The Canadian Independent (Mar 1, 1938)

ff Vol. 3, No. 5 TAYLO THE CANADIAN NDEPENDENT Toronto, March 1, 1938 TALKS 0 \ \\\ \\ \\\\ wo a A Z \\ NY, By S. H. Falk CELLULOID HISTORY AND LITERATURE “Movies are the literature of today and the greatest civilizing factor the world has ever known. “Never in history .. . not since hands scratched the record of their conquests with burnt sticks on the side of a cave or on up through the Egyptian papyrus, and the wax-and-stylus stage, to the invention of the Guttenberg press, has there been a medium of expression to equal celluloid ... the celluloid that carries the living, breathing characters and their words to the farthest corners of the earth for the whole world to see and hear. “Literature is a reflection of the times ... and that some movies are not worthy must not be blamed wholly on Hollywood, for they too are a reflection of the times. The prime motive of the motion picture is to entertain, BUT MORE AND MORE WE ARE TRYING TO MAKE THEM FURNIS H ENTERTAINMENT WITH CULTURE.” This is a significant pronouncement coming from Cecil B. DeMille, one of the ablest film producers for a considerable portion of the life of the film industry. Mr. DeMille has seen the film grow up from kindergarten to college and then fare forth into the world of human affairs. Together with experience, he has the rare (Continued on Page 2) \ Held Over In Toronte 3 Happy Landing. Case Against Quebec Children To See “Snow White” The actions taken by the city of Montreal against Raymond Bergan, operator of the Centre Palace theatre, and Joseph Cytrynbaum, operator of Perron Hall, for allegedly admitting children under the age of 16 years to these theatres were dismissed by Recorder Semple, due to the technical omission of authorization for this action by the Attorney-General of Quebec. (Continued on Page 7) House Committee To Look Into C.B.C. Premier King has _ appointed a committee to consider all phases of operation of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation as a result of recent protests concerning the general nature of the broadcasts, the amount of advertising permitted over its network, and the lack of programs and talent originating in Canada in use by the Corporation. (Continued on Page 4) Quota Act Out Of Committee Headed For Commons Debate “The British Film Quota Act has passed its initial drafting stage and has been reported out of the Parliamentary Standing Committee responsible for drafting Britain’s new Film Bill. The Bill will now go to the House of Commons for (Continued on Page 6) 5 N CONCILIATION $5.00 Per Annum ‘Machinery of Conciliation is set up Exhibs Dismissed | bué needs the Oil of Good Will to get it Started’? says Nat Taylor, Chairman of the Motion Picture Branch of the Toronto Board of Trade. Anti-Block Booking Bill| Ok'd By Senate Committee a Senator M. M. Neely’s Anti-Block booking measure, on which hearings were held two year’s ago, has been reported out favorably by the Senate Interstate Committee. This bill prohibits compulsory block-booking by motion picture distributors, or the leasing of a lesser number without a proportionate reduction in price. It also requires distributors to furnish prospective lessees with a true synopsis of each film over 2,000 feet. The bill will be debated on the floor before a vote is called. Para Wins AntiTrust Case Federal Judge Yankivich ruled in favor of Paramount in a suit brought against it by a group of twenty independents charging that block-booking violates the Federal laws. The case also involved non-delivery of certain Paramount pictures on last year’s contracts. The Judge’s opinion held that the contracts under which Paramount agreed to deliver a group of pictures ‘if possible’ were valid, but failed to find evidence of re-’ straint of trade. The plain(Continued on Page 4) Following the Feb. 16th meeting of the Motion Picture Branch of the Toronto Board of Trade, which was immediately preceded by a meeting of its Conciliation Committee, Mr. N. A. Taylor gave us a brief resume of the history of the present attempt at self-regulation of the motion picture industry in Canada. Indies Invited “Until about a year ago, the M. P. Branch of the Board of Trade had no exhibitor representatives other than those of the Famous Players Canadian Corp. In April of 1937, a meeting was called of all branches of the industry and several independent exhibitors were invited to join this organization, myself among them. It was pointed out in this invitation that an attempt will be made to make the Film Section a representative body, so that all factions of the industry may sit down in conclave and achieve a better understanding and work out methods of handling and _ smoothing difficulties from within the industry itself. (Continued on Page 6) Current Hits Snow White and the © Seven Dwarfs. Happy Landing. Hurricane. Buccaneer. Ske", Sa ee RO ae eran aan