Rialto Film
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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"Even though there are countless film adaptations of Edgar Wallace novels worldwide, the crime films produced by the German company Rialto Film between 1959 and 1972 are the best-known of those, to the extent that they form their own subgenre known as Krimis (abbreviation for the German term "Kriminalfilm" (or "Kriminalroman"). Other Edgar Wallace adaptations in a similar style were made by the Germans Artur Brauner and Kurt Ulrich, and the British producer Harry Alan Towers." --Sholem Stein |
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Rialto Film is a German motion-picture production company headquartered in Berlin.
History
The original Danish Rialto Film company was founded in 1897 by Constantin Philipsen (1859–1925) in Copenhagen. In 1950 his son Preben Philipsen (1910–2005) established the Constantin Film distribution at Frankfurt, named after his father, together with his associate Waldfried Barthel (1913–1979). After Philipsen exited Constantin Film in 1955, he again turned to his father's film business in both Scandianvia and Germany. On 18 August 1960, he established Rialto Film GmbH at Frankfurt as a German subsidiary.
Little is known about Rialto's productions prior to 1950. The company became internationally famous after the production of the 1959 film Der Frosch mit der Maske, followed by the release of further 32 films based on the works of Edgar Wallace, as well as 9 films based on the works of Karl May under director Harald Reinl and, from 1960, co-owner Horst Wendlandt. As was the practice of mainstream and successful European cinema, most of the films were international co-productions. Wendtandt was succeeded in 1992 by his son Matthias as general director.
