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 Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

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

company which was active between

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

and

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: ...

. 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 Mann Theatres was a movie theater chain that predominantly operated in the western United States, with a heavy concentration of theaters in Southern California. Its motto was "Where Hollywood goes to the movies". History The Mann Theatres chai ...

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 Dis ...

'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 decreesCook, 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 Entertainm ...

television network decided to produce their own films for theatrical release through their production unit

Cinema Center Films Cinema Center Films (CCF) was the theatrical film production company of the CBS Television Network from 1967 to 1972. Its films were distributed by National General Pictures. The production unit was located at CBS Studio Center in the Studio City ...

, 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. 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 corporati ...

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. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

in 1969, but the deal was rejected on antitrust grounds by the Justice Department, 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

National General, then just containing 240 theaters, were sold in 1973 to

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