Canadian Moving Picture Digest (Jul 10, 1954)

Record Details:

Title:
Canadian Moving Picture Digest
Date:
Jul 10, 1954
Volume:
Canadian Moving Picture Digest (Jul 10, 1954)
Leaf #:
0008
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
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JULY 10, 1954 ‘ CANADIAN MOVING PICTURE DIGEST CAPITAL STORY By BILL McLAUGHLIN on spectacular firework displays as add Canada Day being a mid-week holiday, midnight shows were conspicuous by their absence on the night before July 1st. Several of the smaller neighborhood spots staged late shows, but the Uptown first-runs ushered in the Holiday with new shows and the Drive-ins put ed attractions. The first day of July marked the opening of Ottawa’s Centennial Year and drew thousands of visitors to see the trooping of the colors on Par liament Hill and a fireworks display at Landsdowne Park. But most of the out Use This Information As Your Guide on Release Dates STRAND TORONTO IMPERIAL Fourth week. 3 Coins In the Fountoin (20thFox). CinemaScope and Technicolor with Clifton Webb. SHEA’‘S Diol M for Murder (WB) WarnerColor with Ray Milland. EGLINTON River Of No Return (20th-Fox) CinemoScope and Technicolor with Marilyn Monroc. UNIVERSITY The Royal Tour (20th-Fox) CinemaScope and Color. NORTOWN TIVOLI CAPITOL RUNNYMEDE PARKDALE BLOOR BEACH PALACE ST. CLAIR COLLEGE Pinocchio (RKO) Technicolor. ODEON CARLTON You Know What Sailors Are (JARO) Technicolor with Donald Sinden. UPTOWN Prisoner Of War (MGM) with Ronald Reagan. LOEW'S Third week, The Student Prince (MGM) CinemaScope and Color with Ann Blyth. HYLAND & CHRISTIE Twelfth week. The Kidnappers (JARO) with Vincent Winter. TOWNE CINEMA Marlag O (IFD) with Anthony Stecl. INTERNATIONAL CINEMA Eighteenth week. Hobson’s Choice (IFD) with Charles Laughton. WINNIPEG CAPITOL Second week, River Of No Return (20th-Fox) CinemoScope and Technicolor with Marilyn Monroe. LYCEUM Pinocchio (RKO) Technicolor. MET : The Naked Jungle (Para.) Technicolor with Chariton Heston, ODEON < : The Eddie Cantor Story (WB) Technicolor with Keefe Brasselle. GARRICK Yankee Pasha (E-U) Technicolor with Jeff Chandler. SAINT JOHN PARAMOUNT Knock On Wood (Para.) Technicolor with Danny Kaye. CAPITOL Pinocchio (RKO) Technicolor. STRAND Johnny Dark (E-U) with Tony Curtis. VANCOUVER CAPITOL Lucky Me (WB) CinemaScope and WornerColor with Doris Day. ORPHEUM The Greatest Show On Earth (Para.) Techni color with Betty Hutton. Pinocchio (RKO) Technicolor, STUDIO Front Page Story (IFD) with Jack Hawkins. VOGUE The Long Wait (UA) with Anthony Quinn. PLAZA Top Banana (UA) Color and Shark River (UA) Color. PARADISE Arrow In The Dust (AA) Technicolor, DUNBAR Eighth week, The Kidnappers (JARO) with Vincent Winter. CANADIAN PICTURE PIONEERS GOLF TOURNAMENT Thurs., August 12th ST. ANDREWS GOLF CLUB General Chairman—Dan Krendel COMMITTEES: Tickets Joe Bermack, George Altman, Tommy Knight Prizes Al Perley, Ron Taylor, Andy Rouse Trophies Cecil Black, Dawson Exley Out of Town Maurice Diamond, Irving Stern Dinner & Refreshments Ferg Martin Tournament Al Troyer, Dawson Exley Publicity Max Chic “Gimmicks” Monty Hall, Andy Rouse Putting Tournament & Indoor Activities Max Chic, Ron Taylor, Walter Kennedy Allied Industries Monty Hall, Andy Rouse PAGE NINE of-towners flocked to the major theatres, where the movie bills were unusually attractive for this time of the year. The Kidnappers continues to be the surprise hit vf the year. The British film broke all previous long runs in this city on its tenth week at the Glebe Cinema, is now entering a 12th stanza—and could go even further on the strength of current business. The Capitol Theatre got a great play from regular patrons and their country cousins, the attraction being Danny Kaye in Paramount’s Knock on Wood. Another Paramount hit was The Greatest Show on Earth, which opened on the holiday on the Regent screen for the first time at popular prices. New Faces in CinemaScope attracted large matinee and evening crowds to the Odeon Theatre; The Kidnappers continued its record-breaking run at the Glebe Cinema, the Centre settled for a second week of Johnny Guitar, and the Elgin opened the holiday with a revival of Walt Disney’s Adventures of Pinocchio, this time on the theatre’s wide-screen. Something new in give-aways at movie theatres is a package of cigarettes to every purchaser of two tickets at matinee and evening performances. The Strand Theatre, small owner-operated spot in the South end of the city, is where patrons get their smokes for free. The Ottawa Journal published a spec jal Centennial number to celebrate the Hundredth Year of the capital as a city. Included in many feature stories of pioneer days were The History of the Theatre from 1854 to 1954, the rise and fall of vaudeville, and the story of the moyies from the shivering tintype era to the advent of CinemaScope and stereophonic sound on the wide-screen. Small voice heard at the Odeon Theatre where Warner Brothers’ Them! was scaring the pants off the customers: “Gee! I didn't know ants could get so big and horrible. Just watch me destroy that ant hill in the backyard when 1 get home.” THE KIDNAPPERS Reports on the outstanding success of JARO'’s “THE KIDNAPPERS” continue to pour in. Now in its 12th week in Montreal, the film has been declared “a family picture” to permit children under 16 to view it, despite Quebee’s law to the contrary. The Christie and Hyland in Toronto held over for a twelfth week because of popular demand. Edmonton is also in its eleventh week, In Ottawa, more than a quarter of the city’s population have seen the film, and it is the longest run of any film that city has known . . . and still holding after eleven weeks, The Dunbar Theatre in Vancouver broke all existing house records on Saturday, June 5th, in its fifth week there. Now in its eighth,