First National Pictures
HISTORY OF FIRST NATIONAL

The First National Exhibitors' Circuit was founded in
1917 by the merger of 26 of the biggest first run cinema
chains in the United States of America, eventually
controlling over 600 cinemas, more than 200 of them
so-called "first run" houses (as opposed to the "second
run" neighborhood theaters to which films moved when
their first run boxoffice receipts dwindled).

First National was the brainchild of Thomas L. Tally,
who was reacting to the overwhelming influence of
Paramount Pictures, which dominated the market. In
1912, he thought that a conglomorate of theaters
throughout the nation could buy and/or produce and
distribute their own films. Tally was soon partnered
with West Virginian James Dixon Williams, and they
formed First National Exhibitors Circuit. Among the
more than two dozen exhibitors who attended the first
meeting held in New York on April 25, 1917, were
Frederick Dahnken of the Turner and Dahnken Circuit
in San Francisco, Harry O. Schwalbe of Philadelphia,
Samuel L. Rothapfel of New York, Earl H. Hulsey of
Dallas and Nathan H. Gordon of Boston.

Between 1917 and 1918, they made contracts with Mary
Pickford and Charlie Chaplin, the first million-dollar
deals in the history of film.
Paramount was threatened by First National's financial power and its control
over the lucrative first run theaters and decided to enter the cinema business as
well. With a $10 million dollar investment, they built their own chain of first
run houses after a secret plan to merge with First National failed. Ironically,
this led to the foundation of United Artists by Douglas Fairbanks, Pickford and
Chaplin, and to the loss of First National's biggest stars.
In the early twenties, Paramount attempted a hostile takeover, buying several of First National's member firms. First
National built its massive studio lot in Burbank in 1926. With the success of The Jazz Singer, the company was purchased
by Warner Bros. in September 1928. For decades afterwards, most Warner Bros. films bore the words "A Warner Bros.-First
National Picture."

In 2002, Warner Bros. sold the name's rights to Ryan Kugler of Distribution Video & Audio (DV&A), a company specializing
in acquiring excess inventory and close-out properties. The resurrected First National Pictures name will be used to brand
no-frills digital releases of children's, documentary, and special interest titles.

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