Canadian Film Weekly (Aug 16, 1944)

Page scan 0005 from Canadian Film Weekly

Record Details:

Title:
Canadian Film Weekly
Date:
Aug 16, 1944
Volume:
Canadian Film Weekly (Aug 16, 1944)
Leaf #:
0005
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
Something wrong or inaccurate about this page? Let us Know!

Thanks for helping us continually improve the quality of the Lantern search engine for all of our users! We have millions of scanned pages, so user reports are incredibly helpful for us to identify places where we can improve and update the metadata.

Please describe the issue below, and click "Submit" to send your comments to our team! If you'd prefer, you can also send us an email to mhdl@commarts.wisc.edu with your comments.




We use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) during our scanning and processing workflow to make the content of each page searchable. You can view the automatically generated text below as well as copy and paste individual pieces of text to quote in your own work.

Text recognition is never 100% accurate. Many parts of the scanned page may not be reflected in the OCR text output, including: images, page layout, certain fonts or handwriting.

Page 6 Canadian FILM WEEKLY August 16, 1944 Nathanson Employees Keep Up Tie HERE was a.time when it } was generally agreed that the Nathanson enterprises would have its representatives in all parts of of the world. For years nothing came of it. But now it’s a reality. The dream of other days has come true. Not in the manner and for the purpose originally planned but in another and a worthier way. Today the Nathanson boys and girls are in the uniforms of their country serving wherever the flag of freedom is being returned to its proper place. And some have given their lives for their own and other countries. The Nathanson organization is now truly and unselfishly international. It may be an assumption to say that the people of the motion picture industry have a greater love of their craft than others have of theirs. But if is no assumption to say that they have as great a love of Canada’s Fair Domain as any who live within its far-flung borders. And there is a feeling of closeness among those who are part of the movie industry and a great love and loyalty for their companies. This is particularly true of those who work for the Nathanson companies — Empire-Universal, Sovereign and Odeon. Boys and Girls at Home Make Sure That Those Who Are Overseas Get Mail, Comforts and Office Gossip There is a spiritual bridge between those Nathanson employees who are at home and those who are overseas—and it’s not a oneway highway either. The boys and girls overseas write to two places — home and the Office. There igs no substitute for the love of one and the friendship of the other. . Ever since the war head and branch offices as well as theatres have been doing dozens of things to keep that friendship alive and the absent ones know and appreciate it. (UPCes recently the work of keeping in touch with the boys and girls overseas was done in semi-organized fashion and on a more or less individual basis. But in April of this year those at home felt that more could be done if things were thoroughly organized and they founded the Nathanson Employees Wartime Services Committee at head office. At the suggestion of Paul Nathanson the committee was put on a nation-wide basis. At the first election of officers <A Y C4 REVENTION IS ALWAYS BETTER THAN ™~ » ~/ @ A Careful Inspection of Equipment will prevent Costly Repairs or worse still, a “BOX OFFICE BLACKOUT” Regular Service is Cheap Insurance To Help Maintain Continuous Operations, Call DOMINION SOUND EQUIPMENTS LIMITED Head Office: 1620 Notre eamcmss at HALIFAX TORONTO Dame Strect West, WINNIPEG Montreal REGINA CALGARY VANCOUVER Dick Main became chairman, Ella Smerdon secretary, Hy Spector, treasurer and Audrey Miller, assistant treasurer. Audrey Miller, Gwen Braund and Ken Chard became the gifts committee; Helen Goldstein and Bill Devitt the letter-writing committee; Zeke Sheine and Hy Spector the trade paper news committee; and Eva Steeper, Jessie Smerdon and Marion Crewson the knitting committee. Marion, who is going overseas with the Salvation Army Air Force Section, has been replaced by Terry Allen. The head office workers in Toronto, through their committees, are charged with: (1) The despatching of gifts at regular intervals. (2) Seeing that a letter per month is written to each service employee from a member of the staff with which he or she is acquainted. (3) Sending scarfs, socks and other knitted articles overseas. (4) Sending overseas news sections of the trade magazines and the monthly mimeographed news bulletin of the Nathanson Committee. The bulletin has the twice-apt title of “NEWS”, and is made up of the first letter in each word of the~committee’s name. HE call to all branches for a thorough extension of the work has brought immediate results and benefits. It is no easy task, for there are exchanges in leading cities and about 90 Odeon theatres. In Winnipeg Ben Plottel is chairman and Ruth Halter secretary-treasurer. Annice Shreiber heads the letter-writing committee; Bernice Shatsky the knitting committee; and the gifts committee is compoged of Ruth Halter, A. Shreiber, Bernice Shatsky, Mrs. Marjorie Smith and Ben Plottel. For Sovereign Films Joe deVries, Bessie Herstein and Dave Joyal are doing the work. Mrs. Vonna Zinck is chairman of the St. John branch and Miss Doris MacKinnon secretary treasurer. Calgary Empire-Universal has appointed Mrs. Alma Gordon to handle parcels and cigarettes and Mrs. George Farrow to head the letter-writing committee. In Vancouver Odeon Theatres and Empire-Universal are -working together and a meeting elect ed Al Jenkins chairman, Thelma Evans secretary and Frank Boothe treasurer. Fach town which has one or more Odeon theatres will have its own unit. Their work will follow the pattern laid down by the Nathanson Employees Wartime Services. First job of all committees is to make sure that all employees, no matter what their capacity was, are on the list and being looked after. A COMPLETE list of Nathanson employees in the services is not yet available and individual lists are just arriving at the office of the chairman. The Winnipeg exchange list has Lieut. Cecil Black; Sgt. J. R. Ostrow, RCAF; and Mickey Koster. Head office employees in the services are LAW E. M. Baker, Spr. Wm. Bounsell, AW1 B. J. Byers, Pte. Dwight Cullingham, Mrs. Douglas Doughty, LAC C. D. Exley, Charles R. Faith of HMCS “Cornwallis”, Prob/Wren R. Froud, Stan. Fulford, LAC M. Goldstone, AC1 R. F. C. Gardner, O/S A. N. Gray, Corp. J. F. Hagen, Gnr. L. Hansher, Lieut. Ed Harris, Corp. A. BE. Lawrence, Pte. J. R. Leonard, Lance-Corp. Main Neil, Lieut. G. Murray Mitchell, P/O G. E. McKay, Gnr. J. McGlade, Corp. M. Ramstein, AC2 A. G. Rouse, Lead. Sig. A. Sinclair, Sgt. G. Snider, Flt. Set. N. I. Wilson, Sgt. G. P. Wright and ACI J. Walker. P/O D. J. Evans was recently listed as missing. qe Nathanson employees are making sure that those at home will never be far apart from those overseas. Theatres Must Grant | Paid Vacations Although theatres in Ontario have been granted a suspension of the hours part of the Hours of Work and Vacations With Pay Act, they are under compulsion to provide a paid vacation to any employee working for the same employer for a year prior to July 1, 1944. . Employees are entitled to receive a week’s holiday based on two per cent of total earnings, the date to be set by the employer and, wherever possible, by agreement with employees. The act, it is explained by Labor Minister Charles Daley, has not been suspended but application has been held back wherever impracticable right now because of the labor crisis. Under any circumstances, it must be enforced in each and all industries by December 31. Act provides a 48-hour working week,