Canadian Moving Picture Digest (Apr 3, 1954)

Page scan 0003 from Canadian Moving Picture Digest

Record Details:

Title:
Canadian Moving Picture Digest
Date:
Apr 3, 1954
Volume:
Canadian Moving Picture Digest (Apr 3, 1954)
Leaf #:
0003
Language:
English
Subjects:
Motion Pictures, Film Industry Trade Magazine",Canad
Collection:
Canada, Hollywood Studio System, Early Cinema, and Global Cinema
Format:
periodicals
Contributor:
Media History Digital Library, Canadian Picture Pioneers, 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:
May 23, 2024
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PAGE FOUR CANADIAN MOVING PICTURE DIGEST Teronto and District By BILL PRESS In a speech before the Canadian Association of Radio and Television Broadcasters at Quebec City, Don Henshaw of Toronto, liaison officer of Hollywood's Canadian Co-operation Project, commented that the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. was trying to impose culture on Canadians by taking its guidance from the Massey Commission report. Said Henshaw: “God preserve us from culture outlined by a few but superimposed on all.” He expressed the view that culture would take shape voluntarily on the farms and in the schools and cities. Walter Herbert, chairman of the management committee, Canadian Film Awards, told an Ottawa club gathering: “There is nothing to equal the contribution the CBC has made in binding this country culturally.” He expressed regret that a delay had occurred in the forming of a cultural council as recommended by the Massey Commission. The Famous Players’ mobile television unit, in use for the past seyeral years for on-the-spot coverage, is now in service in conjunction with the recently-opened Station CKCO-TV at Kitchener of which Eugene Fitzgibbons is general manager. The regulation, now in effect under the new Ontario Theatres Act 1953, which requires only one licensed projectionist in the booth of any theatre, has aroused some unofficial comment although the move was known well in advance, the act having been passed by the Legislature last year, Previously the theatres with a capacity of more than 1,000 seats had to use two qualified operators during performances. Twice in recent weeks the Odeon Theatre at London, Ont., has had a local fashion show on the Stage as a tie-in with merchants. The first parade was conducted by Manager N. Langston in conjunction with 4 “~~ the engagement of ‘Personal Affair” and the second accompanied the engagement of “The Eddie Cantor Story” which opened March 19. The winner of the contest for employees of Famous Players Canadian Corp. for the sale of gift books of tickets at the Christmas season is announced as Edward Cloutier, doorman of the Capitol Theatre, Prince Rupert, B.C. Last year’s individual winner was Angus Niven, doorman at the Capitol, Nanaimo, who was second this time. Top man in Eastern Canada for the latest contest was M. McAlinden, doorman at the Cartier Theatre, Timmins. Christmas book sales this year were much heavier across the circuit than in the previous year, Among the awards to be presented to University of Toronto students is the Famous Players annual $300 scholarship for music, the winner being Sidney Zimmerman, an accomplished . violinist. The Windsor Drive-In at Windsor and the Clappison Drive-In, near Waterdown, re-opened for the 1954 season on the same night, March 19, with the one top feature, namely “Dallas.” Both units, operated by the one company, offered special prizes for the first 100 automobiles to enter the parking areas, THEATRE MANAGER WANTED Your Own Theatre With All The Chance of Advancement STATE AGE & QUALIFICATIONS Write to: R. E. MAYNARD, Box “D”’ CANADIAN MOVING PICTURE DIGEST 21 DUNDAS SQUARE, TORONTO ALL APPLICATIONS HELD IN CONFIDENCE * x » re yy then drama 7 APRIL 3, 1954 THE CANADIAN MOVING PICTURE DIGEST Entered os Second Cless Metter RAY LEWIS Editor-in-Chief ° Address all mail to the Publisher CANADIAN MOVING PICTURE DIGEST COMPANY, LIMITED 21 Dundas Square Toronto Telephone: EMpire 8-8696 Cable: Raydigest Established 1915. Publication weekly. Subscription: $5.00 yearly — Correspondents — BRUCE PEACOCK ............ Regina, Sosk. JACK DROY vocsesseees.Wancouver, B.C. WILL McLAUGHLIN............ Ottawa, Ont. BILL PRESS Toronto, Ont. HELEN CROWLEY ...... Saint John, N.B. Mavitimec News HELEN CROWLEY Saint John’s CHSJ-TV, first Television Station in the Atlantic Provinces went on the air on Channel 4 March 23rd with its initial tests. Despte the fact that the big transmitter on Mount Champlain, 18 air miles from Saint John, was operating only at half-power, reports of good reception of the telecasts poured in from far and near. They called from Prince Edward Island and the South Shore of Nova Scotia, from distaint points in New Brunswick and Maine. All had the same tiding of bright pictures and clear sound. Theatre managements within this wide radius will view the coming weeks with trepidation because of this long anticipated Opposition. CinemaScope opened in _ the ‘Vogue’ theatre, Sydney, last Thursday with “THE ROBE.” According to reports business increased each day. Mr. Morris Diamond—a former Winnipegger—head salesman for the International Film Distributing Company, spent some time in Saint John recently conferring with Maritime Province Exhibitors re the picture “Martin Luther.” This picture is currently playing this territory to very satisfactory business. Seen at a speciol preview of Walt Disney’s Academy Award winning film, “The Living Desert,’ from left to right: Myer Nackimson, branch manafor nie: Jack Lobow, General Manager for Canado, RKO; Mayor Allan Lamport; Barney Simmons, Manager, Towne Cinema, Toronto. ger i