Canadian Film Weekly (Dec 16, 1942)

Page scan 0003 from Canadian Film Weekly

Record Details:

Title:
Canadian Film Weekly
Date:
Dec 16, 1942
Volume:
Canadian Film Weekly (Dec 16, 1942)
Leaf #:
0003
Language:
English
Subjects:
Motion Pictures, Film Industry Trade Magazine",Canad
Collection:
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 Film Weekly

  • Editor: Hye Bossin (1942-64)
  • Renamed Canadian Film & TV Bi-Weekly (1965-69, editor: Stan Helleur)
  • Renamed Candian Film Weekly(1970, editor: Ed Hocura)

Canadian Film Weekly (1942-70) was edited by Hye Bossin and published by Film Publications of Canada, Ltd., wholly owned by leading exhibitor, Nat Taylor. In the late 1930s, Taylor was head of the Independent Theatre Association and his Toronto-based chain, Twinex-Century (Twentieth Century), was the largest independent circuit in the country. In 1941, however, he negotiated for chain affiliation with upstart Canadian Odeon before leveraging a better deal and greater booking control with nationally-dominant Famous Players Canada, Ltd. No longer independent, he took ownership of the Independent Theatre Association’s semi-monthly magazine, The Canadian Motion Picture Exhibitor (1940-41), installed Hye Bossin as editor, and laid plans to relaunch in January 1942 under a new name, Canadian Film Weekly. This enduring key publication was no longer solely focused on independent exhibitors but instead covered the entire industry on a national scale–exhibition, distribution and production–with some attention given to studio news from New York and Hollywood.

Bossin was a vibrant writer with a canny way with words, admired in the industry in the United States as well as Canada. He was one of a large family who lived above their father’s secondhand shop in the Jewish “ward” downtown in Toronto. His older brother was a bookie with ties to the underground; his younger brother was a famous journalist, protégé of Walter Winchell, and Hollywood screenwriter. In contrast, Hye spent nearly two decades learning the publishing trade in a printers’ shop before trying a stint as a Hollywood publicist, then writing a column for the Toronto Star Weekly before taking Taylor’s offer to edit the Film Weekly. Bossin was central to the creation of the Canadian Film Archive, the Canadian Film Awards, and he wrote some of the first histories of early cinema in Canada, published in the first volumes of the annual Canadian Film Weekly Year Book (1951-70).

In 1957, the Film Weekly had incorporated the rival Canadian Moving Picture Digest (1917-57), and began dating its start to that paper’s earlier start as the Canadian Universal Bulletin (1915-18). Subsequent variants of the Canadian Film Weekly and its yearbooks always claimed their roots all the way back to 1915 and the origins of the film industry trade press in Canada. After Bossin died in 1964, the Weekly’s new editor, Stan Helleur, renamed the magazine Canadian Film & TV Bi-Weekly, scaling back the pace of publishing but adding a purview for television and broadcasting. The annual was renamed similarly, its subtitle amended to “Year Book of the Canadian Entertainment Industry.” An attempted renewal to weekly format in 1970, edited by Ed Hocura, was short-lived and Nat Taylor decided instead to relaunch under an entirely new title, Canadian Film Digest (1971-77) and Canadian Film Digest Yearbook (1971-86).

– Paul Moore, March 2024

Further Reading

  • Bossin, Hye. “Canada and the Film: The Story of the Canadian Motion Picture Industry.” In Canadian Film Weekly Year Book of the Canadian Motion Picture Industry, 21-41. Toronto: Film Publications of Canada, 1951.
  • Moore, Paul. “Chronicling a National History: Hye Bossin’s Canadian Film Weekly and Year Book.” In Eric Hoyt and Kelley Conway, eds., Global Movie Magazines. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2024.

Date Added:
August 08, 2024
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= : Canadian F YANKEE DOODLE DANDY (Vitagraph) This story of the life of the late George M. Cohan, singer of the American spirit, will no doubt be ranked as the finest film musical yet. Without the supposed benefit of Technicolor and ignoring inflated production numbers, it manages to create a spirit of cheer, patriotism and enjoyment as yet unparalleled by any offering of a similar nature to date. It has come the closest yet to duplicating one thing the stage seems to have—the intimate bond between live persons on both sides of the footlights. Until this one came along, musical screen pictures seemed farther from the heart of the public than dramas, But “Yankee Doodle Dandy” is so downright friendly and human that you sometimes want to let go a few encouraging shouts at the characters on the screen. “Yankee Doodle Dandy” is as American as the Stars and Stripes but that shouldn’t affect Canadian consumption one bit. j From a standpoint of pure and convincing entertainment it will be hard to match for a long time into the future. ‘ George M. Cohan, played by Jimmy Cagney, is shown in the opening and closing scenes getting a Congressional Medal from the President. The story is told in flashback of the struggles of the Four Cohans in vaudeville and of George’s emergence as an American tradition. All the heart-warming songs he ever wrote are offered in splendid style. Cagney is wonderful as Cohan and Walter Huston, as his father, is superb. Others who make it memorable are Joan Leslie, as Cohan’s sweetheart; Richard Whorf as his partner; Capt. Jack Young, a Canadian, as President Roosevelt; Irene Manning, George Tobias, Rosemary DeCamp, Jean Cagney, Frances Langford, George Barbier, S. Z. Sakall and Walter Catlett. THE UNDYING MONSTER (20th Century-Fox) Though loaded with hokum, this horror offering is a valuable contribution to that ample market. Photography and direction make it eye-catching, suspenseful and chilling all the way. It’s the story of a psychopathic murderer who inherited the urge and his identity provides the mystery. Hard to guess, too. A big cast is headed by James Ellison, Heather Angel, John Howard and Bramwell Fletcher. THE MUMMY’S TOMB (Universal) A prize package of thrills and chills. It contains a mummy brought to life in a small American town by a magic compouna. The disturbed Egyptian starts out to get even with his disturbers of a 3,000-year-long sleep. Kills a few before being put back to sleep. Lon Chaney is the mummy. Dick Foran, John Hubbard, Elyse Knox, George Zucco, Wallace Ford and others surround him with the necessary awe. BOSTON BLACKIE GOES HOLLYWOOD -(Columbia) Detective Chester Morris, running down a stolen diamond, gets into trouble with the police and blackmailers. The Hollywood angle arises from the fact that the fellow Blackie is helping out, Lloyd Corrigan, works there. George E. Stone, Richard Lane, Forrest Tucker, William Wright, John Tyrell, Walter Sande and Constance Worth are all tangled up in it. ILM WEEKLY THE BLACK SWAN (20th Century-Fox) There’s nothing as stirring and as beautiful as the sight of old sailing ships against the sea and sky. Technicolor makes them even more so. Fill them with pirates such as Laird Cregar, George Sanders and Thomas Mitchell and you have as lusty and gusty a swashbuccaneering background as the screen can present. Of course, there’s Tyrone Power out-bolding the boldest of the bad boys. The fact that he isn’t quite the man you’d bet your money on in that league doesn’t matter much. There’s Maureen O’Hara, who is definitely worth crossing swords for—in Technicolor anyway. There’s the red flash of ship’s cannon, raids on towns in which the womenfolk are dragged off, and lavish costuming. All in all, it has a good cargo of action and photography that is occasionally glorious. It’s the story of Captain Henry Morgan, played by Laird Cregar, who made his peace with the king and is plotted against by the deposed old guard. The daughter of the Governor of Jamaica, Maureen O’Hara, is a contrary wench who can’t see Power’s protestations of love, since his boss, Cregar, supplanted her father. After much trickery between Power and the bad pirates preying on the colony, she sees his good points. It’s all rip-roaring fun in fancy costume. GUERILLA BRIGADE (Esquire) Another exciting story of Russian civilian activities behind the German lines. The fact that it deals with the last war affects its timeliness little, the people and the enemy being the same. It’s the story of Chubenko, leader of civilian resistance against the Huns in the Ukraine. Aided by traitors the Germans succeed in making their way until united action of several guerilla bands drives-them out. It is excellently acted, as all Russian films are, and the photography and story development are unusually good. It’s an important contribution to the story of Russian resistance. LAUGH YOUR BLUES AWAY A laughable musical offering of a minor nature but very enjoyable. It’s the story of a society-conscious mother who wants her son, Douglass Drake, to marry a rich girl as an alternative to going to work. She hires some actors to pretend to be society people for the benefit of her rich quarry. Among the theatrical phonies are Bert Gordon, The Mad Russian, and Jinx Falkenburg. You take it from there. That’s where the fun begins. It’s good filler. BABY FACE MORGAN (PRC) Mobster comedy about a couple of innocents stooging for a mob of truck protection guys who do the victims much good and eventually ruin the gang. Richard Cromwell is the dupe who dupes the gangsters by using their insurance office front to pay back their victims. Mary Carlisle, Chick Chandler, Robert Armstrong, Warren Hymer, Charles Judels and Vince Barnett are among the popular players who make it a top-notch minor comedy. Covering Canada's Film Front VOICE ef the CANADIAN MOTION PICTURE INOUSTAY December 16th, 1942