Stanley A. Long (26 November 1933 – 10 September 2012) was an English

exploitation cinema An exploitation film is a film that tries to succeed financially by exploiting current trends, niche genres, or lurid content. Exploitation films are generally low-quality "B movies", though some set trends, attract critical attention, become h ...

and

sexploitation A sexploitation film (or sex-exploitation film) is a class of independently produced, low-budget feature film that is generally associated with the 1960s and early 1970s, and that serves largely as a vehicle for the exhibition of non-explicit se ...

filmmaker. He was also a driving force behind the

VistaScreen The VistaScreen Co Ltd was a stereographic photography outfit launched in the late 1950s by Jack & Jeff Spring, who, at the time, owned a paper merchanting company called Capital Paper Company, and Stanley Long, a former RAF photographer. Long sh ...

stereoscopic Stereoscopy (also called stereoscopics, or stereo imaging) is a technique for creating or enhancing the illusion of depth in an image by means of stereopsis for binocular vision. The word ''stereoscopy'' derives . Any stereoscopic image is ...

(3D) photographic company. He was a writer,

cinematographer The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the photographing or recording of a film, television production, music video or other live action piece. The cinematographer is the c ...

, editor, and eventually, producer/director of low-budget exploitation movies. ''Keeping the British End Up: Four Decades of Saucy Cinema'' by Simon Sheridan (fourth edition) (Titan Books) (2011)

Career

Long began his career as a photographer with the RAF, and helped found the stereoscopic souvenir/collectible outfit

with the Spring Brothers in 1956. Selling out to

Weetabix Weetabix is a breakfast cereal produced by Weetabix Limited in the United Kingdom. It comes in the form of palm-sized (approx. 9.5 cm × 5.0 cm or 4" × 2") wheat biscuits. Variants include organic and Weetabix Crispy Minis (bite-size ...

in 1961, Long considered other outlets for his talents. He went on to produce striptease shorts or "glamour home movies", as they were sometimes known, for the 8 mm market, under the banner of Stag Film Productions. Beginning in the late fifties, Long’s feature film career would span the entire history of the British sex film, and as such exemplifies its differing trends and attitudes. His work ranges from coy nudist films (''

Nudist Memories ''Nudist Memories'' is a 1961 British naturist film. It was inspired by the success of '' Nudist Paradise'' and was a success at the box office.Sheridan, Simon (2011). ''Keeping the British End Up: Four Decades of Saucy Cinema'', Titan Books pp. ...

'', 1959) to moralizing documentary (''

The Wife Swappers ''The Wife Swappers'' is a 1970 drama film by British sexploitation director Derek Ford. The film was produced by Stanley Long and stars James Donnelly, Larry Taylor and Valerie St. John. The film was a huge commercial success relative to its ...

'', 1970) to a more relaxed attitude to permissive material (''

Naughty! ''Naughty'' is a 1971 British dramatised documentary film directed by Stanley Long.Long said although the movie was sold as a sex film it was "a fairly serious film" which "had some purpose". It mixed interviews with archived footage and re-enactm ...

'', 1971, ''

On the Game ''On the Game'' (also known as Sex Through the Ages) is a 1974 British film directed by Stanley Long. It was a dramatised documentary about prostitution. The film was researched and written by Suzanne Mercer. Mercer spent two years researching it ...

'', 1974), to out-and-out comedies at the end of the 1970s. He made several

sex comedy Sexual intercourse, Sex comedy, erotic comedy or more broadly sexual comedy is a genre in which comedy is motivated by sexual situations and love affairs. Although "sex comedy" is primarily a description of dramatic forms such as theatre and film, ...

movies in the 1970s, the most successful being ''

Adventures of a Taxi Driver ''Adventures of a Taxi Driver'' is a 1976 British sex comedy film directed by Stanley Long and starring Barry Evans, Judy Geeson and Adrienne Posta. There were two sequels, '' Adventures of a Private Eye'' and '' Adventures of a Plumber's Ma ...

'' (1976), ''

Adventures of a Private Eye ''Adventures of a Private Eye'' is a 1977 British sex comedy film directed by Stanley Long and starring Christopher Neil, Suzy Kendall, Harry H. Corbett and Liz Fraser. It followed the 1976 film '' Adventures of a Taxi Driver'' and was followe ...

'' (1977) and ''

Adventures of a Plumber's Mate ''Adventures of a Plumber's Mate'' is a 1978 British sex comedy film directed by Stanley Long and starring Christopher Neil as Sid South. Following on from ''Adventures of a Taxi Driver'' and ''Adventures of a Private Eye'', it was the final o ...

'' (1978); these starred a host of talented comedy performers including Barry Evans,

Diana Dors Diana Dors (born Diana Mary Fluck; 23 October 19314 May 1984) was an English actress and singer. Dors came to public notice as a blonde bombshell, much in the style of Americans Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield and Mamie Van Doren. Dors was ...

Irene Handl Irene Handl (27 December 1901 – 29 November 1987) was a British author and character actress who appeared in more than 100 British films. Life Irene Handl was born in Maida Vale, London, the younger of two daughters of an Austria-born father ...

Harry H. Corbett Harry H. Corbett OBE (28 February 1925 – 21 March 1982) was an English actor and comedian, best remembered for playing rag-and-bone man Harold Steptoe alongside Wilfrid Brambell in the long-running BBC television sitcom ''Steptoe and Son'' (19 ...

Liz Fraser Elizabeth Joan Winch (14 August 1930 – 6 September 2018), known professionally as Liz Fraser, was a British film actress, best known for being cast in provocative comedy roles. Early life Fraser was born in Southwark, London. Her year of bi ...

and

Fred Emney Frederick Arthur Round Emney (12 February 1902 – 25 December 1980) was an English character actor and comedian. Emney was born in Prescot, Lancashire,GRO Register of Births Mar 1902 Frederick Arthur R Emney 8b 725 PRESCOT1901 Census: ...

. Like

Norman J. Warren Norman John Warren (25 June 1942 – 11 March 2021) was an English film director best known for such 1970s horror films as '' Satan's Slave'' (1976), ''Prey'' (1977) and ''Terror'' (1978). Warren is also known for sex comedies such as '' Outer ...

, Long also made horror films. He made the anthology movie ''

Screamtime ''Screamtime'' is a 1983 British-American horror anthology film directed by Michael Armstrong and Stanley A. Long (dually credited as Al Beresford), and written by Armstrong. The film opens with a pair of young men stealing three videotapes, whic ...

'' in 1983 and was due to film a Jo Gannon script entitled ''Plasmid'', about albino mutants living in London’s Underground. While the film was never made, confusingly a tie-in novel of ''Plasmid'' was released. Long was also the cameraman on several British horror movies of the 1960s, including ''

The Blood Beast Terror ''The Blood Beast Terror'' is a 1968 British horror film directed by Vernon Sewell and starring Peter Cushing, Robert Flemyng and Wanda Ventham, released by Tigon in February 1968.John Hamilton, ''Beasts in the Cellar: The Exploitation Fil ...

'', '' Repulsion'' (uncredited) and ''

The Sorcerers ''The Sorcerers'' is a 1967 British science fiction/horror film directed by Michael Reeves, starring Boris Karloff, Catherine Lacey, Ian Ogilvy, and Susan George. The original story and screenplay was conceived and written by John Burke. R ...

''. For the latter he was strapped to the top of a car to film one sequence. Long retired from film directing in the early 1980s; however, he briefly returned to direct ''The Other Side of the Screen'' in 2006, a one-off documentary about various aspects of filmmaking. This was hosted by

Paul Martin Paul Edgar Philippe Martin (born August 28, 1938), also known as Paul Martin Jr., is a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 21st prime minister of Canada and the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada from 2003 to 2006. The son o ...

, star of ''

Flog It! ''Flog It!'' is a BBC television series that has been broadcast since 27 May 2002, presented by Paul Martin (although the first five episodes were presented by Mark Harnden). Description The show follows a similar formula to ''Antiques Roadsho ...

''. As an entrepreneur, he was the creator of Salon Productions and Alpha Film Distribution. The "Adventures of" comedies were released to DVD on 2 June 2008. The following year several of his other sex films, ''On the Game'', ''Sex and the Other Woman'' and ''This That and the Other'' were also released on DVD for the very first time. Long was interviewed for the BBC's ''

Balderdash and Piffle ''Balderdash and Piffle'' is a British television programme on BBC in which the writers of the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' asked the public for help in finding the origins and first known citations of a number of words and phrases. Presented b ...

'' programme (broadcast 25 May 2007), and the British horror and comedy episodes of the ''British Films Forever'' series ("Magic, Murder and Monsters" broadcast 25 August 2007, "Sauce, Satire and Sillyness" broadcast 9 September 2007). Simon Sheridan’s biography of Long - ''X-Rated - Adventures of an Exploitation Filmmaker'' - was published in July 2008.

Death

Stanley Long died in Buckinghamshire on 10 September 2012, at the age of 78, of natural causes.

Select credits

*''

West End Jungle ''West End Jungle'' is a 1961 British drama documentary film directed by Arnold Louis Miller and starring Andria Lawrence and Vicki Woolf. It focuses on the issue of prostitution.Simon Sheridan, ''Keeping the British End Up: Four Decades of Sa ...

'' (1961) *''

Nudes of the World ''Nudes of the World'' is a 1961 British naturist film. It was also known as ''Nudes of All Nations''.Simon Sheridan, ''Keeping the British End Up: Four Decades of Saucy Cinema'', Titan Books 2011 p 43 References External links''Nudes of the ...

'' (1961) *''

Take Off Your Clothes and Live! ''Take Off Your Clothes and Live!'' is a 1963 British naturist film directed by Arnold Louis Miller. It was partly shot in the south of France.Simon Sheridan, ''Keeping the British End Up: Four Decades of Saucy Cinema'', Titan Books 2011 p 47-4 ...

'' (1963) *''

London in the Raw ''London in the Raw'' is a 1964 British documentary about London nightlife.John Hamilton, ''Beasts in the Cellar: The Exploitation Film Career of Tony Tenser'', Fab Press, 2005 p 40-41 It was inspired by the success of '' Mondo Cane''.Simon Sheri ...

'' (1964) *''

Primitive London ''London in the Raw'' is a 1964 British documentary about London nightlife.John Hamilton, ''Beasts in the Cellar: The Exploitation Film Career of Tony Tenser'', Fab Press, 2005 p 40-41 It was inspired by the success of ''Mondo Cane''.Simon Sherid ...

'' (1965) *''

Secrets of a Windmill Girl ''Secrets of a Windmill Girl'' is a 1966 British exploitation film directed by Arnold L. Miller. It recounts the road to ruin of a young woman (Pauline Collins) who becomes involved with the striptease scene after becoming a dancer at the Windmil ...

'' (1966) *'' This, That and the Other'' (1969) *''

Groupie Girl ''Groupie Girl'' is a 1970 British drama film about the rock music scene, directed by Derek Ford and starring Esme Johns, Donald Sumpter and the band Opal Butterfly. The film was written by Ford and former groupie Suzanne Mercer. Ford later c ...

'' (1970) *''

'' (1971) *''Bread'' (1971) *''

Sex and the Other Woman ''Sex and the Other Woman'' (also known as The Other Woman) is a 1972 British romantic sex comedy film directed by Stanley A. Long. The film starring Bartlett Mullins, Peggy Ann Clifford, Maggie Wright, Anthony Bailey and Margaret Burton in the ...

'' (1972) *''

'' (1974) * ''

Eskimo Nell Eskimo () is an exonym used to refer to two closely related Indigenous peoples: the Inuit (including the Alaska Native Iñupiat, the Greenlandic Inuit, and the Canadian Inuit) and the Yupik (or Yuit) of eastern Siberia and Alaska. A related thi ...

'' (1975) * ''It Could Happen to You'' (1975) *''

'' (1976) *''

'' (1977) *''

'' (1978) *''Screamtime'' (1983)

References

External links

*
Stanley Long's official websiteLong directing Adventures of a Plumbers Mate
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Long, Stanley 1933 births 2012 deaths English film directors English film producers English screenwriters English male screenwriters 20th-century English businesspeople

Career

Death

Select credits

See also

References

External links