Canadian Moving Picture Digest (Jan 5, 1957)

Page scan 0000 from Canadian Moving Picture Digest

Record Details:

Title:
Canadian Moving Picture Digest
Date:
Jan 5, 1957
Volume:
Canadian Moving Picture Digest (Jan 5, 1957)
Leaf #:
0000
Language:
English
Collection:
Global Cinema, Hollywood Studio System, Canada, and Early 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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CANADIAN MOVING PICTURE StS , S FPN) JAY L. SMITH RAY LEWIS EDITOR AND ( 0) N 1 9 1 5 1 9 5 7 FOUNDER PUBLISHER 1915-1954 FIRST WITH THE FILM NEWS IN CANADA VOL. 49, NO. 1 Published by CANADIAN MOVING PICTURE DIGEST COMPANY LIMITED JANUARY 5, 1957 Star Weekly's $1.000 Cash Offer Movie Popularity Contest Seen As Potent Box-Office Booster Toronto: The Toronto Star Weekly, with a circulation of 960,000, is currently engaged in a Movie Popularity Poll to ascertain what were Canada’s three favorite motion pictures of 1956, as well as the nation’s By JAY L. SMITH beam The Film Daily of New York, one of the top motion picture trade paper of the U.S., comes out with an annual poll every year at this time. The results of the poll, which are known as FILMDOM’S FAMOUS FIVES, list the top five in ten different categories, Male Stars, Female Stars, Supporting Actors, Supporting Actresses, Juvenile Actors, Juvenile Actresses, Directors, Photography, Screenplays, and “Finds of the Year”. Voting in the poll were the press critics, reviewers, and film commentators throughout the U.S. and Canada. The results of the 1956 poll are as follows: Best Performances by STARS: YUL BRYNNER (“The King and 1’—20th-Fox) FRANK SINATRA (“The Man with the Golden Arm”—UA) KIRK DOUGLAS (“Lust For Life’ —-MGM) CHARLTON HESTON (“The Ten Commandments”—Para.) PAUL NEWMAN (“Somebody Up There Likes Me”>—MGM) Best Performances by FEMALE STARS: ANNA MAGNANI (“The _ Rose Tattoo”—Para.) SUSAN HAYWARD (‘Tll Cry Tomorrow’—MGM) DEBORAH KERR Sympathy’—MGM) AUDREY HEPBURN (“War and Peace’—Para.) DEBORAH KERR (“The King and I’—20th-Fox) Best Performances PORTING ACTORS ANTHONY PERKINS (“Friendly Persuasion”—A A) OSCAR HOMOLKA (“War and Peace’’—Para.) MALE and (“Tea by SUP (Continued on Page 4) Joe Rosenfeld, Q.C. Toronto: Joseph Rosenfeld, wellknown Toronto lawyer, a brother of Louis Rosenfeld of Columbia Pictures, and a partner in the various Rosenfeld-Allen enterprises, was created a Queen’s Counsel, in the New Year’s Honor Lists. This is the second honor in recent weeks for Joe, as his son just recently won a coveted Rhodes Scholarship. three favorite actors and actresses. A cash prize of $1,000 is being offered by the Star Weekly to the reader whose guess is the closest to the final poll tabulation, and additional prizes of 200 double season’s passes to the winners’ favorite theatres are also _ being offered. This contest is in advance of, and in addition to the 1957 Oscar (See STAR CONTEST Page 4) COMPO Opens New Campaign To Abolish U.S. Admissions Tax New York: As the opening gun of a new tax campaign COMPO asked Congress Friday for complete repeal of the 10 per cent Federal admission tax. The request was made in a statement filed with a sub-committee on excise taxes of the House Ways and Means Committee by Robert W. Coyne, special counsel of the Council of Motion Picture Organizations. The statement said that the current 10 per cent admission tax applies to 1,363 theatres. “Located for the most part in (See COMPO CAMPAIGN Page 5) F-P Re-Open Two B.C. Theatres Vancouver: Famous Players Canadian Corporation, which recently closed the Alma Theatre, Vancouver, after an unsuccessful attempt to keep it going, have now re-opened the 850-seat Paramount, New Westminster, which has been dark for over a year. Ted Bielby, former manager of the Alma, is in charge of the New Westminster house. Also re-opened is the Capitol, Rossland, which had been dark for some time. Alex Barclay, who (See FAMOUS PLAYERS Page 6) Van. Exchange Help Ask 15% Increase Vancouver: Contracts covering film exchange employees in Vancouver expire February Ist, 1957. The union has presented proposals to the distributors asking for the following: 15 per cent increase to all employees; 35-hour 5-day week; (See VAN. EXCHANGES Page 5) a Canadian Star Joins “Stage Struck” Cast Hollywood: Continuing to build one of the season’s most interesting casts for “Stage Struck,” William Dozier, RKO’s Vice-President in Charge of Production, last week announced the signing of Canadian actor, Christopher Plummer to make his screen debut in one of the stellar roles in this high-budget production, which co-stars Henry Fonda, Susan Strasberg and Joan Greenwood, brilliant young star of the London and Broadway stage (See CANADIAN STAR Page 4) Toronto WOMPI Group Projects Make Merry Christmas For Many Toronto: In the setting of the Christmas decorated auditorium at the Ontario Hospital, Queen Street, Toronto, the Toronto branch of WOMEN OF THE MOTION PICTURE INDUSTRY, on behalf of the motion picture industry, entertained at a party for 100 patients on Tuesday evening, December 18th. Len Bishop of Shea’s Theatre was Master of Ceremonies, and the entertainment featured Dawn Parker, soprano, United Appeal (See WOMPI’S Page 5) New UA Appointment New York: Al Fisher has been appointed assistant exploitation manager of United Artists, it was announced recently by Roger H. Lewis, National Director of advertising, publicity and exploitation. (See UA APPOINTMENT Page 6)