Canadian Moving Picture Digest (Sep 4, 1954)

Page scan 0000 from Canadian Moving Picture Digest

Record Details:

Title:
Canadian Moving Picture Digest
Date:
Sep 4, 1954
Volume:
Canadian Moving Picture Digest (Sep 4, 1954)
Leaf #:
0000
Language:
English
Subjects:
Motion Pictures, Film Industry Trade Magazine",Canad
Collection:
Hollywood Studio System, Global Cinema, Early Cinema, and Canada
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:
June 13, 2024
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a es seen A es ee eo JAY L. SMITH EDITOR AND PUBLISHER VOL. 46, NO. 36 CANADIAN MOVING PICTURE © Published by CANADIAN MOVING PICTURE DIGEST COMPANY LIMITED 21 DUNDAS SQUARE, TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA RAY LEWIS FOUNDER 1915-1954 SEPTEMBER 4, 1954 H.0.°s Shatter Labor Day Tradition Top Grosses Force Hold-Overs Into Holiday In Many Key Spots : Tradition is going by the boards in many situations across Canada this Labor Day, as hold-overs of top-grossing pictures are running into the holiday, a completely new departure for Show Business in the The Perspecta Sound Demonstration at Loew’s Uptown Theatre last Thursday, attracted a large number of exhibitors and distributors. Up from New York to supervise the demonstration were C. J. Bachman of the Fairchild Recording Co., manufacturers of the Perspecta equipment, and A. Mian, engineer with Perspecta Corp. They revealed that all MGM films will be available in Perspecta Sound, that all Paramount’s VistaVision productions, starting with “White Christmas”, will be released with Perspecta Sound, and that all the JARO VistaVision productions will also use the Perspecta Sound system. In addition, a number of Warner Bros. productions will be available in Perspecta, and it was also announced that Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s U.A. release, “The Barefoot Contessa”, starring Ava Gardner, will be released with Perspecta Sound. First production to be re leased in Canada with Perspecta’ Sound, is MGM’s re-release of “GWTW”. a * * Our personal salute to Messrs. Adolph Zukor, Barney Balaban and Arthur Schwalberg and the entire Paramount organization, with a special word of greeting to Gordon Lightstone and the Canadian Paramount crew, on _ the ‘occasion of that company’s 40th Anniversary. Paramount selected ‘“A Salute to the Future” as their eslogan for the company’s 40th »Anniversary Drive, and a glance gat the imposing list of productions ccurrently in release, plus those completed and ready for release, jindicates the reason for the emphais on the “Future”. However, (Continued on Page 4) CNE Record Crowd On Warrior’s Day At press time, the 76-year-old Canadian National Exhibition had set new records for attendance, three days in a row, and attracted the largest single-day crowd in its (Continued on Page 4) Dominion. Labor Day, last holiday of the summer, or first of the fall, has always been the date of the opening gun for the heavy artillery from all exchanges, the start of the traditional Fall Festival of Hits. This year, however, the picture is different; so many companies have been releasing so many top-grossers in mid-summer, with conse(Continued on Page 20) Rosen Announces Allied Artists Canadian Sales Organization Following the recent trade paper announcements concerning Allied Artists Pictures of Canada Limited, Douglas V. Rosen, AA’s Canadian general manager, issued this statement: “With the formation of Allied Artists Pictures of Canada Ltd., and at a time when the parent company has moved into full swing with a top product line-up of stellar attractions such as “The Human (Continued on Page 2) JEWEL OF BENGAL Fox reports that James Stewart and Jane Russell will be co-starred in “Jewel of Bengal.” Keep your-<2) (on Fisher Appointed Odeon Director Leonard W. Brockington, C.M.G., Q.C., President of Odeon Theatres (Canada) Ltd. and Odeon Theatres Ltd., announces the appointment of Frank H. Fisher as a director of both these companies. (Continued on Page 4) Dominion Sound Active In West The Lyric, a new theatre in Outlook, Sask., owned and operated by Mr. A. C. Barteluk, opened recently with Century Projectors and Sound System supplied and installed by Dominion Sound Equipments Ltd. Rothstein Theatres Ltd., of Winnipeg are proud of the fact that (Continued on Page 20) Perspecta Sound Demo. Features C’Scope and 2-D The first trade demonstration in Canada of Perspecta Sound was held last week at the Loew’s Uptown, Toronto. Opinion amongst the many exhibitors present guaranteed that Perspecta Sound would become a permanent fixture in many Canadian theatres. First introduced into Canada with MGM’s release of “Gone With The Wind” at the Loew's, Toronto, Perspecta Sound was provided with an additional spurt here, as a result of the demonstration. The reel shown, presented scenes from MGM's Julius Caesar”, (Continued on Page 22) COPLAN JOINS GOTTLIEB A deal has been consummated between Arthur Gottlieb, President of Canadian Film Industries Co. Ltd., and Dave Coplan, naming Mr. Coplan, Managing Director of Canadian Film Industries Co. Ltd.