C. Davis Smith

Known for Camera

Biography

"Somebody asked me to write a book about my experiences. I was gonna title it: "Twenty Years in the Porn Business, and I Never Got Laid." Sadly it's a true story!" Exploitation movie jack-of-all-trades Charles Davis Smith was born on June 18, 1930, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Following a tour of duty in the US Air Force, Smith began his cinematic career in the industrial film business in the 1950s. He went on to shoot, edit, direct, write, and even act in numerous low-budget softcore sexploitation features made throughout the 1960s. After a stint working in mainstream television, Smith returned to his trash film roots and shot a handful of hardcore porn movies made in and around New York City in the 1970s. He is perhaps best known for his work as a cinematographer on a string of films for legendary Do-It-Yourself maverick schlock cinema auteur Doris Wishman, among them Bad Girls Go to Hell (1965), Another Day, Another Man (1966), Deadly Weapons (1974), Double Agent 73 (1974), Satan Was a Lady (1975) and A Night to Dismember (1983). In addition, he also shot movies for such directors as Victor Milt, Cecil Howard, and Zebedy Colt. Moreover, Smith edited music videos for The Manhattans, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Run-D.M.C.. He provided lively, entertaining, and illuminating commentaries on DVD reissues of assorted enjoyably down'n'dirty grindhouse features that he worked on in various capacities during his colorful and impressive East Coast underground cinema career. Smith died at age 87 on September 20, 2017.