Canadian Moving Picture Digest (Oct 9, 1954)

Page scan 0000 from Canadian Moving Picture Digest

Record Details:

Title:
Canadian Moving Picture Digest
Date:
Oct 9, 1954
Volume:
Canadian Moving Picture Digest (Oct 9, 1954)
Leaf #:
0000
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 23, 2024
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JAY L. SMITH EDITOR AND PUBLISHER VOL. 46, NO. 4] CANADIAN MOVING PICTURE FIRST WITH THE FILM NEWS IN CANADA Published by CANADIAN MOVING PICTURE DIGEST COMPANY LIMITED RAY LEWIS / 4 FOUNDER Cee 1915-1954 TORONTO, OCTOBER 9, 1954 Third Indie Merger For Canada Alliance Films Limited Handling Astral Distribution Outside Ont. Third major distribution affiliation to be reported in Canada in the past few weeks, was made known last week-end, with a joint announcement from James L. Smith, president of Alliance Films Limited, By JAY L. SMITH On Tuesday, October 26th, the annual election of Canvassmen for Tent No. 28, Toronto, Variety Clubs International, will be held at the Prince George Hotel. Ten members of the past year’s crew are standing for re-election, and six new nominees are in the running. Members will elect a crew of eleven, from the sixteen men nominated, and this crew in turn will elect the officers from among themselves. Members of the old crew, who are running for re-election include Harry Mandell, Dave Griesdorf, Clare Appel, Dan Krendel, Herb Allen, George Altman, Louis Davidson, Jack Fitzgibbons, Monty Hall, and Ernie Rawley. The six new nominees include Charles Chaplin, “Hum” Heller, Sam Glasier, Paul Johnston, Ed Fitkin and Joe Bermack. The Toronto Tent must raise a minimum of $65,000 per year for the operation of Variety Village and other services which the Club provides. The 1954 crew was handicapped in its fund-raising efforts by the dispute between AGVA and the AFM, $25,000 normally raised through a theatre night, being lost, and this money must be raised by some other means. Every member of the Toronto Tent should make a special effort to attend the election mecting October 26th, for membership in the Club is an obligation as well as a privilege, and it is up to every single member to see that a crew is elected that can handle the big job ahead. At the last graduation dinner of Variety Village, it was revealed that 70 boys have graduated from the School, and are now working, With aggregate earnings of over (Continued on Page 2) Bluebell Renovated Re-opens As “Gay” Fred Fink in partnership with J. Clayman, owner of the Valet Service on Victoria and Dundas Square, Toronto, have acquired the Bluebell theatre from Z. Unger (Continued on Page 6) and I. H. Allen, president of Astral Films, Ltd. The announcement stated that effective October 18th, 1954, Alliance Films Ltd. will take over the distribution of all Astral Films releases everywhere in Canada, with the exception of the Toronto territory, where Astral Films Ltd. will retain their own exchange. The association of Astral Films (Continued on Page 3) Annual Alta. Theatre Assoc. Has Record Turn-out At Meet The eleventh Annual Meeting of the Alberta Theatre Association was held in Edmonton at the MacDonald Hotel on Monday, Sept. 20th. President A. W. Shackleford presided and welcomed the members and expressed his appreciation for the large turnout, which was the largest to date. He also welcomed the operators of the Drive-In Theatres who have recently been invited to join ATA. Mr. Shackleford’s address stressed the fine relation(Continued on Page 2) we MAN Scope Installations In Maritimes Up The following is a list of CinemaScope installations in the Maritimes: Paramount, Saint John; Gaiety, Fredericton; Greens, East Florenceville; Uptown, Newcastle; Ca (Continued on Page 2) Famous Players Sell Fall Film Festival In a report to shareholders of Famous Players Canadian Corp. at the end of September in conjunction with the distribution of the quarterly dividend, President J. J. Fitzgibbons discussed the “Famous Fall Film Festival.” “This is not just another advertising slogan,” he asserted, “for never before in recent history have we been able to offer our patrons (Continued on Page 3) JARO Production On Up-Swing Seven Films Before Cameras Production activity at JARO’s Pinewood and Ealing Studios is nearing an all-time high with seven major pictures currently before the cameras and three others scheduled to start in the near future, it was announced here by the J. Arthur Rank Organization. An additional two recently completed films are awaiting release dates. This increase in both the number and quality of pictures made at Pinewood and Ealing is regarded by the company as tangible evidence of the success of the longrange planning program adopted (Continued on Page 6) B.C. Tax Policy Blasted By Liberal British Columbia financial department officials in Victoria acknowledge they had ordered a crack down on amusement tax colleetions on free tickets issued by the theatre chains, but planned to ex (Continued on Page 2)