Canadian Moving Picture Digest (May 8, 1954)

Page scan 0006 from Canadian Moving Picture Digest

Record Details:

Title:
Canadian Moving Picture Digest
Date:
May 8, 1954
Volume:
Canadian Moving Picture Digest (May 8, 1954)
Leaf #:
0006
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 18, 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.

“s MAY 8, 1954 CANADIAN MOVING PICTURE DIGEST PAGE SEVEN Ray Presents (Continued from Page 3) Mr. Balaban, last week welcomed 4,000 members of the Motion Picture Industry to the first demonstration of VistaVision, at Radio City Music Hall, New York, which according to Trade reports was impressive. Mr. Balaban said, “On behalf of Paramount Pictures, I am privileged to welcome you to this viewing of VistaVision. For your interest, your presence and your cooperation in arranging your time to meet our schedule, we are grateful. To Russell Downing and his associates of the Music Hall, we are deeply indebted for their generosity in affording us, the staff and facilities of this magnificent institution. 4 HERE are present here this morn4 ing, Mr. Y. Frank Freeman, our Vice-President and head of the Studio; Mr. Loren Ryder, in charge of engineering and research; and a number of members of the Studio technical staff. To them and their associates in Hollywood, goes full credit for bringing VistaVision into being. It was their vision, courage and untold hours of just plain hard work that resulted, in such a short space of time, in what you are about to see and which I regard as a major and eventful contribution to motion picture presentation.” The mailman delivered a welcome letter from Max Youngstein, UA Vice-President and National Director of Advertising, Publicity and Exploitation. “Dear Ray: “Just returned to New York to see your wonderful issue of April 24th on United Artists. “We are all very grateful to you. “Best wishes. Sincerely, Max E. Youngstein.” THE KIDNAPPERS The screen version of the Neil Patterson Short Story “Scotch Settlement” now breaking records, is released in Canada under the title “THE KIDNAPPERS” by Jaro. The two stars who steal the picture are Vincent Winter (aged 5) and Jon Whitley (aged 8) and the critics and reviewers claim that Vincent is the biggest child discovery in the history of motion pictures. Jon and Vincent play orphans in this dramatic story of young innocence involved in feuden’ passionate love and misguided religious convictions of a tyrannical grandfather. U-I Production In High Gear Reflecting the steady progress being made by Universal-International, employment at the studio has been increasing constantly since January 1 and has now reached its highest point in more than a year with 1,990 persons currently on the payroll. This figure is more than double the number of employees at the studio last May when workers in all categories totaled only 930. This was the lowest employment figure recorded by the studio in recent years. The steady climb in U-Il’s employment has been taking place in the face of generally slow activities throughout the industry. The recent increase in studio personnel covers all departments and is due largely to the current high production level — five top budget features now shooting — and the busy schedule looming for the coming months. U-I’s roster of producers, directors, writers and players is now the largest it has been in many months, The recent signing of veteran producer Sam Marx gives the studio a total of ten top producers, the others being William Alland, Robert Arthur, Howard Christie, Albert J. Cohen, Ross Hunter, Howard Pine, Ted Richmond, Aaron Rosenberg and Stanley Rubin. The director roster also is at a new high with 12 directors now under term or picture contracts. This group includes Laslo Benedek, Richard Carlson, Jesse Hibbs, Jerry Hopper, Charles Lamont, Arthur Lubin, Rudolph Mate, Joe Newman, Joseph Pevney, Richard Quine, George Sherman and Douglas Sirk. Thirty-two writers now are working at the studio on 30 different scripts. The studio now has one of the largest player rosters of any major company in Hollywood, with 36 stars and featured players being under exclusive long term contract and nearly 50 name actors and actresses have single or multiple picture contracts. Among those under exclusive contract are such stars as Abbott and Costello, Jeff Chandler, Tony Curtis, Rock Hudson, Audie Murphy, Julia Adams, Suzan Ball, Mari Blanchard, Susan Cabot, Marcia Henderson, Kathleen Hughes, Piper Laurie, Lori Nelson, Mala Powers, Barbara Rush and Mamie Van Doren. Those having contracts for one or more pictures include June Allyson, Arlene Dahl, Yvonne DeCarlo, Gloria Grahame, Janet Leigh, Marjorie Main, Maureen O'Hara, Ludmilla Tcherina, Ursula Thiess, Shelley Winters, Rory Calhoun, Dan Duryea, John Forsythe, Sterling Hayden, Alan Ladd, Joel McCrea, Donald O’Connor, Jack Palance, James Stewart and Chill Wills. In addition to the various talent categories, the increased number of workers is reflected throughout the studio from office workers through the various branches of technical workers and la borers. MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION More than 2,500 industry leaders, civic officials, entertainment industry personalities and representatives of press, radio, television and the book publishing field, attended the gala invitational preview at Loew’s 72nd Street Theatre in New York of Universal-International’s “Magnificent Obsession” in Technicolor based on the famous Lloyd C. Douglas novel and starring Jane Wyman and Rock Hudson. This preview and a similar gala event for Hollywood's press and personalities held at the Westwood Village Theatre in Hollywood are serving to launch the advance promotional campaign of “Magnificent Obsession” to be released in August in the same manner as the launching of U-I’s record-breaking “The Glenn Miller Story.” GOLDSTEIN TO PRODUCE TEN FOR UA In one of the most important film production and distribution deals in recent months, Leonard Goldstein, President of the newly formed Leonard Goldstein Productions and Robert S. Benjamin, Chairman of the Board of United Artists, jointly announced completion of an agreement for a program of ten major motion pictures to be released through United Artists within the next year. The deal, which was negotiated by Mr. Goldstein and Gordon Youngman, attorney for Leonard Goldstein Productions, and Benjamin for United Artists, represents an estimated negative cost of more than $10,000,000. Joining Mr. Goldstein, whose production record is 70 major motion pictures in the past six years, which has established him among Hollywood's foremost producers, will be Robert Jacks, VicePresident of Panoramic Productions, and Robert Goldstein, who is currently in Europe producing a picture. They will serve as production associates in Leonard Goldstein's newly formed independent company. Eight of the planned films will be in color; all will utilize top stars, directors and writers, The new company is scheduled to start operation about May [5th when “Hawk of the Desert,” the last of the ten Panoramic Productions, is completed for 20th Century-Fox,