National General Pictures

National General Corporation
Industry Motion pictures
Fate liquidated
Predecessor Fox Theatres
Successor Mann Theatres
Founded 1951
Defunct November 1973 (1973-11)
Number of locations
240 (1973 theaters)
6 distribution offices (1969)
Products film distribution, film exhibition, television production and distribution
Production output
theatrical films
Services film distribution
film exhibition
Divisions National General Pictures
National General Records
Banner Productions

National General Corporation (NGC) was a theater chain holding company, film distribution and production company and was considered one of the "instant majors". It was in operation from 1951 to 1973.

Divisions

Its division National General Pictures (NGP) was a production company which was active between 1967 and 1973. 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.[1]

History

year Theaters
1951 550
1957 275
1973 240

National General Corporation was the successor of 20th Century Fox theater division with 550 theaters when spun off in 1951 and reduced in half by court order six years later.[li 1]

National General entered distribution in 1966 under a three-year waiver from the consent decrees[li 2] with six distribution offices.[li 3] In 1967 the American CBS Television network decided to produce their own films for cinema release through their production unit Cinema Center Films, releasing films through the National General Corporation, a film distribution network. NGC had also entered theatrical film production in 1967 as National General Pictures (NGP) under Charles Boasberg. The American ABC television network had done the same thing with Cinerama forming another instant major partnership. In 1969 after a request for indefinite waiver, the consent decree waiver was extended for another three years. NGC gained another production partner in 1969 with the formation of First Artist Productions (FAP). When the company failed to acquire Warner Bros. in 1969 by reject from the Anti-Trust Division of the Justice Department, NGP was closed in 1970.[li 2] While by 1970, all the instant majors had each captured 10% of the market.[li 3] NGC was taken over by American Financial Corporation in 1972 following Cinema Center's closure, but continued distributing films until 1973. American Financial in November 1973 sold NGC/NGP's releasing contracts and film library to Warner Bros.[li 2] National General, now just containing 240 theaters, were sold in 1973 to Mann Theatres.[li 1]

Today, the in-house productions are in the hands of Warner Bros., while the Cinema Center Films productions are now with CBS, with Paramount Pictures handling theatrical distribution on CBS' behalf, and Paramount Home Entertainment/CBS Home Entertainment handling home video rights. CBS Television Distribution handling theatrical distribution rights today.

Partial list of film titles

Titles in bold text were produced by Cinema Center Films, the former theatrical film production arm of CBS.

1960s

Release Date Title
September 6, 1967 Tarzan's Jungle Rebellion
January 31, 1968 Poor Cow
August 7, 1968 With Six You Get Eggroll
August 21, 1968 How Sweet It Is!
December 25, 1968 The Stalking Moon
February 26, 1969 Twisted Nerve
March 13, 1969 Charro!
May 10, 1969 A Fine Pair
May 28, 1969 The April Fools
July 2, 1969 Daddy's Gone A-Hunting
July 13, 1969 Me, Natalie
September 17, 1969 All Neat in Black Stockings
October 4, 1969 Hail, Hero!
October 6, 1969 The Royal Hunt of the Sun
October 22, 1969 The Grasshopper
November 1969 Day of Anger
December 4, 1969 A Boy Named Charlie Brown
December 15, 1969 A Dream of Kings
December 25, 1969 The Reivers

1970s

Release Date Title
March 17, 1970 The Boys in the Band
April 29, 1970 A Man Called Horse
June 12, 1970 The Cheyenne Social Club
June 19, 1970 El Condor
July 22, 1970 Something for Everyone
July 1970 Tarzan's Deadly Silence
August 14, 1970 Darker than Amber
September 22, 1970 Adam at Six A.M.
October 1, 1970 The Baby Maker
October 7, 1970 Monte Walsh
November 5, 1970 Scrooge
November 23, 1970 Homer
December 4, 1970 Latitude Zero
December 18, 1970 Rio Lobo
December 23, 1970 Little Big Man
February 10, 1971 Eyewitness
May 21, 1971 The Cat o' Nine Tails
May 26, 1971 Big Jake
June 1, 1971 Blue Water, White Death
June 15, 1971 Who Is Harry Kellerman and Why Is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me?
June 23, 1971 Le Mans
July 16, 1971 The Light at the Edge of the World
July 18, 1971 Figures in a Landscape
October 20, 1971 The Todd Killings
October 1971 The African Elephant
November 1971 The Christian Licorice Store
November 1971 Something Big
January 9, 1972 Eagle in a Cage
February 1, 1972 Pocket Money
March 1972 The Little Ark
June 1, 1972 The War Between Men and Women
June 9, 1972 Red Sun
June 21, 1972 The Revengers
June 22, 1972 The Dead Are Alive
June 28, 1972 Prime Cut
August 9, 1972 Snoopy, Come Home
October 25, 1972 The Deadly Trap
October 1972 Lapin 360
October 1972 Treasure Island
December 8, 1972 The Master Touch
December 13, 1972 The Getaway
December 18, 1972 The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean
December 21, 1972 Up the Sandbox
1973 One Armed Boxer
March 4, 1973 Baxter!
March 1973 Fists of Fury
May 1, 1973 The Chinese Connection
May 16, 1973 Extreme Close-Up
May 23, 1973 A Warm December
July 13, 1973 Lady Ice
August 1, 1973 Maurie
September 5, 1973 Hapkido
September 24, 1973 The Man Called Noon
September 24, 1973 The New One-Armed Swordsman
October 7, 1973 The Second Gun
October 24, 1973 Massacre in Rome
November 7, 1973 Executive Action
January 2, 1974 Chinese Hercules
May 1974 The Master Touch

Television shows

References

  1. Eyries, Patrice, David Edwards and Mike Callahan. (October 21, 2005). National General Album Discography. Discography Listings. Both Sides Now Publications. Accessed on January 3, 2014.
  1. 1 2 Motion Picture Exhibition in 1970s America. Page 400.
  2. 1 2 3 Orders of Magnitude I. Page 331-332.
  3. 1 2 Orders of Magnitude I. Page 333.
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