Canadian Moving Picture Digest (Mar 6, 1948)

Page scan 0008 from Canadian Moving Picture Digest

Record Details:

Title:
Canadian Moving Picture Digest
Date:
Mar 6, 1948
Volume:
Canadian Moving Picture Digest (Mar 6, 1948)
Leaf #:
0008
Language:
English
Collection:
Canada, Hollywood Studio System, Early Cinema, and Global Cinema
Format:
periodicals
Contributor:
Media History Digital Library, Canadian Media Magazines Project, Paul Moore and Jessica Whitehead
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:
April 18, 2024
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March 6th, 1948 CANADIAN MOVING PICTURE DIGEST Montreal News By ROY LESTER NITED ARTIST’S “Monsieur Verdoux” has finally been booked here for the week of March 12th... Mr. J. A. Hirsch, president of Consolidated Theatres Ltd., has left for Miami Beach, Florida .. . “Sins of the Fathers’, the film that broke the record for picture-making in Canada, by being made in 1014 days, should reach the local screens early in April, and will receive international distribution shortly after that time . . . Alex Adilman, vice-president of Consolidated Theatres Ltd., arrived in town after a several weeks vacation at Miami, Florida, accompanied by his wife. . . Donald Wolfit, it is learned, is definitely considering another tour of Canada, probably with a mixed repertoire, in 1949 .. . An extensive alteration programme has been started to enlarge the offices of Consolidated Theatres Ltd. here in the Dominion Square Bldg., which has involved the tearing down of walls, and the addition of several new offices. “+ © His Worship, Mayor Houde, paid the Renaissance Film Studios, which is located on Cote des Neiges Road a visit this past week. The $1,000,000 studio is expected to be completed by the end of March, and will produce 35 mm. features in both French and English, as well as 16 mm. commercial films. An interesting event occurred here the past week in connection with the opening of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, at His Majesty’s Theatre on March 16th. Due to public apathy, as evidenced by the lack of mail orders for tickets, the Canadian Concerts and Artists Incorporated have decided to drop the American modern ballet “Rodeo”, which was to be shown here on March 19th. Such a large number of protests were received that the voice of the public was heeded and the ballet was replaced in favour of another, “The Beau Danube”. The comment of S. Morgan-Powell, the literary editor of the Montreal Star, was to the effect that “the Montreal public which enjoys ballet and can appreciate it, knows now how to secure the elimination of those spectacles it does not wish to see’. x * In spite of the Lent period, the French-Canadian populace _ still continued to see movies, as evidenced by the fact that there were three holdovers last week and two this week. Heading the list was “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty’ starring Danny Kaye, which is playing to record attendance at Loew's, and James Stewart in “Call Northside 777” at the Palace. IT’S A PROBLEM! J cs 3 he 10° ie Vy © Page 3 TELEVISE “HUNGRY MINDS” “Hungry Minds”, the National Film Board short, produced by Tom Daly for the Canadian Appeal For Children, has been scheduled for television broadcasting by the B.B.C. in Britain. The film which was produced primarily as a fund raising medium, is a piece of motion picture art, and the most polished and powerful of the NFB documentaries. It is available to all exhibitors across Canada, at no charge, and may be booked from any Paramount exchange. The French motion picture producer and director, Maurice De Canonge, arrived in New York this past week en route to Canada where he will select the location for a picture that he will produce here. De Canonge said he would stay in New York for 10 days before proceeding to Montreal. He expects to visit many sites in Canada before selecting a locale for his picture entitled “Marion of the Snow sa = « The United Amusement Corporation here has enjoyed unprecedented success with th showing of “It Happned on Fifth Avenue”. The picture enjoyed a 5 weeks run at the Snowdon Theatre and then it was exhibited at the Strand Theatre for an additional two weeks. Finally it appeared at the York, another United Theatre, for a scheduled 3 day run, and so great was the business that the picture was held over for an additional few days. TOLD CONE Having Wonderful Time EAGLE-LION FLMS a Canada, Limited