Canadian Moving Picture Digest (Mar 20, 1948)

Page scan 0001 from Canadian Moving Picture Digest

Record Details:

Title:
Canadian Moving Picture Digest
Date:
Mar 20, 1948
Volume:
Canadian Moving Picture Digest (Mar 20, 1948)
Leaf #:
0001
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 11, 2024
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.

Page 2 CANADIAN MOVING PICTURE DIGEST Montreal News By ROY LESTER HARLIG CHAPLIN’S latest pro duction, “Monsieur Verdoux”’, which is now playing at the Palace ‘Theatre, was said to have caused a riot in Rome last week because of the inclusion in the film of a picture of Mussolini... A special news reel commentary of the huge reception given Olympic skating queen, Barbara Ann Scott, by the City of Ottawa, was rushed here this last week and was immediately included in the regular programme at the Palace Theatre .. . The new films that are now playing the main circuit include “Nightmare Alley”, starring Tyrone Power, at the Capitol, and “I Love ‘Trouble’, featuring Franchot Tone at the Princess, while “Captain from Castile” is playing to large audiences at the Loew's and is in its 2nd week . The Sigmund operetta “Blossom Time” will be presented at His Majesty’s Theatre for one week beginning Monday, March 29th. ‘The star is Kverett Marshall, who is said to possess one of the best voices on the operatic and musical comedy stage... On the heels of many musical celebrities, which included Gene Krupa and Randy 3rooks, the Chez Maurice Danceland presented Cab Calloway and his orchestra on March 8th and 9th. Romberg J. Arthur Rank Presents ANNE CRAWFORD DENNIS PRIGE TOM WALLS MASTER OF BANKDAM From the novel “The Crowthers of Bankdam” by Thomas Armstrong For early bookings of this and other top box-office Eagle-Lion releases, contact your branch centre. oe Pan The R-K-O film version of Kugene O’Neill’s play, “Mourning Becomes Electra’, starring Rosalind Russell, Raymond Massey, and Michael Redgrave, the latter who is soon to be seen here in Shakespeare’s “Macbeth”, is to be shown at His Majesty's Theatre, commencing April 12th. The picture will be shown twice daily, with all seats reserved. * * x The noted French film director, Maurice DeCanonge, who is considered the “Alfred Hitchcock of France’ arrived in Canada last week to study the production possibilities in this country for his new picture entitled “Marion of the Snow”, as well as to make a survey of the films already produced. In Montreal, Mr. DeCanonge expressed himself as being well satisficd with the possibilities of the Quebce Production’s studios in St. Hyacinthe, end stated that they are well equipped, as well as being somewhat larger than his own Paris studios. The French director plans to return to Canada next summer, when he will make a film employing almost entirely Canadian actors. Being equally fluent in both French and English, he hopes to produce films in’ both languages. March 20th, 1 N TIMES LIKE THESE keeping your equipment in tip-top condition is more important than ever! Guard against a dark house and lost box office by having us rebuild your projectors now ! o ELECTRIC S COMPANY LIMITED 277 VICTORIA ST. 2027 BLEURY ST. TORONTO MONTREAL It is learned here that Maurice Chevalier, the famous French singing star, will again delight Montreal audiences in the near future, for he will be presented by Canadian Concerts and sIrtists Inc. at the Plateau Hall, for 9 performances sometime next month. Chevalier was seen here last May, and his 12 appearances were completely sold out. The coming Montreal engagement is part of a Canadian tour that will include performances i Quebec City, Sherbrooke, Ottawa and Toronto, IT’S A PROBLEM! © EAGLE -LION FILMS of Canada, Limited “My mother-in-law insists on having her picture here, too!” 948