Industry Motion pictures Production output theatrical films Defunct November 1973 | Fate liquidated Founded 1951 Number of locations 240 | |
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Services film distributionfilm exhibition Divisions National General PicturesNational General RecordsBanner 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.
Contents
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.
History
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.
National General entered distribution in 1966 under a three-year waiver from the consent decrees with six distribution offices. 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. While by 1970, all the instant majors had each captured 10% of the market. 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. National General, now just containing 240 theaters, were sold in 1973 to Mann Theatres.
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.