# National General Pictures

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 1974.

## 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

| year | Theaters |
| 1951 | 550 |
| 1957 | 275 |
| 1973 | 240 |
National General Corporation was a film distribution network and the successor of 20th Century Fox's 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 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 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 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.-Seven Arts in 1969, but the deal was rejected on antitrust grounds by the Justice Department, 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:
* The Cheyenne Social Club
* El Condor
* The Schmid Case - based on the Charles Schmid 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 Arnold Schulman
* The French Connection - based on the novel by Robin Moore with director William Friedkin - this was made at Fox
* The Valdez Horses based on novel by Lee Hoffman
* I Want It Now based on novel by Kingsley Amis
* Forty Lashes Less One based on novel by Elmore Leonard
* 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. National General, then just containing 240 theaters, were sold in 1973 to Mann Theatres.

## Partial list of film titles
### 1960s

| Release Date | Title | Production company |
| September 6, 1967 | Tarzan's Jungle Rebellion | A two-part episode of the 1966 Tarzan TV series |
| January 31, 1968 | Poor Cow | British production |
| August 7, 1968 | With Six You Get Eggroll | CCF |
| August 21, 1968 | How Sweet It Is! | |
| December 25, 1968 | The Stalking Moon | |
| February 26, 1969 | Twisted Nerve | British production |
| March 13, 1969 | Charro! | |
| May 10, 1969 | A Fine Pair | CCF; European production |
| May 28, 1969 | The April Fools | CCF |
| July 2, 1969 | Daddy's Gone A-Hunting | |
| July 13, 1969 | Me, Natalie | CCF |
| September 17, 1969 | All Neat in Black Stockings | British production |
| October 4, 1969 | Hail, Hero! | CCF |
| October 6, 1969 | The Royal Hunt of the Sun | CCF; British production |
| October 22, 1969 | The Grasshopper | |
| November 1969 | Day of Anger | European production filmed in 1967 |
| December 4, 1969 | A Boy Named Charlie Brown | CCF |
| December 15, 1969 | A Dream of Kings | |
| December 25, 1969 | The Reivers | CCF |

### 1970s

| Release Date | Title | Production company |
| March 17, 1970 | The Boys in the Band | Cinema Center Films (CCF) |
| April 29, 1970 | A Man Called Horse | CCF |
| June 12, 1970 | The Cheyenne Social Club | CCF |
| June 19, 1970 | El Condor | European production |
| July 22, 1970 | Something for Everyone | CCF |
| July 1970 | Tarzan's Deadly Silence | A two-part episode of the 1966 Tarzan TV series |
| August 14, 1970 | Darker than Amber | CCF |
| September 22, 1970 | Adam at Six A.M. | CCF |
| October 1, 1970 | The Baby Maker | National General |
| October 7, 1970 | Monte Walsh | CCF |
| November 5, 1970 | Scrooge | CCF; British production |
| November 23, 1970 | Homer | CCF |
| December 4, 1970 | Latitude Zero | Japanese production |
| December 18, 1970 | Rio Lobo | CCF |
| December 23, 1970 | Little Big Man | CCF |
| February 10, 1971 | Eyewitness | British production |
| May 21, 1971 | The Cat o' Nine Tails | European production |
| May 26, 1971 | Big Jake | CCF |
| June 1, 1971 | Blue Water, White Death | CCF; documentary |
| June 15, 1971 | Who Is Harry Kellerman and Why Is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me? | CCF |
| June 23, 1971 | Le Mans | CCF |
| July 16, 1971 | The Light at the Edge of the World | European production |
| July 18, 1971 | Figures in a Landscape | British production |
| October 20, 1971 | The Todd Killings | National General |
| October 1971 | The African Elephant | CCF; documentary |
| November 1971 | The Christian Licorice Store | CCF |
| November 1971 | Something Big | CCF |
| January 9, 1972 | Eagle in a Cage | European production |
| February 1, 1972 | Pocket Money | First Artists |
| March 1972 | The Little Ark | |
| June 1, 1972 | The War Between Men and Women | CCF |
| June 9, 1972 | Red Sun | European production |
| June 21, 1972 | The Revengers | CCF |
| June 22, 1972 | The Dead Are Alive | European production |
| June 28, 1972 | Prime Cut | CCF |
| August 9, 1972 | Snoopy Come Home | CCF |
| October 25, 1972 | The Deadly Trap | European production |
| October 1972 | Lapin 360 | |
| October 1972 | Treasure Island | European production |
| December 8, 1972 | The Master Touch | European production |
| December 13, 1972 | The Getaway | First Artists |
| December 18, 1972 | The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean | First Artists |
| December 21, 1972 | Up the Sandbox | First Artists |
| 1973 | One Armed Boxer | Hong Kong production |
| March 4, 1973 | Baxter! | British production |
| March 1973 | Fists of Fury | Hong Kong production |
| May 1, 1973 | The Chinese Connection | Hong Kong production |
| May 16, 1973 | Extreme Close-Up | National General |
| May 23, 1973 | A Warm December | First Artists |
| July 13, 1973 | Lady Ice | National General |
| August 1, 1973 | Maurie | National General |
| September 5, 1973 | Hapkido | Hong Kong production |
| September 24, 1973 | The Man Called Noon | British production |
| September 24, 1973 | The New One-Armed Swordsman | Hong Kong production |
| October 7, 1973 | The Second Gun | Documentary on the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy |
| October 24, 1973 | Massacre in Rome | European production |
| November 7, 1973 | Executive Action | National General |
| January 2, 1974 | Chinese Hercules | Hong Kong production |