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.
Its feature-length releases, usually produced by Mayfair Pictures, Willis Kent, or Bernard B. Ray, were split between westerns, mysteries, "problem" melodramas, and action fare.
First Division was also the original distributor of The March of Time, short-subject documentaries that were well received during their first year of production (1935); RKO took over the series after four installments.
"[3] Producer Edward Finney, releasing through Grand National, gave the new company its first star attraction: singing cowboy Tex Ritter.
Hirliman also produced a four-film series starring his wife Eleanor Hunt and Conrad Nagel as federal agents Reynolds and O'Connor.
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.
In 1938, film executive Earle W. Hammons, president of Educational, joined forces with Grand National in an effort to expand both companies.