Bryanston Distributing Company (formerly known as Bryanston Distributors and also traded as Bryanston Pictures) was an American film
distribution Distribution may refer to:
Mathematics
*Distribution (mathematics), generalized functions used to formulate solutions of partial differential equations
* Probability distribution, the probability of a particular value or value range of a vari ...
company that was active during the 1970s. The company was founded by Louis Peraino and Philip Parisi in 1972.
It went bankrupt in 1976, amid the company's numerous legal troubles.
History
The company's first title was ''
Deep Throat'' (1972), a pornographic film which had a $22,000 budget that generated $30–50 million in box office revenues.
Among the company's other notable releases were ''
The Party at Kitty and Stud's'' (1970), ''
Flesh for Frankenstein
''Flesh for Frankenstein'' is a 1973 horror film written and directed by Paul Morrissey. It stars Udo Kier, Joe Dallesandro, Monique van Vooren and Arno Juerging. Interiors were filmed at Cinecittà in Rome by a crew of Italian filmmakers.
In ...
'' (1973), ''
Dark Star'' (1974), ''
Return of the Dragon'' (1974), ''
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
''The Texas Chain Saw Massacre'' is a 1974 American horror film produced and directed by Tobe Hooper from a story and screenplay by Hooper and Kim Henkel. It stars Marilyn Burns, Paul A. Partain, Edwin Neal, Jim Siedow and Gunnar Hansen, w ...
'' (1974),
''
Coonskin'' (1975), ''
The Devil's Rain'' (1975) and ''
That's the Way of the World'' (1976).
In the early 1970s, sons of
Colombo crime family
The Colombo crime family (, ) is an Italian American Mafia crime family and is the youngest of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City within the criminal organization known as the American Mafia. It was du ...
member Anthony Peraino, Louis Peraino and brother Joseph Peraino Sr. were the president and vice‐president/secretary‐treasurer, of Bryanston respectively. On August 28, 1974, Louis Peraino agreed to distribute ''The Texas Chain Saw Massacre'' worldwide, from which production manager Ron Bozman and Texas Film Commissioner
Warren Skaaren
Warren Skaaren (March 9, 1946 - December 28, 1990) was an American screenwriter and film producer.
Career
Skaaren was appointed by Governor Preston Smith as executive director of the newly formed Texas Film Commission on December 9, 1970. His ...
would receive $225,000 (about $ inflation-adjusted) and 35% of the profits. Years later Bozman stated, "We made a deal with the devil,
igh and I guess that, in a way, we got what we deserved."
They signed the contract with Bryanston and, after the investors recouped their money (with interest),—and after Skaaren, the lawyers, and the accountants were paid—only $8,100 (about $ inflation-adjusted) was left to be divided among the 20 cast and crew members.
Eventually the producers sued Bryanston for failing to pay them their full percentage of the box office profits. A court judgment instructed Bryanston to pay the filmmakers $500,000 (about $ inflation-adjusted), but by then the company had declared bankruptcy.
In 1983,
New Line Cinema
New Line Cinema is an American film production studio owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and is a film label of Warner Bros. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye as an independent film distribution company; later becoming a film studio after acq ...
acquired the distribution rights from Bryanston and gave the producers a larger share of the profits.
In 1976, there was a series of federal cases in
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...
, where over 60 individuals and companies, including the Perainos and actor
Harry Reems
Herbert John Streicher (August 27, 1947 – March 19, 2013), better known by his professional pseudonym Harry Reems, was an American pornographic actor and later a successful real estate agent. His most famous roles were as Doctor Young in ...
, were indicted for
conspiracy
A conspiracy, also known as a plot, is a secret plan or agreement between persons (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder or treason, especially with political motivation, while keeping their agree ...
to distribute obscenity across state lines for ''Deep Throat''. Director
Gerard Damiano
Gerardo Rocco "Gerard" Damiano (August 4, 1928 – October 25, 2008 ) was an American director of adult films. He wrote and directed the 1972 cult classic '' Deep Throat,'' which starred Linda Susan Boreman ''aka'' Linda Lovelace. He also dir ...
and actress
Linda Lovelace
Linda Lovelace (born Linda Susan Boreman; January 10, 1949 – April 22, 2002) was an American pornographic actress who became famous for her performance in the 1972 hardcore film '' Deep Throat''. Although the film was an enormous success, Bor ...
were granted immunity in exchange for testimony. Federal District Court judge
Harry W. Wellford
Harry Walker Wellford (August 6, 1924 – April 17, 2021) was a Senior status, senior United States federal judge, United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and a United States district judge of the U ...
heard the case with the trial ending with a conviction. This was the first time that an actor had been prosecuted by the federal government on obscenity charges (
Lenny Bruce
Leonard Alfred Schneider (October 13, 1925 – August 3, 1966), known professionally as Lenny Bruce, was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, and satirist. He was renowned for his open, free-wheeling, and critical style of comedy which ...
had been prosecuted in the 1960s by local authorities). On appeal, Reems was represented by
Alan Dershowitz
Alan Morton Dershowitz ( ; born September 1, 1938) is an American lawyer and former law professor known for his work in U.S. constitutional law and American criminal law. From 1964 to 2013, he taught at Harvard Law School, where he was appoin ...
, and his conviction was overturned: the
Miller test
The Miller test, also called the three-prong obscenity test, is the United States Supreme Court's test for determining whether speech or expression can be labeled obscene, in which case it is not protected by the First Amendment to the United Sta ...
(the three-pronged standard from the
U.S. Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
's 1973 decision in ''
Miller v. California
''Miller v. California'', 413 U.S. 15 (1973), was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court modifying its definition of obscenity from that of "utterly without socially redeeming value" to that which lacks "serious literary, artistic, politi ...
'' that determines what constitutes obscenity) had been applied in his case. The
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...
case known as "Miporn" convicted and sentenced, on April 30, 1977, Michael Cherubino to five months' imprisonment and fined $4,000, Anthony Novello to six months' imprisonment, Joseph Peraino Sr. to one year's imprisonment and fined $10,000 (including a $10,000 fine to his company, Plymouth Distributors Inc.), Louis Peraino to one year's imprisonment and fined $10,000 (including a $10,000 fine to each of his two companies, Bryanston Distributors Inc. and Gerard Damiano Productions Inc.), Anthony Battista to four months' imprisonment and fined $4,000, Carl Carter to six months' imprisonment and fined $6,500, Mel Friedman to nine months' imprisonment and fined $7,500, and Mario Desalvo to three months' imprisonment and fined $3,500.
In January 1982, Joseph Peraino Sr., who was convicted in Miami on December 6, 1981, of six counts of interstate shipments of pornography, was the target of a shooting that left him injured, and his son Joseph Peraino Jr., dead.
References
Entertainment companies established in 1972
Entertainment companies disestablished in 1976
Film distributors of the United States
{{US-film-company-stub
1972 establishments in the United States
1976 disestablishments in the United States