Start Over

Canadian Moving Picture Digest (Nov 1922-Apr 1923)

Page scan 000392 from Canadian Moving Picture Digest

Record Details:

Title:
Canadian Moving Picture Digest
Date:
Nov 1922-Apr 1923
Volume:
Canadian Moving Picture Digest (November 1922-April 1923)
Leaf #:
000392
Language:
English
Subjects:
Motion Pictures, Film Industry Trade Magazine",Canad
Collection:
Hollywood Studio System, Global Cinema, Early Cinema, and Canada
Format:
periodicals
Coordinator:
Media History Digital Library
Description:

Canadian Moving Picture Digest

Editors: Merrick R. Nutting (1917-18), Raymond S. Peck (1918), Ray Lewis (1918-19 and 1920-54), Walter Greene (1919-20), Jay Smith (1954-57)

Canadian Moving Picture Digest (1917-57) was initially a Montréal-based rival of the first film paper in Canada, Toronto-based Canadian Universal Bulletin (1915-18, edited by W.A. Bach 1915-17, J.W. Cambridge 1917-18, Raymond S. Peck 1918). The two periodicals were combined in 1918, keeping the Digest name, but moving production to Toronto with Peck as editor. Canadian Moving Picture Digest assumed The Bulletin’s volume numbering and always claimed 1915 as its year of origin. Ray Lewis (née Rae Levinsky) was a writer and playwright, who spent time in early Hollywood’s publicity departments. She briefly took the Digest helm in 1918, then long-term editor, later owner and publisher, from 1920 until her death in 1954. Under Lewis’s leadership, the trade paper claimed to serve as a voice for independent exhibitors and advocated for a Canadian cultural presence in cinema, particularly emphasizing British films as a way to keep a distance from Hollywood. Lewis's editorials were notable for their advocacy, wit, and critique of American dominance in the Canadian film market. While initially positioning herself as an outsider, she became integrated within the industry and a true insider. She even had an ongoing correspondence with Canadian Prime Minister R. B. Bennett, advocating for the industry as a whole and supporting British film imports. She was well-known at Toronto’s Dundas Square film row as well as in New York and Hollywood. Variety’s Sime Silverman called her “the Girl Friend in Canada,” and she delighted when U.S. writers not “in the know” presumed “Ray” was a man’s name. Lewis was later an inaugural member of the Canadian Picture Pioneers, eventually the group’s first female president and Pioneer of the Year. After she died in 1954, her son Jay Smith took over editorial duties until Canadian Moving Picture Digest was bought by Nat Taylor’s Film Publications of Canada in 1957. Taylor incorporated the legacy journal into a joint masthead for Canadian Film Weekly (1942-70), which subsequently dated its roots back to the 1915 origins of the film press in Canada.

– Jessica Whitehead and Paul Moore, March 2024

Further Reading

  • Whitehead, Jessica, Louis Pelletier and Paul Moore, “‘The Girl Friend in Canada’: Ray Lewis and Canadian Moving Picture Digest (1915–1957).” In Daniel Biltereyst and Lies Van de Vijver, eds., Mapping Movie Magazines: Digitization, Periodicals and Cinema History, 127-52. London: Pagrave-Macmillan, 2021.

Date Added:
July 31, 2025
Something wrong or inaccurate about this page? Let us Know!

Thanks for helping us continually improve the quality of the Lantern search engine for all of our users! We have millions of scanned pages, so user reports are incredibly helpful for us to identify places where we can improve and update the metadata.

Please describe the issue below, and click "Submit" to send your comments to our team! If you'd prefer, you can also send us an email to mhdl@commarts.wisc.edu with your comments.




We use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) during our scanning and processing workflow to make the content of each page searchable. You can view the automatically generated text below as well as copy and paste individual pieces of text to quote in your own work.

Text recognition is never 100% accurate. Many parts of the scanned page may not be reflected in the OCR text output, including: images, page layout, certain fonts or handwriting.

oe " i‘ ONTO, CANADA. «7, NINETY-NINE’ GOING OVER BIG LOEW’S THEATRE, TORONTO FORESTRY DEPARTMENTS INTERESTED IE Provincial Forester of the Department of Lands and Forests of the Province of Ontario, Canada, who, like the state foresters in the United States has recognized the immense value in demonstrating the menace of fire due to human carelessness, has sent to the newspapers in his territory a letter urging that the paper support the local .presentation of Vitagraph’s “The Ninety and Nine.” In the letter the Provincial Forester says: “Realizing the adaptability of this picture in showing the results of careIessness with fire, we have arranged with the Ontario Motion Picture Bureau to supply a short reel on ‘forest fire protection in Ontario, which will be furnished free to any theatre in Ontario, running “The Ninety and Nine.” The states of Oregon and Washington have joined other states in this country which have great forest preserves, in urging that all theatres play “The Ninety and Nine.” The District Forester of Portland, Ore., has asked that the picture be shown especially during Fire Prevention Week, April 22-27. In a letter the Forest Advisor at Seattle says: “This is surely an excellent picture to bring home to the people who are travelling in our wooded countries »during the summer months, the great need of precaution in handling fire.” When “The Ninety and Nine” was shown at the Ogden ‘Theatre, in Denver, H. N. Wheeler, of the Forestry Department, gave an address each night of its run. ‘This feature has met with market success at Loew’s Theatre, Toronto, where it played a week’s engagement. MOVING PICTURES IN SCHOOLS INTRODUCED IN UNITED STATES CANADA MAY FOLLOW SUIT HE Motion Picture Distributors Producers, through their president, Mr. Will H. Hays, arranged a meeting between a committee of educators and producers, the latter offering $5,000 as a gift to the educators to experiment with the introduction of films along educational lines in the schools. ‘The offer was accepted. Tt is said that these films will in no way conflict with the releases to exhibitors, nor will non-theatrical distribution of this kind do other than educate the children with a Moving Picture appetite. We will talk more on this subject anon. In the meantime a similar agitation for the introduction of Moving Pictures in schools in Canada has made its appearance. H. P. Biggar, European representative of the Dominion Archives, speaking in Toronto, before the United Empire Loyalists’ Association, urged this organization to support the introduction of moving pictures in schools as a means of Canadianizing the present generation of Canadians. “We are absorbing all kinds of material in this country,” said Mr. Biggar. “Unless you get a healthy tradition you won't get a healthy manhood. And our healthy tradition depends to a great extent on the tradition of the U.E. Loyalists.” Mr. Biggar thought it unfortunate that so little history was being taught in the schools and here is where the moving picture would be found most valuable, of much more importance than the still pictures introduced. First National Devises Further Aid Exhibitors First National announces that it will soon be ina position to supply exhibitors with half sheets in addition to the regulation size of posters. Samples of these are now to be seen in First National Exchanges, and they are strikingly effective and catch the eye. Although combined on a onesheet they can be cut apart readily and used in frames where a one-sheet would be too large. They are particularly adaptable for window showings and eliminate the high cost of the regular window cards. Garrick Continues To Keep Up Capacity Business The Garrick, Winnipeg, is still doing capacity business, its 1300 seats being filled night after night. Among the recent pictures were “Nobody’s Money,” featuring Jack Holt; Lon Chaney in “Shadows,” and the week of April 23rd, Walter Hiers in “Mr. Billings Spends His Dime,” is coming. Page Hive -—_—__ “Man vs. Beast” Forerunner Animal Thrillers While several elaborate feature pictures dealing with the big game hunting in Africa are being exploited at the present time, what was perhaps the forerunner of them all, the tworeel Educational Pictures Special, “Man vs. Beast,” released just prior to the present flood of these big game pictures, continues to prove a real box-office attraction and to attract most favorable comment from newspaper critics and exhibitors who have played it. “Man vs. Beast,” released by Educational in two reels, was originally a five-reel picture. Due to its shortsubject policy and its desire to give only the best of action in its pictures, this five-reel picture was cut to two reels, all the meat and action of the longer subject being retained. The result is two reels of thrilling action. Many of the largest beasts of Africa are stalked and slain in front of the camera and the climax comes when Louis Shuman, the leader of the expedition, encounters two rhinoceros and drops them within ten feet of the camera. “Here is the most remarkable jungle picture we have ever seen. It is as interesting as ‘Nanook of the North, ~ was the report of the management of .the Capitol Theatre, St. Paul, Minn. “It is the very best of thrilling entertainments—a picture that is different from anything we have ever seen,” was the favorable comment of a brother exhibitor, L. Rubenstein of New Arion, Minn. The newspaper critics were almost unanimous in their praise, the New York World in its review of this picture saying, “The most exciting film on Broadway,” and the Times Herald of Waco, Texas, stating that ‘Man vs. Beast’ is especially remarkable for the large number of thrilling close-ups of conflicts between men and _ ferocious wild beasts.” These are but a few of the thousands of comments by exhibitors and newspapers following the showing of this remarkable condensed animal thriller. For Sale One Powers 6A chine, reels, rewinders, switches, rheostat, screen, curtains, scenery, and one 550-volt motor and 50-volt, 30-amp. generator unit. Price $300.00. Apply W. J. BIERSCHBACH, Waterloo, Ont. Hand-drive ma Projectionist open for immediate engagement. ‘Thoroughly competent. Screen results assured. Best of references. Am union and married. Apply H. E. DREW, North Battleford, Sask. FICE Og eres Read The Digest Advertising !"ages.