Rialto Pictures
Encyclopedia
Rialto Pictures is a film distributor founded in 1997 by Bruce Goldstein
. A year later, Adrienne Halpern joined him as partner. In 2002, Eric Di Bernardo became the company’s National Sales Director. It was described as “the gold standard of reissue distributors” by Los Angeles Times
/NPR film critic Kenneth Turan
. In 1999, Rialto received a special Heritage Award from the National Society of Film Critics
, and in 2000 received a special award from the New York Film Critic’s Circle, presented to Goldstein and Halpern by Jeanne Moreau
. The two co-presidents have each received the French Order of Chevalier of Arts and Letters.
During the past decade, Rialto Pictures has become one of the great names in film distribution. In 2002, the company released the critically acclaimed first-run film Murderous Maids
, the chilling true story of two homicidal sisters, starring Sylvie Testud
. Rialto celebrated a record-breaking 2004 with the previously unreleased, original 1954 Japanese version of Ishiro Honda’s Godzilla (1954 film)
; Peter Davis’s Oscar-winning and newly-restored 1974 documentary Hearts and Minds; and Gillo Pontecorvo’s groundbreaking The Battle of Algiers, one of 2004’s top-grossing foreign films. Rialto’s re-release of Alberto Lattuada’s Mafioso (1962 film)
, a dark comedy from 1962 starring Alberto Sordi
, was the unqualified highlight of the 2006 New York Film Festival
. One of Rialto’s 2008 releases was Max Ophüls' legendary film Lola Montès
in a definitive new 35mm restoration, which was showcased to enormous acclaim at Cannes Film Festival
and Telluride Film Festival
and was the spotlight retrospective of the 2008 New York Film Festival
. In 2009, Rialto undertook the very first U.S. release of Jean-Luc Godard
's Made in U.S.A. (film)
, which could not be previously released due to rights issues, and also re-released Costa-Gavras' Academy-Award winning thriller Z (film)
. Most recently, the San Francisco International Film Festival
presented Goldstein with its prestigious Mel Novikoff Award.
2007 marked Rialto’s tenth anniversary, a milestone that was celebrated with a retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art
in New York. Similar tributes were held at George Eastman House, in Rochester, New York; the AFI Silver Theater in Washington, D.C.; and the SIFF Theater in Seattle. In honor of the company's anniversary, The Criterion Collection
has issued a special gift box set containing ten films displaying the breadth of Rialto's collection, including Army of Shadows, Au Hasard Balthazar, Band of Outsiders, Billy Liar, Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, Mafioso, Murderous Maids, Rififi, The Third Man and Touchez pas au Grisbi. The DVD box set was released under the name "Ten Years of Rialto Pictures" on October 28, 2008.
Made in U.S.A. (film)
Lola Montès
Contempt (film)
It Always Rains on Sunday
Last Year at Marienbad
Le Doulos
Mafioso (1962 film)
Two or Three Things I Know About Her
Fanfan La Tulipe
Army of Shadows
Mouchette
Elevator to the Gallows
Masculine Feminine
Godzilla (1954 film)
The Battle of Algiers (film)
Touchez Pas Au Grisbi
A Woman Is a Woman
Le Cercle Rouge
The Producers (1968 film)
Murderous Maids
That Obscure Object of Desire
Band of Outsiders
Diary of a Chambermaid (1964 film)
Rififi
Peeping Tom (film)
Grand Illusion (film)
Nights of Cabiria
The Graduate
Bruce Goldstein
Bruce Goldstein is a New York Repertory film programmer, producer, archivist, and historian.Goldstein became the director of repertory programming for New York's Film Forum in 1986. At Film Forum he presented series on Film noir, silent comedy, classic 3-D, Pre-Code movies, science fiction and...
. A year later, Adrienne Halpern joined him as partner. In 2002, Eric Di Bernardo became the company’s National Sales Director. It was described as “the gold standard of reissue distributors” by Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
/NPR film critic Kenneth Turan
Kenneth Turan
Kenneth Turan is an American film critic and Lecturer in the Master of Professional Writing Program at the University of Southern California.-Background:...
. In 1999, Rialto received a special Heritage Award from the National Society of Film Critics
National Society of Film Critics
The National Society of Film Critics is an American film critic organization. As of December 2007 the NSFC had approximately 60 members who wrote for a variety of weekly and daily newspapers.-History:...
, and in 2000 received a special award from the New York Film Critic’s Circle, presented to Goldstein and Halpern by Jeanne Moreau
Jeanne Moreau
Jeanne Moreau is a French actress, singer, screenwriter and director.She made her theatrical debut in 1947, and established herself as one of the leading actresses of the Comédie-Française...
. The two co-presidents have each received the French Order of Chevalier of Arts and Letters.
During the past decade, Rialto Pictures has become one of the great names in film distribution. In 2002, the company released the critically acclaimed first-run film Murderous Maids
Murderous Maids
Murderous Maids is a French film directed by Jean-Pierre Denis, released in 2000, which deals with the Papin sisters. The screenplay by Jean-Pierre Denis with Michèle Pétin, was based on the book L'Affaire Papin by Paulette Houdyer which told the story of a double murder that made sensational...
, the chilling true story of two homicidal sisters, starring Sylvie Testud
Sylvie Testud
Sylvie Testud is a French actress, writer and director. Her film career began in 1991. She was later highly acclaimed, and has twice won César Awards.-Biography:...
. Rialto celebrated a record-breaking 2004 with the previously unreleased, original 1954 Japanese version of Ishiro Honda’s Godzilla (1954 film)
Godzilla (1954 film)
is a 1954 Japanese science fiction film directed by Ishirō Honda and produced by Tomoyuki Tanaka. The film stars Akira Takarada, Momoko Kōchi, Akihiko Hirata and Takashi Shimura. The film tells the story of Godzilla, a giant monster mutated by nuclear radiation, who ravages Japan, bringing back the...
; Peter Davis’s Oscar-winning and newly-restored 1974 documentary Hearts and Minds; and Gillo Pontecorvo’s groundbreaking The Battle of Algiers, one of 2004’s top-grossing foreign films. Rialto’s re-release of Alberto Lattuada’s Mafioso (1962 film)
Mafioso (1962 film)
Mafioso is a 1962 Italian Black comedy film directed by Alberto Lattuada. The film stars Alberto Sordi as a factory manager who visits his hometown in Sicily and is tasked with performing a hit for the mafia...
, a dark comedy from 1962 starring Alberto Sordi
Alberto Sordi
Alberto Sordi, also known as Albertone, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI was an Italian actor. He was also a film director and the dubbing voice of Oliver Hardy in the Italian version of the Laurel & Hardy films....
, was the unqualified highlight of the 2006 New York Film Festival
New York Film Festival
The New York Film Festival has been a major film festival since it began in 1963 in New York. The films are selected by the Film Society of Lincoln Center...
. One of Rialto’s 2008 releases was Max Ophüls' legendary film Lola Montès
Lola Montès
Lola Montès is an historical film, and the last film directed by Max Ophüls. The film is based loosely on the life of the 19th Century cabaret dancer Lola Montez — portrayed by Martine Carol — and tells the story of her numerous affairs, most notably with Franz Liszt and Ludwig I, King of Bavaria,...
in a definitive new 35mm restoration, which was showcased to enormous acclaim at Cannes Film Festival
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...
and Telluride Film Festival
Telluride Film Festival
The Telluride Film Festival was started in 1974 by Bill and Stella Pence, Tom Luddy and Jim Card in the town of Telluride, Colorado, United States. It is operated by the National Film Preserve....
and was the spotlight retrospective of the 2008 New York Film Festival
New York Film Festival
The New York Film Festival has been a major film festival since it began in 1963 in New York. The films are selected by the Film Society of Lincoln Center...
. In 2009, Rialto undertook the very first U.S. release of Jean-Luc Godard
Jean-Luc Godard
Jean-Luc Godard is a French-Swiss film director, screenwriter and film critic. He is often identified with the 1960s French film movement, French Nouvelle Vague, or "New Wave"....
's Made in U.S.A. (film)
Made in U.S.A. (film)
Made in U.S.A is a 1966 French film directed by Jean-Luc Godard. Greatly inspired by the Howard Hawks film The Big Sleep and unofficially based on the novel The Jugger, by Richard Stark , it stars Anna Karina, Jean-Pierre Léaud, László Szabó and Yves Afonso...
, which could not be previously released due to rights issues, and also re-released Costa-Gavras' Academy-Award winning thriller Z (film)
Z (film)
Z is a 1969 French language political thriller directed by Costa Gavras, with a screenplay by Gavras and Jorge Semprún, based on the 1966 novel of the same name by Vassilis Vassilikos. The film presents a thinly fictionalized account of the events surrounding the assassination of democratic Greek...
. Most recently, the San Francisco International Film Festival
San Francisco International Film Festival
San Francisco International Film Festival is the oldest continuously running film festival in the Americas. Organized by the San Francisco Film Society, the International is held each spring for two weeks, presenting an average of 150 films from over 50 countries...
presented Goldstein with its prestigious Mel Novikoff Award.
2007 marked Rialto’s tenth anniversary, a milestone that was celebrated with a retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
in New York. Similar tributes were held at George Eastman House, in Rochester, New York; the AFI Silver Theater in Washington, D.C.; and the SIFF Theater in Seattle. In honor of the company's anniversary, The Criterion Collection
The Criterion Collection
The Criterion Collection is a video-distribution company selling "important classic and contemporary films" to film aficionados. The Criterion series is noted for helping to standardize the letterbox format for home video, bonus features, and special editions...
has issued a special gift box set containing ten films displaying the breadth of Rialto's collection, including Army of Shadows, Au Hasard Balthazar, Band of Outsiders, Billy Liar, Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, Mafioso, Murderous Maids, Rififi, The Third Man and Touchez pas au Grisbi. The DVD box set was released under the name "Ten Years of Rialto Pictures" on October 28, 2008.
Selected Rialto Pictures Releases
Z (film)Z (film)
Z is a 1969 French language political thriller directed by Costa Gavras, with a screenplay by Gavras and Jorge Semprún, based on the 1966 novel of the same name by Vassilis Vassilikos. The film presents a thinly fictionalized account of the events surrounding the assassination of democratic Greek...
Made in U.S.A. (film)
Made in U.S.A. (film)
Made in U.S.A is a 1966 French film directed by Jean-Luc Godard. Greatly inspired by the Howard Hawks film The Big Sleep and unofficially based on the novel The Jugger, by Richard Stark , it stars Anna Karina, Jean-Pierre Léaud, László Szabó and Yves Afonso...
Lola Montès
Lola Montès
Lola Montès is an historical film, and the last film directed by Max Ophüls. The film is based loosely on the life of the 19th Century cabaret dancer Lola Montez — portrayed by Martine Carol — and tells the story of her numerous affairs, most notably with Franz Liszt and Ludwig I, King of Bavaria,...
Contempt (film)
Contempt (film)
Contempt is a 1963 film directed by Jean-Luc Godard, based on the Italian novel Il disprezzo by Alberto Moravia. It stars Brigitte Bardot.-Plot:...
It Always Rains on Sunday
It Always Rains on Sunday
It Always Rains on Sunday is a film adaptation of the novel by Arthur La Bern, adapted and directed by Robert Hamer. In its gritty, unsentimental depiction of everyday life in post-war Britain, and in its exploration of the tedium, frustration and desperation wrought by grinding poverty, the film...
Last Year at Marienbad
Last Year at Marienbad
L'Année dernière à Marienbad is a 1961 French film directed by Alain Resnais from a screenplay by Alain Robbe-Grillet....
Le Doulos
Le Doulos
Le Doulos is a 1962 French crime film directed by Jean-Pierre Melville. It was released theatrically as The Finger Man in the English-speaking world, but all video and DVD releases have used the French title...
Mafioso (1962 film)
Mafioso (1962 film)
Mafioso is a 1962 Italian Black comedy film directed by Alberto Lattuada. The film stars Alberto Sordi as a factory manager who visits his hometown in Sicily and is tasked with performing a hit for the mafia...
Two or Three Things I Know About Her
Two or Three Things I Know About Her
Two or Three Things I Know About Her is a French film directed by Jean-Luc Godard, one of three features he completed that year. Like the other two , it is considered both socially and stylistically radical. Many American critics, including Village Voice critics Amy Taubin and J...
Fanfan La Tulipe
Fanfan la Tulipe
Fanfan la Tulipe is a 1952 French comedy adventure film directed by Christian-Jaque. It has also been categorized under swashbuckler films. The film starred Gérard Philipe and Gina Lollobrigida. The film was remade in 2003 with Penélope Cruz in Lollobrigida's role.-Plot summary:The film is set in...
Army of Shadows
Mouchette
Mouchette
Mouchette is a 1967 French film directed by Robert Bresson, starring Nadine Nortier, and Jean-Claude Guilbert. It is based on the novel by Georges Bernanos. "Mouchette" means "little fly" in French...
Elevator to the Gallows
Elevator to the Gallows
Ascenseur pour l'échafaud is a 1958 French film directed by Louis Malle. It was released as Elevator to the Gallows in the USA and as Lift to the Scaffold in the UK. It stars Jeanne Moreau and Maurice Ronet as criminal lovers whose perfect crime begins to unravel when Ronet is trapped in an elevator...
Masculine Feminine
Godzilla (1954 film)
Godzilla (1954 film)
is a 1954 Japanese science fiction film directed by Ishirō Honda and produced by Tomoyuki Tanaka. The film stars Akira Takarada, Momoko Kōchi, Akihiko Hirata and Takashi Shimura. The film tells the story of Godzilla, a giant monster mutated by nuclear radiation, who ravages Japan, bringing back the...
The Battle of Algiers (film)
The Battle of Algiers (film)
The Battle of Algiers is a 1966 war film based on occurrences during the Algerian War against French colonial occupation in North Africa, the most prominent being the titular Battle of Algiers. It was directed by Gillo Pontecorvo...
Touchez Pas Au Grisbi
Touchez pas au grisbi
Touchez pas au grisbi is a 1954 French crime film directed by Jacques Becker and starring Jean Gabin, Jeanne Moreau, Lino Ventura, Dora Doll, Delia Scala, René Dary, and Miss America 1946, Marilyn Buferd...
A Woman Is a Woman
A Woman Is a Woman
A Woman Is a Woman is a 1961 French film directed by Jean-Luc Godard, featuring Anna Karina, Jean-Paul Belmondo and Jean-Claude Brialy. It is a tribute to American musical comedy and associated with the French New Wave.-Plot:...
Le Cercle Rouge
Le Cercle rouge
Le Cercle rouge is a 1970 crime film set in Paris, France. It was directed by Jean-Pierre Melville and stars Alain Delon, Bourvil, Gian Maria Volonté and Yves Montand...
The Producers (1968 film)
The Producers (1968 film)
The Producers is a 1968 American satirical dark comedy cult classic film written and directed by Mel Brooks. The film is set in the late 1960s and it tells the story of a theatrical producer and an accountant who want to produce a sure-fire Broadway flop...
Murderous Maids
Murderous Maids
Murderous Maids is a French film directed by Jean-Pierre Denis, released in 2000, which deals with the Papin sisters. The screenplay by Jean-Pierre Denis with Michèle Pétin, was based on the book L'Affaire Papin by Paulette Houdyer which told the story of a double murder that made sensational...
That Obscure Object of Desire
That Obscure Object of Desire
That Obscure Object of Desire is a 1977 film directed by Luis Buñuel. Set in Spain and France against the backdrop of a terrorist insurgency, the film tells the story of an aging Frenchman who falls in love with a young woman who repeatedly frustrates his romantic and sexual desires.-Synopsis:A...
Band of Outsiders
Diary of a Chambermaid (1964 film)
Diary of a Chambermaid (1964 film)
Diary of a Chambermaid is a 1964 film. It is one of several French films made by Spanish-born filmmaker Luis Buñuel but lacks the surrealist imagery and plot twists of his other films...
Rififi
Rififi
Rififi is a 1955 French crime film adaptation of Auguste le Breton's novel of the same name. Directed by American filmmaker Jules Dassin, the film stars Jean Servais as the aging gangster Tony le Stéphanois, Carl Möhner as Jo le Suédois, Robert Manuel as Mario Farrati, and Jules Dassin as César le...
Peeping Tom (film)
Peeping Tom (film)
Peeping Tom is a 1960 British psychological thriller directed by Michael Powell and written by the World War II cryptographer and polymath Leo Marks. The title derives from the slang expression 'peeping Tom' describing a voyeur...
Grand Illusion (film)
Grand Illusion (film)
Grand Illusion is a 1937 French war film directed by Jean Renoir, who co-wrote the screenplay with Charles Spaak. The story concerns class relationships among a small group of French officers who are prisoners of war during World War I and are plotting an escape.The title of the film comes from a...
Nights of Cabiria
Nights of Cabiria
Nights of Cabiria is a 1957 Italian film directed by Federico Fellini. Fellini's wife, Giulietta Masina, plays Cabiria Ceccarelli, a feisty but naive prostitute in Ostia, then a seedy section of Rome...
The Graduate
The Graduate
The Graduate is a 1967 American comedy-drama motion picture directed by Mike Nichols. It is based on the 1963 novel The Graduate by Charles Webb, who wrote it shortly after graduating from Williams College. The screenplay was by Buck Henry, who makes a cameo appearance as a hotel clerk, and Calder...