Canadian Film Weekly (Jan 13, 1943)

January 13th, 1943 United Nations Week in USA The week of January 14th will be a great one in American theatres. The War Activities Committee of the motion picture industry is sponsoring a United Nations week and theatres will be gala places during that period. The history and aims of each of our Allies will be the subject of screen, stage and lobby presentations in 16,000 American houses. The War Activities Committee headquarters is receiving promises of co-operation from every possible kind of organization. Mayors, governors and all public officials have promised to issue proclamations, and chambers of commerce, scout and _ patriotic bodies, publishers, teachers and merchants are pitching in behind n: “One for all—and all great cause!” There will be many extra attractions in movie theatres and stage houses will present musical numbers, tableaux, pageants, folk songs, dances and so on. Flags, banners and pennants will decorate the outside of theatres and the public will be made extremely conscious of the peoples of the United Nations and what they are doing to help win the war. Keeping alive the good-will among the partners in the war is a great and worthy undertaking. Theatres are again demonstrating that no task is too huge for them if it helps further the cause. Theatres Shush 12:05 Patrons on Way Home Theatres in~small towns, conscious of the possibility of attack on midnight shows from the usual quarters, are asking the owl showgoers to take it easy on the way home. Several houses are displaying signs reading: “Do you want your movies rationed? The police and management have received a large number of complaints from war workers and others on being disturbed in the small hours of the morning by unthinking patrons of this theatre, making such unnecessary noises as blowing horns, singing and talking loudly. Please go home quietly! Unless this condition can be stopped we shall be forced to have our midnight shows discontinued.” B & F Settles Deal With PRC Paul Maynard of Producers Releasing Corporation just closed’a deal with B & F whereby the company’s product goes into 14 of the chain’s 20 houses. This is a marked gain in bookings for PRC over that of the previous year with B & F, Canadian FILM WEEKLY . : [eco Sibel i in ‘i _with Hye Bossin It Yielded a Laugh The dispute between Mitchell Hepburn and John Grierson, over inaccuracies in the commentary of “Inside Fighting Canada,” when it was all added up, seemed much like setting off the air raid sirens at the sight of hornets. The final round was fought between one of Mr. Hepburn’s seconds, the Toronto Globe and Mail, and the Film Commissioner. For me the best part of this round was the by-play over accuracy. In his letter Mr. Grierson wrote: “An errorless newspaper is a newsless newspaper, and I have never known the film that was not born with a couple of birthmarks. One newspaper, the old New York World, which was very proud of its scrupulous accuracy, ran a competition as to who could find the greatest number of errors in one particular edition. A friend of mine won hands down with 797. (Well, at any rate, it was hundreds.) To the great confusion of the New York World. “One day, when the war is over, I shall return The Globe and Mail’s very great compliment to the National Film Board. I shall go through it with a fine-tooth comb.” To which the Globe and Mail replied: “Far be it from us to prevent Mr. Grierson taking on the job, after the war, of using a fine-tooth comb on this newspaper. But he will have to improve a little if he wants our consent. He has perhaps 2,000 words of commentary to check in a month and has a good-sized staff. We publish more than 1,000,000 words a month. But if Mr. Grierson really is anxious to help us out, if he will promise that he will work hard and study carefully from now to the end of the war, we shall try our best to get him a job as a copyholder to read to the proofreader, or, if the union will accept him, we shall be pleased to recommend him as a proofreader.” O, Dearth, Where is Thy Sting? Shortages give rise to the gag about the two salesman. One asked: “How are things?’”’ The other replied: ‘““Wonderful! I had 12 cancellations last week!” ... Then there’s the one about the old fellow who was heard to say: “I like to be patriotic and observe all the rationing laws. That half-pound of butter per person is pretty hard on me. I got eight kids—and I can’t afford all that butter!” .. . Hitler, théy say, has assured the Germans that the USA and Canada are near collapse from starvation. ‘Thousands of people are asking each other ‘What’s Cookin’ ?’” he reports. Observanda Last week Ben Ami and a New York troupe presented “God, Man and Devil’ before two packed houses at the Victoria, Toronto. After the last curtain of the last performance the actors had scant time to make a train. Taxis take an hour to arrive on Saturday nights. Ben Ami stepped before the curtain and appealed to the audience. Soon twenty cars were waiting outside to speed the actors on their way. . . . There’s a good gag going around about the man and woman, both over 70, who applied for a marriage licence. The curious clerk asked why they wanted to marry at such late ages. Both responded with: “J want an heir.’ “Well,” observed the clerk, “you may be heirminded but you’re certainly not heir-condiitoned!” It Made Him Feel Good Herb Scheinman, EBA booker, dialed a number the other night and found himself third party on crossed wires. The other two were female movie fans arguing about which show to see. “Let’s go to the Cinema to see ‘The Great Waltz,’” suggested one. “7J’ve seen it four times,” protested the second. “So what?’ was the answer. I've seen it six times.” The six-timer won out and they picked “The Great Waltz.” It made the evening for Herb. He books the house. Just goes to show how the actions of perfect strangers can reach into your life, nTheSquare SO ee ee Page 3 Karr, Toronto Star Picks Ten Best (Continued from Page 1) some of the films included in them not having been released in Canada as yet. Karr’s list was presented in the order in which the films were shown. They are: “The Man Who Came to Dinner” “Suspicion” “Sergeant York” “How Green Was My Valley” “Captains of the Clouds” “Woman of the Year” “Mrs. Miniver’” “The First Commando” “Wake Island” “One of Our Aircraft Is Missing.” As his second choices he listed “Saboteur,” “To Be or Not to Be,” “King’s Row,” “Joan of Paris,” “Mr. V,” “The Male Animal,” “This Gun for Hire,” “The Glass Key” and “This Above All.” He mentioned “In Which We Serve,” “Yankee Doodle Dandy,” “Random Harvest” and ‘Journey for Margaret” as films ruled off his 1941 list because of 1942 showings in Canada. Charles Moss Woolf, British Pioneer Dead Charles Moss Woolf, managing director of the Gaumont British Picture Corporation, died last week in London at the age of 63. He was a pioneer of the film in the British Isles and is credited with doing much to build up movies as entertainment there. Gb Beta CONTRACT SALES OFFICE PHONE TR.1257 GT’ FLOOR gs Ce