Start Over

Canadian Moving Picture Digest (Mar 27, 1948)

Record Details:

Title:
Canadian Moving Picture Digest
Date:
Mar 27, 1948
Volume:
Canadian Moving Picture Digest (Mar 27, 1948)
Leaf #:
00013
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 14 « Capital Story » By WILL McLAUGHLIN Reeeene of the diplomatic corps, Government officials and other invited guests attended a program of interesting films given under the sponsorship of the High Commissioner for India, Hon. Sardar Hardit Singh Malik and Sardarni Malik, at the National Research Council Auditorium. Main portion of the program was devoted to an instructive film entitled “Kashmir Story’, preceded by a talk on the same subject by Khushwant Singh, of the Indian Public Relations Office in Ottawa. The presentation included four other short Indian documentaries, “Land of the Five Rivers’, “South Indian Handicrafts’, “Coconut Tree”, and “In the Himalayan Foothills”. x * * First of its kind in the Ottawa Valley and under the sponsorship of the National Film Board, the Renfrew and District Film Council was formed recently at a well-attended meeting in the town’s Community Theatre. Main object behind the council, as explained by A. Hacche, a representative of the NFB, is the promotion of visual education amongst men, women and children. x oe Frank Gallop, manager of the Glebe (Odeon) Theatre ’way out south on Bank Street, has joined the long list of movie theatres with “Giveaway” inducements for bigger and_ better patronage. In large newspaper displays extolling the merits of his Free Silverware (flat) Service, plus a service charge of 10c per item, Frank advises his patrons that “it will be necessary to attend twice to secure the _ knife’! x & & The Capitol, Ottawa’s largestseated theatre and ace house of the Famous Players circuit in this district, has been completely re carpeted during the past two weeks. The new carpets, of a special and attractive design, were lad on a surface of heavy matting by a group of experts from Toronto, the work being done during the late night and early morning hours. * *« * The Michael Redgrave-Flora Robson presentation of Shakespeare’s “MacBeth”, on the stage of the Capitol Theatre on Monday night, March 22nd, was a complete sell-out, with several hundred standees, as provided by the theatre’s regulations. Both Redgrave and Miss Robson have large followings among local screen fans who turned out in droves to give the English stars a big hand on their arrival in the capital. CANADIAN MOVING PICTURE DIGEST March 27th, 1948 Trans-Canada Showing Use This Information As Your Guide On Release Dates TORONTO EGLINTON-TIVOLI 4th week. “Gentleman’s Agreement” (Fox), with Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire and John Garfield. FAIRLAWN “So Well Remembered” (E-L), with John Mills, Martha Scott and Patricia Roc. IMPERIAL “Albuquerque” (Para.), Cinecolor, Randolph Scott and Barbara Britton. INTERNATIONAL CINEMA “Song Of My Heart” (Mono.), with Audrey Long and Cedric Hardwicke. LOEW’S 3rd week. “Cass Timberlane” (M-G-M), with Spencer Tracy, Lana Tumer and Zachary Scott. NORTOWN-VICTORIA “Sitting Pretty’ (Fox), with Robert Young, Maureen O’Hara and Clifton Webb. SHEA’S “That Hagan Girl” (W-B), with Ronald Reagan and Shirley Temple. UPTOWN “Secret Beyond The Door” (U-I), with Joan Bennett and Michael Redgrave. MONTREAL CAPITOL “Nightmare Alley’ (Fox), with Tyrone Power and. Joan Blondell. IMPERIAL “Driftwood” (Rep.), with Ruth Warrick and Walter Brennan. Also “On the Old Spanish Trail’ (Rep.), color, with Roy Rogers and Jane Frazee. LOEW'S 2nd week. “Captain From Castile’’ (Fox), Technicolor, with Tyrone Power and Jean Peters. PALACE “Monsieur Verdoux” (U-A), Chaplin and Martha Raye. PRINCESS “I Love Trouble” (Col.), with Franchot Tone and Janet Blair. Also “Glamour Girl’ (Col.). with Gene Krupa and J. Leonard. SAINT JOHN CAPITOL “Song Of Love” (M-G-M), with Katharine Hepburn, Paul Henreid and Robert Walker. STRAND “Odd Man Out” (E-L), with James Mason and Robert Newton. with with Charles 277 Victoria St. Plastic Dinnerware ? Not Us! We've Got The REAL Thing... YES ... We're finally coming out with one of our old-time “crowdpacking” Dinnerware Deals . . . NO IT‘S NOT PLASTIC --IT’S REAL CERAMIC DINNERWARE -.the kind women really want and will come in droves to get... NOW good-bye to sagging Box Office receipts line-ups will again start! friend, is in action again ... We'll have samples and complete details for you in a couple of weeks ... Our old and fair policy will prevail FIRST COME FIRST SERVED! CANADIAN PREMIUM DISTRIBUTORS Management JOHN W. COHN Toronto MAYFAIR “The Ghost and Mrs. Muir’ (Fex), with Gene Tierney, Rex Harrison and George Sanders. Also “Violence” (Mono.), with Michael O’Shea and Nancy Coleman. WINNIPEG CAFITOL 2nd week. ‘Road To Rio” (Para.), with Bing Crosby, Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour. GARRICK “Men of Two Worlds” (E-L), Technicolor, with Phyllis Calvert and Eric Portman. METROPOLITAN “T.Men” (Inter’l), with Dennis O’Keefe. ODEON 38rd week. “Jassy” (E-L), Technicolor, with Margaret Lockwood and Patricia Roc. CALGARY CAPITOL “My Wild Irish Rose” (W-B), Technicolor, with Dennis Morgan. GRAND “Ride The Pink Horse’ (U-I), with Robert Montgomery and Wanda Hendrix. Also “Hue and Cry” (E-L), with Alastair Sim and Valerie White. PALACE “Wyoming” (Rep.), with William Elliott and Vera Ralston. Also ‘That’s My Gal’ (Rep.), Trucolor, with Lynne Roberts and Donald Barry. VANCOUVER CAPITOL “Where There's Life’ (Para.). with Bob Hope, Signe Hasso and William Bendix. INTERNATIONAL CINEMA 4th week. “Quiet Weekend” (Inter’l), with Derek Farr and Marjorie Fielding. ORPHEUM 2nd week. “Captain From Castile” (Fox), Technicolor, with Tyrone Power and Jean Peters, PARADISE “Dear Murderer’ (E-L), with Eric Portman. Dennis Price and Greta Gynt. Also “Sweetheart of Sigma Chi’ (Mono.), with Elyse Knox. PARK-PLAZA “Master of Bankdam” (E-L), with Ann Crawford, Dennis Price and Tom Walls. VOGUE 3rd week. “Jassy’ (E-L), Technicolor, with Margaret Lockwood and Patricia Roc. Johnny Cohn, the Exhibitor's WA. 3116