Grand National Films, Inc (or Grand National Pictures, Grand National Productions and Grand National Film Distributing Co.) was an American

Poverty Row Poverty Row is a slang term used to refer to Hollywood films produced from the 1920s to the 1950s by small (and mostly short-lived) B movie studios. Although many of them were based on (or near) today's Gower Street in Hollywood, the term did n ...

motion picture production-distribution company in operation from 1936 to 1939. The company had no relation to the British Grand National Pictures (although the British firm used the American company's logo).

History and releases

Edward L. Alperson, a film exchange manager, founded Grand National in 1936 on the basis of First Division Pictures, of which he was on the board of directors. What

United Artists United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the studi ...

was to major independent producers, First Division was to low-budget producers: a convenient releasing outlet for individual pictures, and successful within its own market. In April 1936 Alperson took over First Division's film exchanges, existing product line, and contracts, the company now functioning as Grand National Film Distributing Company. By the summer, he had begun development of a California-based production entity, Grand National Productions, at the

Educational Pictures Educational Pictures, also known as Educational Film Exchanges, Inc. or Educational Films Corporation of America, was an American film production and film distribution company founded in 1916 by Earle (E. W.) Hammons (1882–1962). Educational pr ...

studios, to create future product. By October, he had his first original films ready for release. Alperson dreamed up the studio's logo, a futuristic clock tower, with an idea to advertise "it's time to see a Grand National release."p.41 Fernett, Gene L. ''Hollywood's Poverty Row 1930-1950'' 1973 Coral Reef Publications Producer

Edward Finney Edward Francis Finney (1903–1983) was an American film producer and director.Pitts p.174 He is best known as the man who introduced cowboy singer Tex Ritter to the moviegoing public. Biography Finney was educated at the City College of New Y ...

, releasing through Grand National, gave the new company its first star attraction:

singing cowboy A singing cowboy was a subtype of the archetypal cowboy hero of early Western films. It references real-world campfire side ballads in the American frontier, the original cowboys sang of life on the trail with all the challenges, hardships, and d ...

Tex Ritter Woodward Maurice Ritter (January 12, 1905 – January 2, 1974) was a pioneer of American country music, a popular singer and actor from the mid-1930s into the 1960s, and the patriarch of the Ritter acting family (son John, grandsons Jason and ...

. The studio went on to produce other Westerns that featured

Tex Fletcher Geremino Bisceglia (January 17, 1910 in Harrison, New York - March 14, 1987 in Newburgh, New York), better known as Tex Fletcher, was a singing cowboy with credits as a recording artist, Broadway and movie actor, night club performer, and radio ...

and then singing cowgirl Dorothy Page, and made a series of mysteries with silent-screen star Rod LaRocque as the popular fiction and radio character

The Shadow The Shadow is a fictional character created by magazine publishers Street & Smith and writer Walter B. Gibson. Originally created to be a mysterious radio show narrator, and developed into a distinct literary character in 1931 by writer Walter ...

. Apart from westerns, its most consistent talent may have been comedy director

Charles Lamont Charles Lamont (May 5, 1895 – September 11, 1993) was a prolific filmmaker, directing over 200 titles and producing and writing many others. He directed several Abbott and Costello comedies and many Ma and Pa Kettle films. Biography A Calif ...

. Producer

George Hirliman George Hirliman (1901–1952) was a film producer. Biography Hirliman was born September 8, 1901, in Fort Lee, New Jersey. He married Eleanor Hunt, an actress. The couple adopted Georgelle Hirliman in 1936, and later gave birth to daughter ...

made a few features in a two-color process that he labeled "Hirlicolor", similar to

Cinecolor Cinecolor was an early subtractive color-model two-color motion picture process that was based upon the Prizma system of the 1910s and 1920s and the Multicolor system of the late 1920s and the 1930s. It was developed by William T. Crispinel and ...

. Hirliman also produced a four-film series starring his wife

Eleanor Hunt Eleanor Hunt (January 10, 1910 – June 12, 1981) was an American film actress. She starred opposite John Wayne in the 1934 '' Blue Steel''. Personal life She was married to actor Rex Lease for "a few months" before their September 1931 ...

and

Conrad Nagel John Conrad Nagel (March 16, 1897 – February 24, 1970) was an American film, stage, television and radio actor. He was considered a famous matinée idol and leading man of the 1920s and 1930s. He was given an Academy Honorary Award in 1940 and ...

as federal agents Reynolds and O'Connor. The studio had overseas distribution with Associated British Pictures Corporation and bought the rights to one British

Boris Karloff William Henry Pratt (23 November 1887 – 2 February 1969), better known by his stage name Boris Karloff (), was an English actor. His portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in the horror film ''Frankenstein'' (1931) (his 82nd film) established h ...

film. In 1937, Grand National succeeded in signing

James Cagney James Francis Cagney Jr. (; July 17, 1899March 30, 1986) was an American actor, dancer and film director. On stage and in film, Cagney was known for his consistently energetic performances, distinctive vocal style, and deadpan comic timing. He ...

, after he had a falling out with his home studio,

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 ...

After making ''

Great Guy ''Great Guy'' is a 1936 American crime film noir directed by John G. Blystone and starring James Cagney. In the film, an honest inspector for the New York Department of Weights and Measures takes on corrupt merchants and politicians. Plot After ...

'' for Grand National, Cagney was offered a gangster story, ''

Angels with Dirty Faces ''Angels with Dirty Faces'' is a 1938 American crime drama film directed by Michael Curtiz for Warner Brothers. It stars James Cagney, Pat O'Brien, The Dead End Kids, Humphrey Bogart, Ann Sheridan, and George Bancroft. The screenplay was wr ...

'', which Grand National had acquired. Cagney was worried about being typecast as a gangster, as he had been at Warner Bros., and opted instead for a musical satire on Hollywood called '' Something to Sing About'', directed by

Victor Schertzinger Victor L. Schertzinger (April 8, 1888 – October 26, 1941) was an American composer, film director, film producer, and screenwriter. His films include ''Paramount on Parade'' (co-director, 1930 in film, 1930), ''Something to Sing About (1937 fil ...

. The Cagney name was a huge coup for Grand National, and the company invested much more money than usual in its Cagney films, expecting a boxoffice bonanza. Despite Cagney's presence, however, neither picture turned a profit. The Cagney films were simply too expensive for the intended market: Grand National's customer base consisted of small, neighborhood movie theaters accustomed to paying cheap rentals for low-budget films. Thus Grand National was unable to recoup its investment, a key factor in the company's imminent collapse. The ''Angels with Dirty Faces'' property went to Warner Bros., as did Cagney himself. In 1938 film executive

Earle W. Hammons Earle W. Hammons, known professionally as E. W. Hammons (December 2, 1882 – July 31, 1962), was an American film producer, . He produced more than 220 films between 1921 and 1938. Biography Born in Winona, Mississippi, in 1882, Hammons f ...

, president of Educational, joined forces with Grand National in an effort to expand both companies.''Motion Picture Herald,'' "Ample Supply of Financing in Sight: Hammons," Mar. 25, 1939, p. 34. The attempt was unsuccessful, however, and Grand National entered into liquidation in 1939. Its completed but unreleased films were sold to

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

, and

RKO Radio Pictures RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orphe ...

. The Grand National film library was split among reissue distributors, chiefly Screencraft Pictures and

Astor Pictures Astor Pictures was a motion picture distribution company in the United States from 1930 to 1963. It was founded by Robert M. Savini (29 August 1886 – 29 April 1956). Astor specialized in film re-releases. It later released independently m ...

. The Grand National physical plant was acquired by

Producers Releasing Corporation Producers Releasing Corporation was the smallest and least prestigious of the Hollywood film studios of the 1940s. It was considered a prime example of what was called "Poverty Row": a low-rent stretch of Gower Street in Hollywood where shoest ...

(PRC).

Partial filmography

Grand National released a total of 100 films in its three-year run. Many of its titles have lapsed into the public domain and are legally accessible online. * '' Captain Calamity'' (1936) * '' The Devil on Horseback'' (1936) * ''

Headin' for the Rio Grande ''Headin' for the Rio Grande'' is a 1936 American Western film directed by Robert North Bradbury and written by Robert Emmett Tansey. The film stars Tex Ritter, Eleanor Stewart, Syd Saylor, Warner Richmond, Charles King, Earl Dwire, Forrest Tay ...

'' (1936) * '' Lonely Road'' (1936) * ''

'' (1936) * ''

Trailin' Trouble ''Trailin' Trouble'' is a 1937 American Western film directed by Arthur Rosson and starring Ken Maynard, Lona Andre, and Roger Williams. It was released on November 12, 1937. During production its working title was ''Alias Blackie Burke''. Pl ...

'' (1937) * ''

Navy Spy ''Navy Spy'' is a 1937 American thriller film directed by Joseph H. Lewis and Crane Wilbur and starring Conrad Nagel, Eleanor Hunt and Judith Allen.Backer p.276 It was one of a series of four films featuring Nagel as a federal agent released by Gr ...

'' (1937) * ''

Bank Alarm ''Bank Alarm'' is a 1937 American crime film directed by Louis J. Gasnier and starring Conrad Nagel and Eleanor Hunt in the last of their four film G-Man film series. Plot A G-Man (Conrad Nagel) and his girlfriend (Eleanor Hunt) follow a trail ...

'' (1937) * ''

Renfrew of the Royal Mounted ''Renfrew of the Royal Mounted'' was a popular series of boy's adventure books written by Laurie York Erskine that were later filmed and became a series on both radio and television. Canon 'Inspector Douglas Renfrew' was a former Royal Flying C ...

'' (1937) * '' Something to Sing About'' (1937) * '' Swing It, Sailor!'' (1938) * ''

Here's Flash Casey ''Here's Flash Casey'' is a 1937 American film directed by Lynn Shores and starring Eric Linden and Boots Mallory. Plot Flash Casey is able finally to get the job as photographer at Globe Press. And he would like to marry newspaper woman Kay Lann ...

'' (1938) * ''

Mr. Boggs Steps Out ''Mr. Boggs Steps Out'' is a 1938 American romantic comedy film directed by Gordon Wiles. The film is based on the Clarence Budington Kelland Saturday Evening Post short story ''Face the Facts''. The working titles of the film were ''Face the ...

'' (1938) * ''

Long Shot In photography, filmmaking and video production, a wide shot (sometimes referred to as a full shot or long shot) is a shot that typically shows the entire object or human figure and is usually intended to place it in some relation to its surrou ...

'' (1939) * ''

Exile Express ''Exile Express'' is a 1939 American drama film directed by Otis Garrett and starring Anna Sten, Alan Marshal and Jerome Cowan. Plot After being wrongly implicated in the murder of her scientist boss by foreign agents, a young immigrant woman ...

'' (1939) * ''

Isle of Destiny ''Isle of Destiny'' (aka ''Trouble Over the Pacific'') is a 1940 American comedy adventure film set in the South Seas. The film was directed by Elmer Clifton and originally produced by Franklyn Warner for Grand National Pictures in 1939. ''Isle ...

'' (1940) (bought by RKO for release) * '' Half a Sinner'' (1940) (bought by Universal for release) * '' Miracle on Main Street'' (1940) (bought by Columbia for release)

References

{{reflist

External links

IMDb.com: Grand National Pictures (U.S.)

IMDb.com: Grand National Films Ltd. (U.K.)
01 Defunct film and television production companies of the United States Film distributors of the United States Entertainment companies based in California Companies based in Los Angeles American companies established in 1936 Entertainment companies established in 1936 Mass media companies established in 1936 Mass media companies disestablished in 1939 1936 establishments in California 1939 disestablishments in California Defunct companies based in Greater Los Angeles RKO General