Joseph P. Mawra

Joseph W Mawra grew up in Queens NY From 195659 he attended Hofstra University where he took courses in such subjects as English and creative writing He got his start in show business as a freelance joke writer for talk show host Jack Paar Mawra went on to edit advertising spots and trailers for motion pictures He eventually wound up working for Stan Borden who owned the production distribution outfit American Film Distributing Corp AFDC Over a twoyear period Mawra made the four entries in the Olga series starring Audrey Campbell as sadistic crime ring boss Olga for Borden and producer George Weiss Olgas House of Shame 1964 White Slaves of Chinatown 1964 Olgas Girls 1964 and Mme Olgas Massage Parlor 1965 Shot in black and white on an average of four to five days on extremely modest budgets these gritty exploitation features have gone on to amass a substantial cult following Besides directing these movies Mawra also edited them and worked on the trailers In the wake of making the Olga pictures and weathering a storm of controversy in an obscenity court case against Olgas House of Shame Mawra moved with his family to Long Island and directed several more films including All Men Are Apes 1965 Murder in Mississippi 1965 Mondo oscenità 1966 and Fireball Jungle 1968 After serving as an executive producer on Rain for a Dusty Summer 1971 Mawra continued to work in the motion picture industry editing producing and writing the copy for trailers as well as a young childrens TV program to teach kids how to tell stories through writing