Canadian Moving Picture Digest (May 29, 1954)

Page scan 0001 from Canadian Moving Picture Digest

Record Details:

Title:
Canadian Moving Picture Digest
Date:
May 29, 1954
Volume:
Canadian Moving Picture Digest (May 29, 1954)
Leaf #:
0001
Language:
English
Subjects:
Motion Pictures, Film Industry Trade Magazine",Canad
Collection:
Global Cinema, Hollywood Studio System, Canada, and Early 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.

PAGE TWO TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA MAY 29, 1954 Chatter... that could matter! By MAX CHIC MGM's “Student Prince” . . . evoked “a big hunk of a picture” from an exhibitor when screened . . . a Prince of a picture... “River of No Return,” Fox, starring Marilyn Monroe screened last week .. . who would want to return? Alec Barris, movie critic, Globe and Mail, touring all luncheons, after his return from Hollywood . . . A popping time was had by all at International PopCorn-ference last Friday, at the King Edward Hotel . . . Percy Smith popular former booker, B and F Theatres, moying to the sunny south . . . Florida? George Altman, still in harness, is scrapping up dough this time for film group, United Jewish Appeal, with Lionel Lester, co-chairman , . . Thieves Locked Out, is Jackie Fine’s slogan for all future theatre robberies . . . slogan is as a result of robbery of Donland’s theatre, when caretaker leaving door open, early One afternoon, was tied up while safe was burgled, Frank Fisher, going formal . . . he is active on Rotary Cttee. sponsoring the Met Opera performances at Maple Leaf Gardens this week .. . Wanted . . . one 16 mm projector, stolen from Harvey Harnick’s brother's house . . . Doug. Yates, Republic in Toronto, last Friday . Bill Summerville Jr.'s son Paul. touring Germany with a musical trio... J. J. Fitzgibbons, last year’s Beth Sholom Brotherhood Award winner, presented this year’s winner, Joseph S. Atkinson, with a plaque. Chris Salmon, Odeon and Doug Rosen, IFD, both visiting our western brethren . . Haskell Masters beating his chest, over coming 2-D version only, release of “Dial M For Murder” . . . Leonard Brockington officiated at concluding luncheon for the Dominion Drama Festival . .. Len Bishop and Tiff Cooke searching for a Fat Lady to adorn circus front at Shea’s theatre when RKO's “Carnival Story” opens. Gordon and Audrey Lightstone were proud guests at a testimonial dinner given for Gordon's eldest sister, Madame Pauline Donalda in Montreal, its first lady of music ... patrons for her 50th year in music, were Lieut.-Goy. Fauteaux and Mayor Houde ... Bert McLean, formerly of Famous Players’ accounting staff, appointed Office Manager of B and F Theatres. Overheard . .. at luncheon for Charlie Doctor . , . Ben Geldsaler to Haskell Masters, “Harnick is not releasing or screening ‘Caine Mutiny,’ he is keeping it locked in his vault” . . . Harnick replies, “I don’t have to see it, I just keep looking at the can it’s in” . . . Haskell Masters to all and sundry, “terms for ‘Caine Mutiny,’ at least 90-10". Event of the week . . . Adolph Zukor visiting Ray Lewis. New York Exhibitors hold emergency mass meeting to protest against proposed 5% Amusement Tax Bill scheduled for passage by New York City Council this week. e@ U.S. Department of Commerce reports film dividends for 1st quarter of 1954 total $5,592,000 as against $5,114,000 for Ist quarter in 1953. @ Clare Appel, Executive Director, CMPDA, in his annual summary of 35 mm. theatres in Canada, lists 2,163 including 207 Drive-Ins operating and under construction. @ Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures of Canada Ltd. announce plans for a new film exchange building in Toronto, west corner of Victoria and Gold streets, architects, Kaplan and Sprachman. @ Joe Unger, 34 year film industry veteran, and formerly Metro manager in Toronto, passed away last week in New York of a cerebral hemorrhage. ® Fred Waller, Cinerama inventor, passed away after a long illness at his home in Long Island. He was 68. @ Steve Broidy, President, Allied Artists announces that threefourths of all future AA pictures will be made in Technicolor, with about 8 features due to roll in June and July. @ Clark Gable signed by Darryl Zanuck for 20th Century-Fox to a multiple-picture contract. @ Spyros Skouras, President 20th Century-Fox reports to Annual Meeting a profit for the first quarter of 1954, at $2,048,030, as compared with a profit of $1,023,965 for the first quarter of last year. ® Loew’s International setting plans to build 20 theatres, first-run, in the Union of South Africa and Southern Rhodesia. e United Artists and Universal to follow 20th-Fox in making 2-D prints of CinemaScope pictures available to exhibitors. ® Negotiations under way between Technicolor and Joe Tushinsky whereby Technicolor will handle processing of all films shot for the Tushinsky system.