National General Corporation (NGC) was a theater chain holding company,
film distribution
Film distribution (also known as Film exhibition or Film distribution and exhibition) is the process of making a movie available for viewing by an audience. This is normally the task of a professional film distributor, who would determine the marke ...
and
production company and was considered one of the "instant majors". It was in operation from 1951 to 1974.
Divisions
Its division National General Pictures (NGP) was a
production company which was active between
1967 and
1973
Events January
* January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union.
* January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. ...
. NGP produced nine motion pictures in-house. The company was a division of the National General Corporation (NGC) which started as the spun out
Fox Theatre chain of movie houses, which were later sold to the
Mann Theatres Corporation.
National General had its own record label, National General Records, that operated for at least three years and was distributed by
Buddah Records
Buddah Records (later known as Buddha Records) was an American record label founded in 1967 in New York City. The label was born out of Kama Sutra Records, an MGM Records-distributed label, which remained a key imprint following Buddah's foun ...
.
History
National General Corporation was a film distribution network and the successor of
20th Century Fox
20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Disn ...
's theater division with 550 theaters when spun off in 1951 and reduced in half by court order six years later.
[Cook, p. 400.]
National General entered distribution in 1966 under a three-year waiver from the consent decrees
[Cook, pp. 331-332.] with six distribution offices.
[Cook, p. 333.] In 1967, the
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...
television network decided to produce their own films for theatrical release through their production unit
Cinema Center Films, which were released through National General.
National General also acquired
Sy Weintraub's Banner Productions in 1967 which was producing
Tarzan
Tarzan (John Clayton II, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adv ...
films and the
TV series
A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed be ...
.
NGC had also entered theatrical film production under Charles Boasberg in 1967 as National General Pictures (NGP). The
ABC television network had done the same thing with
Cinerama
Cinerama is a widescreen process that originally projected images simultaneously from three synchronized 35mm projectors onto a huge, deeply curved screen, subtending 146° of arc. The trademarked process was marketed by the Cinerama corporat ...
in the formation of another instant major partnership. In 1969, after a request for an indefinite waiver, the consent decree waiver was extended for another three years. NGC gained another production partner in 1969 with the formation of First Artists Productions (FAP).
The company tried to acquire
Warner Bros. in 1969, but the deal was rejected on antitrust grounds by the
Justice Department
A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in ...
, and NGP was closed in 1970.
[ By 1970, all the instant majors had each captured 10% of the market.][
Following Cinema Center's closure, NGC was taken over by American Financial Corporation in 1972, but continued distributing films until 1973. In November 1973, American Financial sold NGC/NGP's releasing contracts and film library to Warner Bros.][ National General, then just containing 240 theaters, were sold in 1973 to Mann Theatres.][
]
Partial list of film titles
1960s
1970s
References
*Cook, David A. (2000)
Lost Illusions: American Cinema in the Shadow of Watergate and Vietnam, 1970-1979
University of California Press.
{{Authority control
20th Century Studios
Warner Bros.
Film distributors of the United States
Film production companies of the United States
Entertainment companies based in California
Companies based in Los Angeles
Entertainment companies established in 1951
Entertainment companies disestablished in 1974
1951 establishments in California
1974 disestablishments in California