Canadian Moving Picture Digest (Dec 31, 1955)

Page scan 0009 from Canadian Moving Picture Digest

Record Details:

Title:
Canadian Moving Picture Digest
Date:
Dec 31, 1955
Volume:
Canadian Moving Picture Digest (Dec 31, 1955)
Leaf #:
0009
Language:
English
Collection:
Canada, Hollywood Studio System, Early Cinema, and Global Cinema
Format:
periodicals
Contributor:
Media History Digital Library, Greig Dymond in memory of David Dymond, 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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| : PAGE TEN { ; be Hi 1 ' ie a MORT MARGOLIUS EDDIE NEWMAN BOB KNEVELS Mayor of Hearst Hearst: In addition to Alderman Don Summerville and Reeve Charles Cashman in the Toronto Metropolitan area, a_ successful candidate in this year’s municipal elections in Ontario centres was Napoleon Boucher, proprietor of the Royal Theatre, who was the choice for mayor of Hearst. He ousted the present mayor, Albert Mongeon. = +7 ay dian wars METER EUGENE FITZGIBBONS “ DIGEST RAY TUBMAN THEY BLITZED FOR FITZ Top Winners in Famous Players’ “PROFIT BLITZ FOR FITZ” a PAUL VALLIERS Foto-Nite Winner Toronto: Jean Coulson cashed in on the weekly Foto-Nite stunt at 20 neighborhood theatres in Greater Toronto, in which the award had steadily mounted to a handsome $7,900 which represented an increment of $4,400, the original offer being $3,500 some weeks previously. Mrs. Jean Coulson qualified at Curley Posen’s Kent Theatre, ED LAMOUREUX Sold To Bldg. Co. London: The Skyway Drive-In Theatre at London, Ont., has been sold, it was reported at London, to Principal Investments Limited by Famous Players Canadian Corp. for an undisclosed price, the 25acre property to form part of the site of a huge suburban shopping centre on which construction is scheduled to start in the spring. No further information was available. DECEMBER 31, 1955 HERB. BLACK CLARENCE MARSHALL HARRY WILSON Odeon, Peterborough Peterborough: The Odeon Theatre at Peterborough staged a celebration in observance of its eighth anniversary with a number of special features. A large birthday cake, donated by F. W. Woolworth & Company, was on display and patrons were invited to guess its weight. The winner pass. received a_ year’s 4