Canadian Film Weekly (May 28, 1947)

Page scan 0007 from Canadian Film Weekly

Record Details:

Title:
Canadian Film Weekly
Date:
May 28, 1947
Volume:
Canadian Film Weekly (May 28, 1947)
Leaf #:
0007
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
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 8 —— Hirliman To Make ‘Films In Canada. (Continued from Page 1) the shrine of Ste. Anne de Beaupre is located. A French version is under consideration. Distribution arrangements for the Hirliman product, which will be directed by Robert Wilmot, are set with Screen Guild. Wilmot has a number of important European films to his_ credit. Players have not been cast as yet. Hirliman, who studied Canadian possibilities during several visits in the past few months, said that it was his intention to establish activities on a permanent scale. While he has no Canadian financial connections, his enterprise will be as Canadian as possible, it being his intention to draw on our actors and technicians wherever possible. Locale of the stories will be the Dominion, and he plans to use natural backgrounds, such as locks, grain elevators and so on. Some of the films will be remakes of properties owned by him. Canada, said Hirliman, is an ideal place for certain types of pictures since its culture embodies much of those of the two leading English-speaking countries, the United States and Great Britain, as well as that of France. WB Buys "Sunburst" “Sunburst,” by Dietrich W. Hannaken, former assistant to producer Joe Pasternak at MGM, and Aleck Block, radio writer of “Suspense” programs, has been bought by Warner Bros., as a vehicle for Ronald Reagan and Alexis Smith. t” FOR THEATRE REQUIRE: MENTS CONTRACT SALES OFFICE Para Sets Dates For Sales Drive Paramount Pictures’ 1947 sales drive, which will be conducted under the title “Celebrating 35 Years of Leadership,” was announced recently by Charles M. Reagan, the company’s. vicepresident in charge of distribution. The sales contest will start on August 31 and end November 29. The first week will be “Paramount Week.” Reagan said plans were being made by Paramount to give the drive rating as the biggest in the company’s history, with prizes the largest ever to be offered by the firm. Mono Title Change “The Law Comes to Gunsight” is the new title for the Monogram Johnny Mack Brown western formerly labelled “Backfire.” Warners Signs Model Kyle MacDonnell, former Conover model, has been signed to .a term contract by Warner Brothers. Paulette Goddard In "Angel Face" Paulette Goddard will be starred by Paramount in “Angel Face,” Charles Schnee’s dramatic story of a woman in the show world who has a cherubic face but a heartless way of living. Schnee’s original story will be put into script form by Claude Binyon, who will produce the picture. Canadian FILM WEEKLY Three Films Shown To NS Legislature Three films were given a preview showing to members-of the Nova Scotia Legislative Assembly at Province House recently by T. J. Courtney, former Maritimes supervisor for Odeon Theatres in Canada and now director of information for Nova Scotia. Presented at the request of Courtney in order to acquaint members with the use of motion pictures by the Provincial Department of Industry and Publicity and to get their opinion, the films were all in color and used sound. “Happy Valley’ and “Spring Fever’ were Courtney's ‘and “Craftsmen’ at Work” was by Margaret Perry of the Department of Information. Radio Tie-In For Jerome Kern Pic A special radio program featuring the melodies of Jerome -Kern was used by W. H. Helm, manager Of the Avon Theatre in Stratford, Ontario, to publicize the opening of MGM’s “Till the Clouds Roll By.” Carried by station CJCS, the program left one tune unnamed and awarded theatre tickets to the first 15 who guessed the title. Newspaper ads announced the contest. Para Signs Webb Paramount has taken up its option on Richard Webb, young contract player now before the cameras in “The Big Clock,” starring Ray Milland and Charles Laughton. Welcome Variety Founder John B. Harris, Big Boss of the Variety Clubs (right), is presented a corsage of camellias by Rosalind Russell on the set of “Mourning Becomes Electra” as Toronto’s Raymond Massey looks on. The flowers, of a newly cultured hybrid developed by the Society of American Florists, were named the Variety Clubs Camellia in honor of the 11th annual convention of the Variety Clubs. May 28, 1947 Byrnes Given Variety Award (Continued from Page 1) Bros. Studios, denied that “con. flict is inevitable” and expresseq the belief that ‘we can make the peace and keep the peace.” The address was in response to the presentation ta Byrnes by Variety Clubs of the annual Humanitarian award which is bestowed to the individual who, in the opinion of a panel of seventy leading newspaper editors and radio executives, has contributed the most during the preceding year to humanity. Former recipients include Evangeline Booth, Sister Kenny, Father Flanagan, Cordell Hull, Martha Berry, Sir Alexander Fleming and Dr, George Washington Carver. Byrnes told the audience of the nation’s topmost showmen who comprise the membership of Variety that “in both the Soviet Union and the United States there is tego much talk of war: and too little talk of peace.” Neither people want war, he said “We have made it clear to the Soviet Union that it cannot dictate the terms of peace,” Byrnes stated. ‘We must also realize that the United States cannot dicate the terms of peace.” The presentation of the Humanitarian award plaque was made in Washington by Chief Justice Fred M. Vinson, who recounted the history of Variety Clubs from its origin following the finding of a foundling child in a Pittsburgh motion picture theatre, to its present eminence ‘in charity work in behalf of underprivileged children in the United States,Canada and Mexico. Byrnes, he said, in the presentation, had, as secretary of state, “worked selflessly seven days and seven nights a week to build peace.”’ 'McGuffey The Great’ “McGuffey the Great” has been purchased by Warners aS 4 vehicle for Dane Clark and Syd ney Greenstreet. MGM To Release ‘Joan Of Lorraine’ Louis B. Mayer has announced Signing of agreements for release by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer of the forthcoming Technicolor production based on the life of Joan of Arc, to be brought to the screen by Ingrid Bergman, Victor Fleming and. Walter WangerMiss Bergman will portray the title role. Production is scheduled to begin July 15 at the Roach Studios. Maxwell Anderson, author of the stage play “Joan of Lorraine,” in which Miss Berg: man is starring on Broadway, ~ has arrived in Hollywood to write thé screenplay.