Canadian Film Weekly (Feb 9, 1944)

Page scan 0002 from Canadian Film Weekly

Record Details:

Title:
Canadian Film Weekly
Date:
Feb 9, 1944
Volume:
Canadian Film Weekly (Feb 9, 1944)
Leaf #:
0002
Language:
English
Subjects:
Motion Pictures, Film Industry Trade Magazine",Canad
Collection:
Global Cinema, Canada, and Hollywood Studio System
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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THE PICK OF THE PICTURES | Vol. 9, No, 6 REVIEWS FROM FILM DAILY, NEW YORK REVIEWS ' INFORMATION | | RATINGS ' February 9, 1944 Thousands Cheer with all-star cast M-G-M 126 Mins. MUSICAL EXTRAVAGANZA _ IN TECHNICOLOR WIELDS TREMENDOUS DRAWING POWER; ACES IN EVERY DEPARTMENT. In “Thousands Cheer’ Metro has put together a whale of a musical—one that 1s certain to roll up tremendous grosses,everywhere. The studio has stinted on nothing to guarantee a resounding public reception for the production, a Technicolor treat difficult to duplicate. The film has everything in its favor. It is a brilliant stroke of showmanship offering something for every taste. The jive bugs and the more conservative alike will find in its harmonies cause for rejoicing. The entertainment, prodigal in quality and quantity, covers a wide range in its material and is dished out at a swift pace throughout. Metro has mustered its finest talent for the musical extravaganza, which is a happy mixture of comedy, music and romance. It includes some of the biggest star names in the industry—any one of a number of which would be sufficient to draw a crowd. Most of the star talent is paraded in a show staged at an army camp as the climax of the film. This portion of the film.is enriched by the presence of Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland, Red Skelton, Eleanor Powell, Ann Sothern, Virginia O’Brien, Frank Morgan, Lena Horne, Marsha Hunt, not to say the Kay Kyser, Bob Crosby and Benny Carter bands. An added treat is Jose Iturbi, who makes his initial appearance in a film in “Thousands Cheer.” The burden of the story is carried by Gene Kelly and Kathryn Grayson. The yarn is the one about the colonel’s daughter and the private. The production numbers are spectacular and the art work outStanding, especially the set decorations, which are lavish, rich and in superb taste. CAST: Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland, Red Skelton, Eleancr Powell, Ann Sothern, Lucille Ball, Virginia O’Brien, Frank Morgan, Kathryn Grayson, Gene Kelly, Mary Astor, John Boles, Ben Blue, Lena Horne, Marsha Hunt, MariIyn Maaxwell, Donna Reid, Margaret O’Brien, June Allyson, Gloria DeHaven, John Conte, Sara Haden, Frances Ralfferty, Mary Elilot, Frank Jenks, Frank Sully, Dick Simmons, Ben Lessy, Jose Iturbl, Don Leper and Maxine Barrat, Kay Kyser and orchestra, Bob Crosby and orchestra, Benny Carter and orches tra, DIRECTION, Fine. PHOTOGRAPHY, Aces. Ali Baba with Maria Montez, Jon Hall Universal &7 Mins. TECHNICOLOR TREATMENT OF FAMOUS “ARABIAN NIGHTS” TALE IS SMASH ENTERTAINMENT FOR YOUNGSTERS. By picking the famous tale of “Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves” for this latest venture into the realm of the imagination, Universal has presented exhibitors with entertainment that cannot miss. Remember the Walter Wanger production for Universal, “Arabian Nights”? Well, here is an offering that matches that in every respect. Where the Wanger film went over, the one under consideration should do equally well. Given sweeping treatment in opulent Technicolor, the production captures the senses and holds the attention fixed throughout its footage. The Ali Baba tale could not have been given a more vivid or more colorful production. Here indeed is a feast for the young and the romantic. Although youth is best served by the production, there is no reason whatever why adults should not derive a thrill from this excursion into the world of makebelieve. The sets are so lavish and eye-filling, the action so exciting and the use of color so masterful that no one could remain indifferent to the lure of the picture. The story revolves about the efforts of Ali Baba (Jon Hall) and his band of thieves to drive the Mongol conquerors out of Bagdad. Ali is the son of the Caliph of Bagdad (Moroni Olsen), _ who was betrayed by Prince Cas sim (Frank Puglia) for selfish gain. When his father was killed Ali escaped and found refuge with the thieves. Grown into manhood, Ali vows vengeance against Hulagu Khan, the Mongol tyrant (Kurt Katch) and Prince Cassim. The romance involves Ali and the daughter of his father’s betrayer (Maria Montez). Hall and Miss Montez, who pledge each other’s love in childhood, are separated when the Caliph is killed, and do not meet again until the girl is on the verge of being married to the Khan against her will. Produced by Paul Malvern without stint, the film received good direction from Arthur Lubin, CAST: Maria Montez, Yvette Duguay, John Hall, Scotty Beckett, Turnhan Bey, Kurt Katch, Andy Devine, Frank Puglia, Morvuni Olsen, Fortunio Bonaneva, Harry Cording, Ramsay Ames, Neel Cravet, Belle Mitchell, Crispin Martin. eee Goed. PHOTOGRAPHY, well, Tarzan’s Desert Mystery with Johnity Weissmuller, Nancy Kelly RKO 70 Mins. LATEST TARZAN FILM SHOULD PROVE A POWERFUL ATTRACTION WITH KIDS; ACTION NEVER SUBSIDES. The latest Tarzan adventure film is strictly kid stuff. The picture is one long string of events designed to stir up the youngsters no end. Things happen so fast and furiously that Tarzan scarcely is given time to draw a deep breath as he applies his strength and primitive cunning to upsetting the plans of a Nazi agent to cause trouble between two important desert tribes. The story, which makes no attempt at restraint, opens with Tarzan receiving from London a message from his Jane to obtain a fever-curing herb that grows in the jungle. It is while he arid Poy are on this mission that Tarzan runs into the Nazi agent and his stooges. On his journey he meets an American chorus girl who is carrying from the sheik of one tribe to that of the other a@ message warning of the Nazi plot. Tarzan, helped by the chimp Cheta and Boy is kept pretty busy preventing the message from falling into the hands of the enemy. His supreme good deed is saving the girl from being hanged for the slaying of the son of one of the sheiks by the villains. The elimination of the Nazi agent is accomplished graphically. It makes a finale that will bring plenty of screams from the kids. The film, produced by Sol Lesser, has been given headlong direction by William Thiele. Edward T. Lowe concocted the screenplay from a yarn by Carroll Young. ; Johnny Weissmuller plays Tarzan in his usual stolid manner. Nancy Kelly enacts the chorus girl adequately. Johnny Sheffield has lost none of his appeal as Boy. In Otto Kruger the role of the Nazi agent is in good hands. Joseph Sawyer, Lioyd Corrigan, Robert Lowery are others who merit a good word. Cheta, the chimp, steals the show everytime she is around. CAST: Johnny Welssmuller, Nancy Kelly. Johnny Sheffield, Otto Kruger, Joseph Sawyer, Lileyd Corrigan, Robert Lowery, Frank Puglia, Phil van Zandt. CREDITS: Producer, Sol Lesser; Asseciate Preducer, Kurt Neumann; Director, William Thiele; Screenplay, Edward T. Lewe; Stery hy Carrofl Young; Based en characters created by Edgar Rice Burroughs; Cameramen, Harry Wild, Russ Harlan. DIRECTION, All Right. PHOTO GRAPHY, Good, The Woman of the Town with Claire Trevor, Albert Dekker UA 96 Mins. HARRY SHERMAN'’S LATEST PRODUCTION AN AMBITIOUS ONE; HAS PLENTY OF STUFF FOR BOXOFFICE RATING. “The Woman of the Town” is one of Harry Sherman’s more ambitious productions. Although the film comes within the western classification, it departs sufficiently from the format of pictures of the horse-opera school to merit the interest of general audiences as well as western fans. Details have received more attention than is customary in a Sherman film. One noticeable €ffect of this is greater dramatic force and characters that have more of the breath of life than one finds in the ordinary western. A meaty and human story has been concocted for “The Woman of the Town.” Albert Dekker comes to Dodge City to go into newspaper work. His ambition is sidetracked when he is drafted for marshal on the strength of his showing against a gang of toughs. His main headache as marshal is a wild Texan who descends upon the town with his | boys and defies the attempts of the marshal to establish law and order. Both the villain and the hero fall in love with the star entertainer in the town’s saloon who is looked at askance by the intolerant element. His interest in the girl acts as a sedative on the villain. The shooting starts again when the villain attempts to take the girl away. Tragedy strikes when the villain kills the girl, mistaking her for one of his enemies. The remaining footage shows how the hero tracks down the villain. The story gives much time to the marsha]’s effort to get the women of the town to change their opinion of our heroine. Working from a yarn by Norman Houston, Aeneas MacKenzie has packed worlds of excitement into his screenplay, which was directed by George Archainbaud expertly, ; , Cast: Claude Trevor, Albert Dekker, Barry Sullivan, Henry Hull, Marion Martin, Porter Hall, Percy Kilbride, Beryl Wallace, Arthur Hohl, Clem Bevans, Teddi Sherman, George Cleveland, Russell Hicks, Herbert Rawlinson, Marlene Mains, Dorethy Grainger, Dewey Robinson, Wade Crosby, Hal Taliaferro, Glenn Strange, Charley Foy, Claire Whitney, Russell Simpson, Eula Guy, Frances Morris. DIRECTION, Okay. 9 PRY, ay PHOTOGRA