Smith had chosen to open the chain after noticing the increasing sales of local Massachusetts theatres, and the introduction of films that were able to accommodate a synchronized sound and voice track into their reels.

The company did not see much growth until 1939, when World War II started, due to heavy sales of news printed on film.

At times they owned the department store Neiman Marcus, the publisher Harcourt Brace, radio stations in several major markets (notably WEFM in Chicago, KRBE in Houston, WZGC in Atlanta, WGCL in Cleveland, and WIFI in Philadelphia), and TV station WCIX in Miami.

For a time General Cinema was Pepsi-Cola's largest bottler and also distributed 7-Up, Dr Pepper and other soft drink brands.

[3] In 1986, General Cinema collaborated with Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) to create the first of new policy trailers.