National General Corporation (NGC) was a theater chain holding company,

film distribution Film distribution, also called film exhibition or film distribution and exhibition, is the process of making a film available for viewing to an audience. This is normally the task of a professional film distributor, who would determine the marketin ...

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 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...

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 14 - The 16-0 19 ...

. 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 foundin ...

History

National General Corporation was a film distribution network and the successor of

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the ...

'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 television network decided to produce their own films for theatrical release through their production unit Cinema Center Films (CCF), which were released through National General. National General also acquired Sy Weintraub's Banner Productions in 1967 which was producing

Tarzan Tarzan (John Clayton, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, a 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 adventurer. Creat ...

films and the

TV series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming platf ...

. NGC had also entered theatrical film production under Charles Boasberg in 1967 as National General Pictures (NGP). The

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

television network had done the same thing with

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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 First Artists was a production company that operated from 1969 to 1980. Designed to give movie stars more creative control over their productions, the initial actors who formed First Artists were Paul Newman, Barbra Streisand, and Sidney Poitier; ...

(FAP). The company tried to acquire

Warner Bros.-Seven Arts Warner Bros.-Seven Arts, Inc. was an American entertainment company active from 1967 until 1969. History Seven Arts Productions acquired Jack L. Warner's controlling interest in Warner Bros. Pictures for $32 million in November 1966. The mer ...

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 a ...

, Warner Bros. was subsequently sold to Kinney National Service, Inc. in summer 1969, and NGP was closed in 1970. By 1970, all the instant majors had each captured 10% of the market. By April 1969 National General had produced five films over two years. The month it received a three year extension from a judge to pursue its role as a produced, distributor and exhibitor. NG's head, Irvin Levin, announced National General would make 13 films, costing $35 million in all. Six of them would be made in Hollywood. These were:"National General Schedules 13 Films", ''Los Angeles Times'' 26 Apr 1969: b8. *''

The Cheyenne Social Club ''The Cheyenne Social Club'' is a 1970 American Western comedy film written by James Lee Barrett, directed and produced by Gene Kelly, and starring James Stewart, Henry Fonda and Shirley Jones. The film is about an aging cowboy who inherits ...

'' *'' El Condor'' *''The Schmid Case'' - based on the

Charles Schmid Charles Howard Schmid Jr. (July 8, 1942 – March 30, 1975), also known as the Pied Piper of Tucson, was an American serial killer whose crimes were detailed by journalist Don Moser in an article featured in the March 4, 1966, issue of Life (magaz ...

case directed by Barry Sjear *''The Sophomore'' - a college student gets his girlfriend pregnant, produced by Frank Coe *''Enemy Enemy'' - based on Bud Freeman play directed by Jerry Paris *''Another Kind of Love'' - comedy written and directed by

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*''The French Connection'' - based on the novel by Robin Moore with director

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- this was made at Fox *''The Valdez Horses'' based on novel by Lee Hoffman *''I Want It Now'' based on novel by

Kingsley Amis Sir Kingsley William Amis (16 April 1922 – 22 October 1995) was an English novelist, poet, critic and teacher. He wrote more than 20 novels, six volumes of poetry, a memoir, short stories, radio and television scripts, and works of social crit ...

*''Forty Lashes Less One'' based on novel by

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*''Your Own Thing'' based on play by Hal Hester *''The Grasshoppper'' *''A Bird in the Hand'' directed in England by Peter Collinson about the wife of a young English teacher - this was never made. 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. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

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

Partial list of film titles

1960s

1970s

References

Citations

Sources

* {{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