Canadian Film Weekly (Jan 22, 1947)

Page scan 0000 from Canadian Film Weekly

Record Details:

Title:
Canadian Film Weekly
Date:
Jan 22, 1947
Volume:
Canadian Film Weekly (Jan 22, 1947)
Leaf #:
0000
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 14, 2025
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VOICE of the CANADIAN MOTION PICTURE INDUSTRY Vol. 12, No. 4 TORONTO, JANUARY 22, 1947 $2.00 Per Annum National Circuit Adds To Staff National Theatre Services, Limited, now headquartered on fhe eighth floor at 21 Dundas Square, has been joined by a number of additions to the staffs of the various departments. The company, of which Sam Fingold is president and Ralph Dale vice (Continued on Page 7) Enlarged Product Sked Via Astral A large program of features is being gathered by Astral Films for future distribution, states I. H. Allen, general manager of that company, which was organized by him in 1946 following his reSignation as special representalive of Hagle-Lion. On the com (Continued on Page 7) No Overnight Or General Lift In Rentals, Theatre Prices Both Canadian exhibitors and distributors intend to proceed cautiously toward higher prices, rights to such action having been returned to them with the revocation of Order 99 and. Order A398, under which controls were Main Heads 16 Mm. Committee Chairman of a committee appointed by the Motion Picture Theatres Association of Ontario to deal with 16 mm. matters is H. C. D. (Dick) Main. Other members are Ralph Dale of National Theatre Services and Arch H. Jolley, MPTAO secretary. The committee will draw up @ report on the small-gauge situation in the province, following complaints of exhibs. Chief objection to 16 mm. is that the place of exhibition of such films is usually a fire trap but is described as a theatre in advertising. established in 1941. While circuits made known their intention of generally holding admission prices at their present levels, the distributors, as one expressed it, will seek “equitable terms” for their product in all situations. Notice of the end of controls was followed by a meeting of the distributors to discuss their position. It is expected that many situations now obtaining exhibition rights on a flat rental: basis will be converted to percentage, that (Continued on Page 2) Theatre Fee Upped License fee for theatres in Kamloops, BC, has been raised from $75 to $125 in line with a new scale set by city council. Trade Proceeds With Caution More Censorship For Alberta Political censorship is not the aim of Alberta censors, stated the Honorable A. J. Hooke, Provincial secretary and senior officer of the film and theatre department, in answer to charges made by opposition members of the legislature. A controversy (Continued on Page 10) Theatres Curtail Use Of Power In keeping with the request of the Ontario Hydro Commission that power be conserved, the Motion Picture Theatres Association of Ontario, through Arch H. Jolley, secretary, has requested Ontario exhibitors to cut their loads 50 per cent during (Continued on Page 2) New Drive-in Loop In Br. Columbia Most interesting piece of information in the recent news of expansion of the Canadian exhibition industry is that of the registration in Victoria, BC, of National Drive-In ‘Theatres, Limited, capitalized at $750, 000. The company All Quiet (It Seems) On No. 18 Front What is considered by important exhibitors to be a practical solution to differences over Clause 18, the section of the standard contract applying to percentage engagements, has been reached. These are following the practice will assume operation of the Cascades Drive-In Theatre at Burnaby, BC, opened in August of last year by the Steel-Johnson Amusements, Limited, Toronto, at a cost of $50,000. . The company will establish a number of drive-in theatres in Western Canada, as well as expand the Burnaby operation from a capacity of 500 cars to (Continued on Page 2) Astral Pub Man Wilfred Clement has joined Astral Films to take charge of publicity for the company. Mag mificent Dol azines, it is paving BABY BORN IN OTTAWA THEATRE “Crying rooms” for babies while mother watches the show are a feature of some new theatres but Manager Isser Singerman of the Imperial, Ottawa, who is up on the latest in construction, never thought he would see the day when a maternity ward would be a necessity. The day arrived on Friday, January 10th, when a baby arrived in the ladies’ room at 8.20 p.m. The mother is Mrs. Vivian Canadian. new and unexpected patron, That’s right—Canadian. The arrival of the Singerman’s report said, was handled without any undue excitement. It is probably the first time that more people came out than went into a theatre—a problem for a checker. And what about the amusement tax owed to the government? of determining its effects on the individual deal when it is being negotiated and endeavoring to reach an arrangement acceptable to both the distributors and themselves. Several distributors, according to exhibitors, have agreed to substitute Clause 18 of last year’s contract for the new one. When agreement is reached the (Continued on Page 2) Stage Hit Bought Warners has purchased Elmer Harris’ stage hit “Johnny Belinda.” Starring GINGER ROGERS, DAVID NIVEN and BURGESS the wa MEREDITH, it is a fine romance from the pages of history. MAGNIFICENTLY PRESOLD with full-page color ads in the for those MAGNIFICENT DOLL-ARS. From EMPIRE-UNIVERSAL FILMS LIMITED.