Canadian Film Weekly (May 5, 1948)

Page scan 0009 from Canadian Film Weekly

Record Details:

Title:
Canadian Film Weekly
Date:
May 5, 1948
Volume:
Canadian Film Weekly (May 5, 1948)
Leaf #:
0009
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 21, 2025
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wip Page 10 Warner On Prod n (Continued from Page 8) again and again to balance rising living costs. “Along with this tremendous increase in production costs, there came a decrease in domestic revenues and sharp curtailment of returns from abroad. During the anxious period when the industry -was adjusting itself to such changed conditions, some curtailments were necessary in preparation for production at higher levels.” Since Jan. 1, 1948, Warner said, the average of continuous production at Warner Bros. has been 4.6 pictures as compared with 2.7 for the balance of the other major studios. He expressed the hope that other studios would step up their production schedules and stated that Warner Bros. would accelerate its already active pace. ; “There is no remedy for our basic problems,’’ he emphasized, “other than more. production of better pictures.” Pat O'Brien Film RKO has purchased J. H. Wallis’ original story, “Sam Wynne” as a starring vehicle for Pat O’Brien. Canadian FILM WEEKLY Non-Theatrical Pix (Continued from Page 9) also operate and these rent facilities or have their processing done by the studios. The National Film Board, which had an allotment of over $1,000,000 last year, is also part of this native industry. Films are being accepted as part of the normal course of business management by an increasing number of firms. While today the motion picture film or strip has developed into a common medium of idea communication on the part of industry, such usage in Canada is not new but has existed on a small scale for over four decades. The first films produced under non-theatrical auspices were scenic shorts for the Canadian Pacific Railway and others for the Canadian Government. These were produced before 1910 and exhibited in the store shows of that time, as well as in halls and places which claimed the distinction. of being a theatre. The CPR brought a cameraman from England named Guy Bradford who made many of the scenics and exhibited them him self at special showings. These were included in many movie programs on both sides of the border in those days. Bradford stayed in Canada and later managed a theatre in Saint John. Government films, such as ‘The Railway and Canal System of Canada,’’ were also shown generally, for the average movie program was made up of one-reel films, many of which would be called documentaries of the “courtesy” type today. New uses are being found for non-theatrical films every day. The Hollywood Variety regarded it as front-page news recently when Union Oil decided to present its annual report to shareholders, employees and dealers in film form. Executives of the company decided that a combination of live action and animation would simplify the report and make it more understandable. Best summary of the Canadian non-theatrical field is that of McKim’s Film Facts, which is compiled by Stewart Gillespie, formerly connected with the the May 5, 1948 G. PERRY WRIGHT Popular Toronto office manager for Empire-Universal Films who was recently made Vancouver branch manager for the company. ‘ Greburn-Cavanaugh Nuptials Here Laurence (Larry) Graburn, popular head of Odeon Theatres’ -advertising and publicity, was married in Toronto recently to Verda (Marie Cavanaugh of Calgary. Frank Fisher, Hagle-Lion head, was best man. es Larry is the son of the late Kingsford Graburn of Calgary and the bride is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Lon A. Cavanaugh of the same city. Our special congratulations to the couple, for Larry is one of the Canadian industry’s favorite people. Permits Granted For Two Ont. Drive-ins Permits were recently granted for two new drive-in theatres in Ontario, both of which will feature in-a-car speakers. Park Drive-In Theatres Limited of Toronto have purchased 16 acres of land at Britannia Beach near Ottawa on which the company will build a 900-car, $100,000 open-air theatre. Peter Drive-in Theatres Limited will erect a $75,000 drive-in on the Lakefield Road, one mile north of Peterborough. Wife Of Paramount Executive Passes Hildred O’Neill, wife of Willard J. O’Neill, secretary-treasurer of Paramount Film Service Limited, passed away recently at her home in Toronto. Funeral took place from St. Monica’s Church after a High Mass which was attended by numerous representatives of the motion picture industry and a wide host of friends. Surviving are two daughters, Ellen Elizabeth and Mary Helen, and a son, William Joseph. atre industry and now head of the film division of McKim Advertising, Limited. Characteristics of the various types of films are described by him as Sales Training, Dealer Education, Consumer Education, Personnel Training, Employee Relations, Merchandising, Courtesy Films and Educational Films. These are divided by him into theatre and non-theatre classifications. He gives as a typical estimate for a two-real Kodachrome film the sum of $12,870, which includes the usual agency 15 per cent. But the biggest impetus to Canadian non-theatrical production will be television. In the USA both 20th Century-Fox and Warner Brothers have signed to provide daily television newsreels for sponsored broadcasts. In Canada television, whether showing films or on-the-spot doings, will likely have a Canadian content quota along the lines of Canadian editions of newsreels. Mountie and Manager Seaman Brodies Off | P)@ Theatre Balcony 4 ee? 4 if A 29-year-old seaman, T. R. Ferguson, jumped 25 feet from The National Film Board’s semi-feature, “ROMP File 1365,” the baleony of the Capitol brought color to many movie houses in the land via Mountie uniTheatre, Vancouver, and landed forms. Torchy Coatsworth for Ontario, Sam Miles for the prairie in a sitting position in an upprovinces and Tom Miller for the West Coast provided a grand holstered seat. He suffered superjob of publicity co-operation on the part of the NFB. Here Police ficial bruises. Constable L. C. Pelle of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police He hung on to the balcony rail towers over Ted Smiley of the Victoria, Ottawa, a 20th Century before jumping, shouting, “murtheatre. The film was based on an actual Canadian murder case der, help, police” and was chargand followed the nation-wide Mountie investigation in detail, ed with creating a disturbance,