Canadian Film Weekly (Dec 10, 1947)

Page 4 New Theatre An Adventure in Showgoing: In keeping with the different character of 20th Century Theatres’ latest theatre, the Glendale,-Nat Taylor, who tagged it “The Theatre With the New Look,” and his lads staged a double preem for the house, something new around here. ‘Trade folks and their wives, as well as all who had anything to do with its construction, got together on Sunday evening for their first breath-taking look. They stood at the entrance to the auditorium from the foyer, warming themselves in the evid ence of Man’s capacity for creating the almost unbelievable in. utility and thrills for the eye. Before the guests settled down to absorb the wonders ‘of perfect sound and sight from the screen Nat Taylor came on stage to welcome them and pay tribute -to Myer Axler, Syd Roth, Raoul Auerbach, Harry Mandell and other associates, partners and fellow-workers whose joint effort created this 1,000-seat masterpiece of stone, steel and textiles. Man’s -ingenuity was rarely proved in a better way. cae The next night the dignitaries of the area, along with citiz ens, service clubs and the press gathered for the official opening. ~ The reaction was the same as the night before but the presence of an audience more like the one that will occupy the theatre night after night brought recognition of the fact that something too rare in many such places had been captured by those who created this one. The house has intimacy and warmth and character. There is the common feeling among those who enter it that they are among friends in a friendly place which has both relaxation and adventure. Theatre men know how elusive this quality is and how like a divine gift it is when you find it present. Even the surprise that came to Taylor and his men when the first image filled the screen was in keeping with that atmosphere. The feature film was Allied Artists’ “It Happened On Fifth Avenue” and before it came on a message appeared addressed “To You, Our Good Friends’ from Steve Broidy, its president. Said Steve: = “Once a great Canadian poet, Bliss Carman, wrote that th ‘slaves of beauty are the masters of the world.’ This wonder ful temple of entertainment, in which you ,are the ‘masters, re- presents the union of Beauty and Magnificence — and may they live happily ever after. “Laughter, I believe, is even more golden than‘silence. May these things — Laughter, Beauty and Magnificence — return again to all the world. “Allied Artists of Canada congratulates 20th Century Theatres for its vision,in creating this splendid theatre, the Glendale, for you.” . The gratitude of the people of North York for finding this oasis of entertainment was expressed from the stage. by Reeve George Mitchell, who had cut the tape which allowed the curtains to part, and elsewhere by those who came to both shows. The De LaSalle band of the Oakland Cadet Corps played outside for those waiting to get in, then marched through the auditorium and lined up in front of the stage while Mitchell spoke. Associated Screen News searchlights lit up the exterior while the doings were on. * * ... Words Will Never Hurt Us There was a lot of laughter at the Variety Club when Spellmaster Doug Rosen revived schoolhouse memories and had the boys of various teams try to put words together. As spellers they _ were ]-0-u-s-y. They assassinated adjectives and vanquished verbs and that loud hum you heard across the country was Webster whirling in his casket at 1,000 rpm. Raoul Auerbach, asked to spell ‘percentage,’ spelled it . f-l-a-t. But. through it all the Rosen acted as a spellbinder rather than a spellmaster, binding the participants in their endeayors to prove that they knew how to put words together. Of. course, the bad spelling was deliberate and the boys were kidding. Of course. Canadian FILM WEEKLY ~ A Folk Yarn A Peasant Tale How many folk tales have been grist for the mills of the _ writing folk and. how many remain unharvested? Hardy, Irving, Grimm; Andersén and other now-classic scribblers made excel-. lent use of them, yet not a few seem to have gone unrecorded _in print. Most of them are yarns of superhuman accomplishment, love, death and figure-eights of fate. Universally known ‘as “Grandmother ‘Stories,’ they have been carried forward as village gossip by old folk who appreciated their tragic charm. I heard such a story from a very old lady who remembered it as being told: by her grandmother: in the Russian village of | her youth. . Nien i ct a “A ten-year-old boy was called in often by the lady who lived’in the next cottage to watch over her baby girl, Those were the days of the rule of the old folk and so a request from ‘an older person was something to respect. The boy was often minding the baby when he .would rather have been tramping through thecountryside with his chums. oa The Russian peasants of those days, because of their illiteracy and mean state of life, had to get their honest pleasures from family celebrations, weddings, births. and affairs just as closely related to life. rs : a Och. Br LEAR The baby’s mother had to be away from home frequently and whenever. the boy was told to watch the child, he was admonished. to take good care of her “for she will be your bride some day.” Time and again he heard this remark and it became ‘associated in his mind with what had developed into a hateful task. _ . ‘ get ; He always told himself that it was a lie designed to keep him here. The call of the countryside in the summer was strong within him, yet here he was, chained to this cradle by a false and impossible condition, ~ The baby became a symbol of oppression. to the boy. One day, when distraction overcame him, he took the penknife with which he had been playing and ran it across her throat. Then, . _ realizing what he had done, he fled from the village. In’ the many years that came after he travelled all the land, for deep as his sorrow was, he dared not return nor make | his whereabouts known even to his parents. At last, tired of wandering, he settled in a village far from home and married. It was a marriage arranged by friends, since he had ‘no relatives—as was the custom in those times. When a man was an orphan—as he had claimed to be—and no linking of families was possible, the bride was chosen from unmarried girls bereft of parents. Her dowry, important to marriage then, was provided by the community if she was a deserving person. In their bedroom on the wedding night his eyes, for some unknown reason, became transfixed. on the throat of his wife. He could not avert them. Then he discerned a thin line which marred the flesh. Observing his upset state, the wife hastened. to explain. A mischievous boy had done this to her as a baby. Frightened, he had run away and was never seen again. His failure to return had kept the incident alive in the minds of the superstitious village people. It was said that an evil spell had been cast over her at birth. In her village she would have remained a spinster, since she was believed to be a child of misfortune. So early in life her parents, now dead, had sent her to this distant village, where none knew the story, to be brought up by friends. She had come to love him and hoped he did not mind. * * Stuffing Did you notice those cutlines below the photo of a group . at the Quebec convention which appeared in a USA trade paper? Called Paul Nathanson president of Odeon and Clare Appel head of advertising and publicity. That was a couple of years ago... Cameron Mitchell, being groomed for MGM stardom, tee in ae for a three-day visit to whip up interest in himself. aS Bia! on had him in tow . . . The Columbia party, first of uletide ones, sure was enjoyable, what with good food, good drinks and good fellowship. Abe Cass got them together. December 10, 1947