A brief history of Rialto Film
Rialto Film was founded 1897 in Copenhagen/Denmark by the film pioneer Constantin Philipsen. His son Constantin Preben Philipsen was born in 1910. The information on films actually produced by Rialto Film between 1897 and 1950, lies more or less in the dark. It is however confirmed that Preben Philipsen and his counterpart, the German film merchant Waldfried Barthel, founded a film distribution company in Frankfurt/Main under the register no. 1944, which they named after the first names of father and son Philipsen: The CONSTANTIN FILMVERLEIH GmbH.
Preben Philipsen had a wide-range of excellent international contacts in the film business. His close ties to the headquarters of the American major UNITED ARTISTS, allowed the two businessmen to obtain the exclusive rights to distribute UA pictures in post-war Germany.
In 1950 the first film is released and it paved the foundations to a very successful partnership: Charlie Chaplin's GOLD RUSH. Over the years the company turned out to be very successful and became one of Germany's leading distributors.
In 1955 Philipsen decided to split and left his company share to Waldfried Barthel, but only to return to his father's initiated business, the Rialto Film Preben Philipsen A/S. Under the Rialto Film banner, Philipsen produced a handful of quite successful Scandinavian and German films, which however, did not bring him producer's fame.
Commencing 1959, Philipsen decides to produce a number of films based upon the novels of the highly successful English writer Edgar Wallace: THE FROG WITH THE MASK (Distributer: Constantin), THE CRIMSON CIRCLE (Distributor: Prisma - another Philipsen company).
Another production starts at the Bendestorf Studio near Hamburg in June 1960: The 3rd Wallace film THE HORRIBLE PEOPLE. It was Philipsen decision to buy the entire Edgar Wallace novel rights exclusively from Penelope Wallace, the daughter of the deceased writer.
During the production of the first three Edgar Wallace films, the RIALTO FILM PREBEN PHILIPSEN Filmproduction and Distribution Company is founded. The managing directors are Philipsen and Franz Sulley.
Starting in October 1960, the Edgar Wallace film THE GREEN ARCHER is produced in the Realfilm Studios in Hamburg (today: Studio Hamburg). The first line of Edgar Wallace films turn into absolute box-office hits and the public thirsts for more.
On November 1st 1960 the Berliner film merchant Horst Otto Grigori Wendlandt was appointed head of production for Prisma distribution and Rialto Film.
Later in 1961, Prisma was shut down and the film rights were signed over to Rialto Film. Horst Wendlandt was promoted head of production on every subsequent Rialto Film production.
It is Wendlandt´s merit, that the Edgar Wallace-Series constantly proved successful at the box office. A hint by his son Matthias, who was a big fan of the Karl May adventure novels, gave Wendlandt another film idea: The production of a series of films based upon the novels of the popular German writer Karl May. The first film THE TREASURE OF THE SILVER LAKE was shot on location in Yugoslavia in 1962.
All 32 Edgar Wallace features were produced in the following years. They are not only characterised by their relatively low budgets, but also by an enormous production value. Many acting careers started in both film series, and the excellent casting and direction turned these films into absolute cult movies.
The features of the Karl May-Series - altogether 9 films - had a much higher budget and thus production value and turned out to be even more successful at the box-office than the Edgar Wallace-Series.
Both series turned into cult movies. Some thirty years after their initial release, both series have an excellent market share when aired on national television.
Wendlandt indicates the sign of time in the beginning 70s. The public's taste had changed. The two most successful German film series were not continued and Horst Wendlandt saved the fate of Rialto Film with this decision: several other German production companies never recovered the turbulent 70s and went out of business.
Rialto Film moved headquarters from Hamburg to West-Berlin in the year 1962 and in doing so made a confession to Berlin as "front city", while many other companies left the enclave and moved their head offices to West Germany. Horst Wendlandt has always prided himself a true citizen of Berlin, so it is not surprising, that the business he took over 1976 - after Preben Philipsen decided to retire - had its headquarters in West-Berlin.
In 1972, Wendlandt founded his own distribution company TOBIS, for which he did not only release the triumphing Charlie Chaplin films, under the RIALTO FILM division, he also became a producer and distributor of many foreign films and subsequently worked with all majors in international film.
He released the Louis de Funès films, the Bud Spencer/Terence Hill films and produced Fassbinder, Bergman, Sautet, Sergio Leone, Belmondo and Vicco von Bülow - just to name a few. Wendlandt is considered the "man with the Midas Touch." He knows audience preferences - and consequently with Rialto and Tobis he received 40 "Golden Ticket" awards. Each one representing at least more than 3 million admissions in Germany alone.
In 1985 he produced OTTO - THE MOVIE. With almost 15 million admissions (!) in Germany east and west. The film is regarded as the most successful German post-war film to date!
Starting in 1987, both his children Susan and Matthias successfully produce films, too. In September 1992 Matthias Wendlandt joined his fathers company as a co-managing director.
He first studied medicine and became physician, but the film passion caught up with him. He shoots his initial project "ON THE WINGS OF THE WIND" - a highly successful documentary film series. The documentary ( 8 x 45-minutes episodes) focusses on his adventures sailing around the globe in a 120 foot sailing ship. The series was sold and broadcasted in more than 30 countries. Susan Wendlandt-Nielebock has been an associate in Rialto Film since 1992. She also produces motion pictures and documentaries under the banner of her own company (Krümel Film).
On 30th August 2002 Horst Wendlandt dies in Berlin. Matthias Wendlandt continues to run Rialto Film in the spirit of his late father together with his son Felix Wendlandt, who be comes managing director in 2010.