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JAY L. SMITH EDITOR AND PUBLISHER
VOL. 46, NO. 40
N MOVING PICTURE
PUBLICATION 1915-1954
Published by CANADIAN MOVING PICTURE DIGEST COMPANY LIMITED THE FIRST WITH THE FILM NEWS IN CANADA
RAY LEWIS FOUNDER 1915-1954
TORONTO, OCTOBER 2, 19754
230 Million Canucks Pay To See Pix
Newspapers Ignore Film Biz Interest—Amusement Rates Up
Over 250 million Canadians pay their way into Canadian theatres, every year, but despite this Canadian newspapers, in the main have seen fit to scramble up their amusement page, lumping theatre ads with
One of the most amazing developments in the Film Industry in Canada in recent years has been the change of attitude of distributors, exhibitors and public alike towards so-called Art pictures. I can well recall a few years back, when Ray Lewis was pioneering in the development of this type of pictures, handling through Alliance Films the distribution of the Italian operas, such as “The Barber of Seville’ and “Rigoletto”, and the DeSica opus, “Shoe Shine”, there were only two outlets for these “different” pictures in Toronto, the Royal Alexandra Theatre, and Eaton’s Auditorium. Both were very expensive propositions, where the distributor had to rent the theatre, underwrite an extensive newspaper advertising campaign, and hope and pray we would at least break even, or maybe make a few dollars profit.
Now look at the same situation today. At the Towne Cinema, “The Green Scarf” (Brit.) is in its 3rd week; at the International Cinema, “An Inspector Calls” (Brit.) is in its 4th week; at the Hollywood, Toronto, “Companions in the Night” (French) is in its 3rd week; at the Circle, Metro and Esquire is the Italian operatic double-bill of “Cavalleria Rusticana” and “La Traviata”; at the Studio, a Polish picture, “The Life of Chopin”; at the Pylon, an all-Italian program; at the Major, St. Clair, an all-Italian program; at the Melody Theatre, a German program.
Nor does this take into consideration Odeon’s Hyland and Christie Theatres where the British film, “Doctor in the House” is in its 4th record-breaking week, and at the same company’s Danforth and Humber Theatres, “The Kidnapp
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Odeon Ontario Mgrs. Meet In Toronto
Theatre managers who presented subject features at the Canadian Odeon regional conference at the Royal York Hotel, following the gala showmanship prize-presenta
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everything under the sun, and giving front page and wide coverage only to the more sensational phases of the news of our industry. Charging in most cases higher rates for theatres, the papers provide page after page of women’s, sports, Radio and TV news. The recommendation of the committee headed by N. A. Taylor for a Can(Continued on Page 6)
Famous Players Executives Meet With Western Partners
The president of Famous Players and a group of his executives recently completed a trip across western Canada holding meetings in Winnipeg, Regina, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver.
The party from Toronto included J. J. Fitzgibbons, R. W. Bolstad, Bob Eves, Western division manager, Ben Géeldsaler, chief film booker; J. J. Fitzgibbons, Jr. president of Theatre Confections Ltd.; George Cuthbert, manager of General Theatre Supply Co. and James R. Nairn, director of adver
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Keep your’-<2) >» on
COMMUNITY CHEST DRIVE OCTOBER 4
White Christmas For Maritime Confab
General Manager Gordon Lightstone of Canadian Paramount has arranged for a special screening of “White Christmas” in VistaVision in connection with the annual meeting of the Maritime Exhibi
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Sask. Exhibitors Hold Meeting
Strong objection to movie distributors releasing motion pictures at advanced prices was voiced by the Saskatchewan Motion Picture Exhibitors’ Association at its an
nual meeting in the Hotel Saskatchewan, Regina, Sept. 12.
These “so-called” road shows were selected at the producer level and sold only on condition that
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Taylor Reports To CMPIC On Motion Picture Institute
The Fourth Annual Meeting of the Canadian Motion Picture Industry Council of Canada, last November appointed a committee for the purpose of studying the suggestion of a Canadian Motion Picture
Institute. The Council appointed N. A. Taylor, chairman and with his committee of Morris Stein, David Griesdorf, William Lester and Gordon Lightstone unanimously recommended the items listed below for consideration at the MPIC Convention, which takes place November 22-24. The report was read by Gordon Lightstone at a (Continued on Page 6)
WISP
Quebec Pioneers Golf Tournament
The Quebee Division of the Canadian Picture Pioneers held their first Annual Golf Tournament and Dinner at the Lakeshore Golf and Country Club, Lachine, — last Thursday, and in spite of poor
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