Canadian Film Weekly (Sep 12, 1945)

Page scan 0002 from Canadian Film Weekly

Record Details:

Title:
Canadian Film Weekly
Date:
Sep 12, 1945
Volume:
Canadian Film Weekly (Sep 12, 1945)
Leaf #:
0002
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 15, 2024
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® THE PICK OF THE PICTURES REVIEWS INFORMATION RATINGS Vol 10, No. 37 REVIEWS FROM FILM DAILY, NEW YORK $2.00 Per Annum Bewitched with Edmund Gwenn, Phyllis Thaxter, Henry H. Daniels, Jr., Horace McNally MGM 65 Mins. RUGGED DRAMA THAT WILL CLICK WITH _ DISCRIMINATING FANS AND HORROR PICTURE DEVOTEES. Film makers occasionally have the will to get off the beaten path to provide a thoroughly adult attraction. This is such an instance. ‘‘Bewitched” deals with a strange side of the human mind,—the dual personality of an individual. Basically of course, the films is a study in psychology. But this tag should in no way scare the exhibitor away from booking it, for he will soon discover that it packs a potent BO walop as a _ so-called “horror film,” and on this score ranks with the best of the chillers of recent’ vintage. Its acting and direction are top-flight, and its pace is swift and crisp, almost to the point of radio script technique. As it unfolds the story of the attractive, well-bred girl, Phyllis Thaxter, who runs away from her home and impending marriage because of the evil and unrelenting voice of other self, finally driving her into the arms of another man and causing her to murder her former suitor who has come to take her home, there is thrill-packed fare for the most jaded fan. At the finale, she escapes the electric chair and is brought to mental normalcy by the skilled and understanding psychiatrist, Hidmund Gwenn, who drives out the destructive “other self” which had ruled her behavior. CAST: Edmund Gwenn, Phyllis Thaxter, Henry H. Daniels, Jr., Addison Richards, Kathleen Lockheart, Francis Pierlot, Sharon McManus, Gladys Blake, Will Wright, Horace McNally, Oscar O'Shea, Minor Watson, Virginia Brissac. CREDITS: Director, Arch Oboler; Producer, Jerry Bresler; Author and Adaptation, Arch Oboler; Cameraman, Charles Salerno; Music Score, Bronislau Kaper; Associate Producer, Herbert Moulton; Recording Director, Douglas Shearer; Art Direction, Cedric Gibbons, Malcolm Brown; Set Decorations, Edwin B. Willis, Mac Alper; Film Editor, Harry Komer. ; DIRECTION, Top-Flight. RAPHY, Skilled. PHOTOG Rubinstein Plays ~ For ‘Concerto’ Artur Rubenstein, the world’s most famous concert pianist will play Rachmaninoff’s second piano concerto for Republic’s “Concerto,” a Technicolor production. Catherine McLeod, an unknown actress chosen by director-producer Frank Borzage, will be the star of the film. Blonde Ransom with Donald Cook, Virginia. Grey Universal 68 Mins. THIS ONE OFFERS LIGHT DIVERSION GEARED TO THE TASTES OF FAMILY AUDIENCES, Light entertainment garnished with music is dealt out by “Blonde Ransom,” a _ featherweight production that has its moments for the family patronage. The picture, which romantically pairs Donald Cook and Virginia Grey in the top roles, has the benefit of breezy direction by William Beaudine that throws life into the proceedings. Several production numbers have keen worked into the film to bolster its entertainment value. The story, not overly intelligent, has Cook, owner of a bistro, matching wits with a group of racketeers headed by Jerome Cowan. Cook places himself at the mercy of the villains when he loses $63,000 to them at cards in a desperate attempt to obtain funds to meet the demands of creditors. He is given a week to pay up or turn over his night club to the racketeers. ; Miss Grey, heiress to George Barbier’s fortune, comes to the rescue in a manner that makes for a certain measure of excitement for the easily excited. Gene Lewis has given the film a better production than the story warranted. The performances are par for a film of this type. A fair share of the comedy burden is borne by Pinky Lee and Collette Lyons, a pair of scatterbrained sweethearts. CAST: Donald Cook, Virginia Grey, Pinkey Lee, Collette Lyons, George Barbier, Jerome Cowan, George Meeker, lan Wolfe, Joe Kirk, Charles Delaney, Frank Reicher, Bill Davidson, Chester Clute, Janina Frostova. CREDITS: Associate Producer. Genc Lewis; Director. William Beaudine; Screenplay, M. Coates Webster; Based on story by Robert T. Shannon; Camernaman, Maury Gertsman; Musical Director, Frank Skinner; Art Directors, John B. Goodman, Abraham Grossman; Sound Director, Bernard B. Brown; Set Decorators, Russell A. Gausman, A. J. Gilmore; Film Editor, Paul Landers; Dance Director, Louis Da Pron. DIRECTION, Okay. PHOTOGRAPHY, Okay. Out of This World with Eddie Bracken, Veroncia Lake, Diana Lynn Paramount 96 Mins. SWELL MUSICAL COMEDY ENTERTAINMENT WILL PLEASE EVERYONE; BRACKEN AT HIS BEST. Once more Paramount scores solidly with a picture starring Eddie Bracken. For sheer unadulterated fun this musical comedy rates plenty of attention, relating a deliciously humorous story with all the trimmings required to make it a boxoffice hit. Ingenuity and imagination have been employed in a highly diverting take-off on the bobbysock worship of the swoonercrooners of the Frank Sinatra school. And Bracken applies all his comedic talents to make the gags come off resoundingly. The comedian is in his finest form and is ably abetted by Veronica Lake, Diana Lynn and Cass Daley in making “Out of This World” a grand dish of entertainment for everyone, everywhere. He and his associates have been given some fine material to work with in the Walter DeLeon-Arthur Phillips screenplay. They have been put through their paces by Director Hal Walker with snap and spirit. Bracken is a telegraph messenger who suddenly finds himself catapulted to fame as a crooner. So many persons have a financial interest in him that things get pretty badly gummed up. Largely responsible for his plight is Miss Lynn, leader of a girl-band anxious to get into radio. The use of Bing Crosby’s voice in Bracken’s singing sequences adds immensely to the merriment. It is a smart twist that audiences will appreciate no end. CAST: Eddie Bracken, Veronica Lake, Diana Lynn, Cass Daley, Parkyakarkus, Donald MacBrid,e Florence Bates, Gary Crosby, Phillip Crosby, Dennis Crosby, Lin Crosby, Don Wilson, Mabel Paige, Charles Smith, Irving Bacon, Carmen Cavallaro, Ted Fiorito, Henry King, Ray Noble, Joe Reichman, Olga San Juan, Nancy Porter, Audrey Young, Carol Deere. CREDITS: Associate Producer, Sam Coslow; Director Hal Walker; Screenplay, Walter DeLeon, Arthur Phillips; Based on stories by Elizabeth Meehan, Sam Coslow. DIRECTION, Good, PHOTOGRAPHY, Good. Vol. 10, No. 87 Sept. 12, 1945 HYE BOSSIN, Managing Editor Address all communications—The Managing Editor, Canadian Film Weekly, 25 Dundas Square, Toronto, Canada. Published by Film Publications of Canada Ltd., 25 Dundas Square, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Phone ADelaide 4317. Price 5 cents each or $2.00 per year. Entered as Second Class Matter. Printed by Eveready Printers Limited, 78 Wellington Street West, Toronto, Ontario. A Medal For Benny with Dorothy Lamour, Arturo de Cordova, J. Carrol Naish Paramount 77 Mins. IRONIC, HUMAN STORY IS WORTHY DRAMATIC ENTERTAINMENT; NAISH COPS ACTING HONORS. “A Medal for Benny” draws upon the paisanos of Southern California who were the inspiration of John Steinbeck’s “‘Tortila Flat” for the material for a film filled with simple drama that easily strikes a responsive chord. Steinbeck, with the collaboration of Jack Wagner, once more has built a human, earthy story around characters he knows well, and Frank Butler has placed the tale in screen form with understanding. Helping to sell the film are flashes of hearty humor and some romantic embroidery. The film has timely application in that it deals with a community’s trading on the military honors heaped upon a dead hero. The place is a coastal town in Southern California whose ofiicials stage a roman holiday when J. Carrol Naish’s son is posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. The town authorities are defeated when Naish rebels at his exploitation and demands that the presentation of the medal to him take place before his own humble home. Dorothy Lamour’s fierce loyalty to Benny, even in death, presents an insuperable obstacle to Arturo de Cordova in attempting to sell himself romantically to the girl. Irving Pichel’s direction is firm and the work of Associate Producer Paul Jones meritorious. Some fine bits of acting mark the production, with top honors going to Naish. CAST: Dorothy Lamour, Arturo de Cordova, J. Carrol Naish, Mikhail Rasumny, Fernando Alvarado, Charles Dingle, Frank McHugh, Rosita Moreno, Grant Mitchell, Douglas Dumbrille, Nestor Paiva, Eva Puig, Isabelita Castro, Pepito Perez, Minerva Urecal, Frank Reicher, Robert Homans, Edward Filding, Max Wagner. CREDITS: Associate Producer, Paul Jones; Director, Irving Pichel; Screenplay, Frank Butler; Based on story by John Steinbeck, Jack Wagner; Additional Dialogue, Jack Wagner; Cameraman, Lionel Lindon; Art Directors, Hans Dreier, Hal Pereira; Special Effects, Gordon Jennings; Process Photography, Farciot Edouart; Set Decorator, Steve Seymour; Musical Score, Victor Young; Film Editor, Arthur Schmidt; Sound, Stanley Cooley, Joel Moss. DIRECTION, Good. PHOTOGRAPHY,