Canadian Moving Picture Digest (Dec 18, 1954)

Page scan 0000 from Canadian Moving Picture Digest

Record Details:

Title:
Canadian Moving Picture Digest
Date:
Dec 18, 1954
Volume:
Canadian Moving Picture Digest (Dec 18, 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:
June 13, 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. 51 FIRST WITH THE FILM NEWS IN CANADA Published by CANADIAN MOVING PICTURE DIGEST COMPANY LIMITED RAY LEWIS FOUNDER 1915-1954 TORONTO, DECEMBER 18, 1954 U-— Feldman Drive Jan. 3-April 30 ‘‘Tremendous Strength For U-I In 1955-My Job Easy” States Plottel The U-I Sales Conference in Hollywood last week, with A. W. Perry, President of Empire-Universal Films and Mark Plottel, General Sales Manager participating, resulted in the following glowing report By JAY L. SMITH On Wednesday of last week, the writer had the privilege and pleasure of representing The Digest at the first annual Associated Screen News Workshop, held at the ASN Studios in Montreal. I was asked by Jack Chisholm, ASN General Sales Manager, to say a few words on the value of the Trade Press in the Canadian Motion Picture Industry, and was happy to have the opportunity to present The Digest’s ideas on this subject. Tracing the history of The Digest from its founding in 1915, I mentioned the battles of The Digest in the past on behalf of the independent exhibitors, on behalf of the distributors, and on behalf of the Industry as a whole against any and all forces conspiring against it. I mentioned the Digest Showmanship Contest, which is still going strong after 17 years. I mentioned the Canadian Motion Picture War Services Committee, which The Digest helped organize, and which under the chairmanship of John J. Fitzgibbons, brought such credit to the Industry throughout the war years. I pointed out that the late Digest Editor and Publisher helped to organize the Canadian Picture Pioneers, and served one term as president of that organization as well as holding several other offices during a period of years. I mentioned the Variety Club, and the support given to that organization by The Digest. I brought up The Digest’s leading role in the organization of the WOMPI’s (Women of the Motion Picture Industry), and our part in the Toronto Evening Telegram’s revamping of its amusement section, and our battle against increased newspaper advertising rates. As another example of Service, I (Continued on Page 2) 18 TV Stations Now In Canada Operating expenditures tor Canada’s__ publicly-owned _ television system, including the provision of a basic national program service to affiliated private stations, were (Continued on Page 2) via Canadian National Telegraph from Mark Plottel to the Digest. “I have attended a lot of sales meetings where statements always inspire, but at this meeting saw evidence that speaks louder than words. Screened ‘Man Without a Star’ starring Kirk Douglas, Jean Evans, Clare Trevor, and you can quote me as saying that this will (Continued on Page 3) U.S. Mags Overflow Into Canada Read By Over 54 Million Canucks What impact do U.S. magazines have in Canada, and more particularly how many Canadians are reached by the constant film advertising appearing in their pages has been answered by a special article in Market ing, December 3. Saturday Evening Post has outstripped other U.S. magazines. In the last three years it has added 83,000 to its circulation in Canada. It moved from third to first place among the big three U.S. mags in Canada (Ladies Home (Continued on Page 4) Keep your™-<2) on 90th Birthday For Maritime Manager Mr. S. D. Herman, that grand old man from Lunenburg, Nova Scotia this week celebrated his ninetieth birthday. ‘Captain Sam’ as he is affectionately known to young and old has the distinction (Continued on Page 3) Variety Village Goes Dramatic For Xmas Scrooge is holding the spot-light at busy Variety Village, where the stage is the current rage. Although the village’s two dozen handicapped inhabitants are still interested in photography, swimming, music, horticulture and other activities, rehearsal for Charles Dickens’ Christmas Carol is the big item. The boys presented the play (Continued on Page 2) Manitoba Motion Picture Pioneers Hold 11th Annual Meet In Wpg. The Manitoba Branch of the Motion Picture Pioneers held their 11th annual meeting at the St. Charles Hotel on Monday December 6th, 1954. The following were elected to the Executive for the year 1955: Past President, H. Hurwitz; President, J. Biggerstaff; VicePresident, H. Swartz; Sec. Treasurer, B. Hurwitz; Social Chairman, S. Swartz; Membership, C. Krupp; Publicity, G. B. Dowbiggin. Board Members: J. Ferguson; J. H. Huber; S. Gunn; A. Fein(Continued on Page 2) New French Paper Starts In Toronto There’s a new publication for French-speaking citizens of Toronto. Called L’alliance, the French language publication has a minimum print run of 2,000. It costs $1 a year for 12 monthly issues and is (Continued on Page 2)