Frederick Stephani

{{short description|Film director}}

{{Infobox artist

| name = Frederick Stephani

| image = Frederick Stephani.jpg

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| birth_date = {{Birth date|1903|06|13}}

| birth_place = Bonn, Germany

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1962|10|31|1903|06|13}}

| death_place = Los Angeles, California

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| field = Filmmaking

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| works = Flash Gordon

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Frederick Stephani (June 13, 1903 – October 31, 1962){{cite book|title=The Flash Gordon Serials, 1936-1940: A Heavily Illustrated Guide|page=13|author1=Kinnard, Roy |author2=Crnkovich, Tony |author3=Vitone, R.J. |year=2008|publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-0786434701|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DGFqBFs_4xcC&pg=PA13}} was a screenwriter and film director. He is best known for co-writing and directing the 13-chapter science fiction serial Flash Gordon in 1936. The serial became Universal's second highest-grossing productions that year.{{cite book | last1 = Fischer | first1 = Dennis | title = Science Fiction Film Directors, 1895-1998 | publisher = McFarland & Company, Inc | year = 2000 | location = Jefferson, North Carolina | page = 15 | isbn = 0-7864-0740-9}} Despite its success, this was the first and only serial Stephani directed over the course of his career, possibly due to its shortcomings in special effects and overall production values, even by contemporary standards.{{cite book|title= Don't Dare Miss the Next Thrilling Chapter|author=Fletcher, Anthony|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=amOXLV0VMLwC&pg=PA97|page=97|year=2009|publisher=Mill City Press, Incorporated |isbn=978-1936107186}} Stephani continued to write, produce and direct feature films and television episodes into the 1960s.