce Lee Story (1975)
- No Mercy Man (1975)
- My X Wife (1976, rejected)
- The Coming of Seymour (1976, rejected)
- Late Night Trains (1976, rejected)
- The Younger the Better (1976)
- Divine Obsession (1976)
- Bad Man (1976)
- Only in Denmark (1976)
- Cathy’s Curse (1977)
- What a Performer (1977)
- Dreams of Thirteen (1977)
- Depraved (1976)
- Exhibition (1976, rejected)
- Linda Lovelace for President (1976)
- Sensations (1977)
- Draws (1977)
- Through the Looking Glass (1977)
- Private Collection (1977)
- Good Taste (1977)
- Desperate LivingDesperate LivingDesperate Living is a 1977 American crime comedy fantasy horror film directed, produced, written, and photographed by Baltimore, Maryland filmmaker John Waters starring Liz Renay, Jean Hill, Mink Stole, Edith Massey, and Mary Vivian Pearce.-Plot:...
(1977, rejected) - Pelvis (1977)
- Pussy Talk (1977)
- His Model Wife (1978, rejected)
- The Young Tycoon (1978)
- Memories within Miss Aggie (1978)
- Dark Star (1978)
- Days in London (1978)
- Soft Places (1978)
- Shock Waves (1978)
- Lebanon Why? (1978)
- Take Off (1979)
- Feel My Love (1979)
- Big Ones (1979)
- Video Blue aka The Double Exposure of Holly (1980)
- Nightmares in a Damaged Brain (1982)
Titles marked ‘rejected’ were refused classification by the British censor and therefore banned. Dates refer to the year of distribution, rather than the films actual production dates.