Canadian Film Weekly (Jun 3, 1942)

Juno 3rd, 1 942 Canadian FILM WEEKLY Manitoba Exhibs {Vaudeville Up Vol. 8, No. 23 June Srd, 1942 MOSES a Set, pee a ee Sra HYE BOSSIN, Managing Editor i Sat ote es Mere ee Address all communications to—The Managing Editor, Canadian Film Weekly, 21 Dundas Square, Toronto, Canada. Published by Film Publications of Canada, Ltd., 5th Floor, 21 Dundas Square, Toronto, Ont., Canada. Phone ADelaide 4310. Price 5 cents each or $2.00 per year. Now It’s Sunday Shows It looks as if the motion picture industry will be playing another one of those innocent-bystander-gets-clouted roles shortly—this time over the question of Sunday movies in certain parts of Canada. In Vancouver the Labor Council has declared itself for Sunday shows as recreation for shipyard workers, many of whom work six full days per week. Fight Restriction (Continued from Page 1) now reached the point where its members are requesting that their ideas be made law. Last year the committee petitioned legislators for stricter control of moving pictures in Manitoba and this year the Assembly set up a motion picture committee to weigh the matter. C. S. Rice-Jones, chairman of the Manitoba Censor Board, testified before this committee that ex In Canada (Continued from Page 1!) which will be changed weekly. The Gayety, Montreal, which reopened with vaudeville recently, has been doing well with an evcning price scale which ranges from $1 to 22 cents. So far no pictures have been used in conjunction with the acts. In Vancouver one of the leading theatres has been following a policy of movies and a name band on the stage. Dan O’Brien, organizer for the Canadian Congress of WHOL) pOnsiCereG Behan) eens) Most quccesstul of Canadian Labor, recommended that the Council declare itself in favor sorship the strictest in Canada. houses offering live entertainment of the suggestion and the Council did. President E. F. Leary The government shelved thejis the Casino, Toronto, which stated that the organization had’ no desire to offend religious bodies but “if it is in the interests of the health and recreation of the men, we are for it.” Such examples as Seattle, also a shipyard city facing the same problem and helping it with Sunday shows, were pointed out. As soon as news of the Labor Council's position became known spokesmen of the Vancouver Ministerial Association opened an attack on the idea. In no way did the idea get any help from theatre people, yet it is inevitable that they will in some way become a target. That has happened almost in every place where local bodies, with Provincial permits, have used the theatre for Sunday evening war efforts shows. The Labor people mean this. They provide a great bulk of the patronage and are inseparable from the war effort. Some say that they are the war effort. They are the greatest factor in it. They have branches in every city. Theatre men are maintaining a nervous silence. In Australia Here, for your further information, is a report from Australia about the Sunday show situation there. We reprint it without comment: “The Yank expeditionary forces expected only a battle with guns when they arrived here. But they found themselves engaged in a verbal film battle as well. And the Yanks came out on top! “The 300-year-old blue law prohibiting Sunday shows has been relaxed in Sydney and Melbourne following weeks of bitter controversy so that the American soldiers can take in a week-end show. The discussion began when it was found that many men in the armed forces had their ° only day of leave on the Sabbath. The Victorian cabinet voted to allow one stage show and one movie to remain open on Sundays for uniformed men and one companion. “Ain odd note in the controversy was the fact that Major J. E. Kenny, chief U.S. Army chaplain, was one of the leaders in the fight for Sunday performances. “‘T think a soldier should be allowed to take a lady friend to Sunday shows,’ he said. ‘It will promote the efticiency of the troops if they can have the normal life they led in the States. There the movies are open on Sundays with the approval of nearly all religious bodies.’ “Major Lynn Cowan, manager of the U.S. Army special service organization, was another of the leaders in the fight which aroused natidnal furore. He branded the objec aa tors as "wowsers . matter temporarily at the request of exhibitors and _ distributors while they examined the claims from the inside in an endeavour to please the petitioners. But neither the Manitoba Motion Picture Exhibitors Association nor the Winnipeg Film Board of Trade seem to have been able to strike a happy position. The first appeal to the public by theatre and film men has been to offer cards to parents. These, addressed to the special committee of the Legislative Assembly, protest against any suggested change in the present law. A considerable number of the cards hav2 already been signed and forwarded. The Manitoba Censor Board classifies films suitable for family entertainment as “general” and all others as ‘adult.’’ During 1941-42, from May ist, 1941, to April 30th, 1942, the Board checked 2,000 films and rejected only 28. Ten were feature-length and six of these were passed on modification. E. K. Williams, K.C., who acted for the exhibitors before the special committee, offered to show the films described as objectionable before the committee if the petitioners would name them. He asked the “Better Movies Committee” to name the particular pictures which they were protesting; to state which of the present regulations were not being enforced; and what promises made by exhibitors had not been kept. Though the answers to these questions were not satisfactory the “Better Movies Committee,” unopposed actively before the public, made progress. This resulted in the organized opposition now being staged by film and theatre men. Complete Theatre Equipment and Supplies COLEMAN ELECTRIC CO. 258 VICTORIA ST., Toronto, Ont. SS ge _— plays movies and burlesque. This house has been handling crowds for years now. With vaudeville using chorus lines and burlesque offering up to six different acts per show both forms of entertainment are almost the same in many cases. There isn’t a doubt in the world that the Canadian trend is part of the long-heralded comeback of vaudeville. In the USA live variety entertainment is popping up everywhere. Few big cities are without a flesh show or plans for one at the moment. The extensive use of stage acts for camp cntertainment has tickled the forgotten tastes of showgoers for live stuff. It is doubtful, of course, that the public is changing its entertainment tastes. The return of vaudeville is more likely due to the increased demand for entertainment and relaxation of a more varied nature. But movie houses, in many instances, may be forced .to play acts to meet the competi tion of houses playing straight vaudeville or both stage and screen fare. HEATING AND VENTILATING CONTRACTORS AND ENGINEERS INN