Canadian Moving Picture Digest (Oct 16, 1954)

Record Details:

Title:
Canadian Moving Picture Digest
Date:
Oct 16, 1954
Volume:
Canadian Moving Picture Digest (Oct 16, 1954)
Leaf #:
0000
Language:
English
Subjects:
Motion Pictures, Film Industry Trade Magazine",Canad
Collection:
Early Cinema, Canada, Hollywood Studio System, 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
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.

JAY L. SMITH = EDITOR AND PUBLISHER VOL. 46, NO. 42 CANADIAN MOVING PICTURE Published by CANADIAN MOVING PICTURE DIGEST COMPANY LIMITED 15-1954 — RAY LEWIS FOUNDER 1915-1954 TORONTO, OCTOBER 16, 1954 Manitoba Exhibitors Protest Tax Plan Rally and March Nov. 1 To Eliminate Amusement Tax The Manitoba Motion Picture Exhibitors Association’s Amusement Tax Committee have called on all Manitoba Exhibitors to attend an Amusement Tax Rally and March to the Legislative Buildings on On Thursday evening, October 7th, the Avenue Theatre, Toronto, embarked on a new policy of selected first-run productions from the studios of the world. As the first theatre operated by Famous Players Canadian Corporation to be converted into an Art Theatre, it was appropriate that the first film to be presented on the Avenue screen under this new policy, should be an all-Canadian production. The picture chosen was “Tit Coq”, produced and directed by the brilliant young French-Canadian, Gratien Gelinas, better known to thousands in the province of Quebec, as ‘Fridolin’, who also starred in the production. Presented under the auspices of the Canadian Film Institute, and under the distinguished patronage of the Lieutenant-Governors of Ontario and Quebec, the Avenue premiere of “Tit Coq” was a brilliant affair, with close to 500 prominent figures in Canadian business, social and cultural life in attendance. The premiere was given national coverage by the Canadian Press, and over the national network of the CBC, as well as being televised over the CBC Television Network. The Avenue engagement is the first for the French-Canadian film outside the province of Quebec, and is only the first of a number of engagements planned for the picture over the Famous Players circuit. The film was financed entirely by Canadians, and cost approximately $87,000 to produce. Whether the picture will show a monetary profit to its producers depends entirely upon its moviegoers across the Dominion, and in the foreign markets. But even if it does not make its backers (Continued on Page 2) reception by Famous Building In Red Deer Famous Players will build a 1,000-seat theatre in Red Deer, Alta., with construction to get under way this fall. The modern house will have a frontage of 90 (Continued on Page 2) November 1. Ben Sommers, in announcing the Rally and March, said: “There are many small exhibitors here who are on the verge of bankruptcy, due to the local recession caused by crop conditions, as well as TV in greater Winnipeg and southern Manitoba (American telecasts) — their only salvation is possibly to (Continued on Page 6) Columbia Profits Sky-Rocket From $2,149,000 To $8,381,000 Harry Cohn, President of Columbia Pictures Corp., last week issued the formal report to shareholders on the company’s operations for the 52 weeks ended June 26th, 1954. Net profits before taxes for the period covered, totalled $8,381,000, compared with $2,149,000 for the previous year. After taxes, net profits for the 52-week period came to $3,595,000 in comparison with $942,000 the year before. Earnings per share of common stock (Continued on Page 3) Keep your “<a) x on \ the f 1A : JACK LABOW (See Pege 3) Gottlieb Sets Coplan As Managing Director David Coplan, formerly United Artists Managing Director and Odeon board member in the United Kingdom, and one-time Canadian general manager for United Artists, has joined Canadian Film Indus (Continued on Page 3) Shopping Centre Theatre Opens The Golden Mile Theatre officially opened on Thursday, Oct. 14th at 7 p.m. Located in the Golden Mile Plaza, at Eglinton Ave. East, and Victoria Park Ave., Toronto, the theatre will be operated by Principal Investments Limited, owners ot the Golden Mile Plaza. The 1,000-seat Golden Mile Theatre is Canada’s newest and (Continued on Page 9) Canadian Admissions Drop— Receipts Up $2,038,012 In 53 According to figures released recently by the Dominion Bureau of Statistics, admissions to 1906 regular standard theatres in Canada during 1953 totalled 241,182,726, compared to 247,732,717 admissions to 1843 regular standard theatres in 1952. Thus, despite an increase of 63 theatres in 1953, attendance dropped off over six and one-half millions. The drop in attendance was confined to three provinces—Ontario, where admissions were down 6,540,749; Quebec, where they were down 3,145,235; and Newfoundland, where there was a de(Continued on Page 2) Maritime Exhibitors Meet In Saint John Theatre men from all over the Maritimes gathered in Saint John on Wednesday of last week for the annual meeting of the Pioneers und Allied Exhibitors; also to attend the VistaVision demonstration (Continued on Page 2)