Canadian Film Weekly (Mar 7, 1956)

Vol 21, No. 10 VOICE of the CANADIAN MOTION TORONTO, MARCH 7, PICTURE 1956 INDUSTRY $3.00 Per Annum ‘MR. ROBERTS’ CHOSEN BY OUR CRITICS "MARTY" NOSED OUT BY WB COMEDY; GRACE KELLY LEADING PLAYER The best feature film shown in Canada during 1955 was Warner Brothers’ CinemaScope comedy in WarnerColor of the United States Navy supply ships, Mister Roberts, it was decided by press, radio and TV critics in the closest Red Cross Good Picture Account Forty-eight institutions providing 2,500 bookings for Canadian distributors of 16 mm. programs created a market worth over $30,000 in 1955, said Jack Cruickshank, who makes the arrangements for the Red Cross Society. The 48 institu (Continued on Page 4) Award Nominees In Other Group Academy nominees in the best picture, best male star, best female star, best male supporting player and best female supporting player categories were carried in last week’s edition. Two films in the _ best-picture category; The Rose Tattoo and (Continued on Page 8) Fewer Pictures In ‘55 But More Got Votes The quality of motion pictures is steadily increasing, if one judges by the voting in our Critics’ Poll to select the ten best pictures of 1955. Just about the same number of critics and commentators voted this year as in the past few but the number of pictures named from a smaller list of eligible films was greater. In 1953 the voters named a total of 78 features from 198 eligible. In 1954, with the number of features having fallen sharply to 157, 80 were named. In 1955 the number of features showed another drop—to 146—and of these the voters selected 91 for inclusion. in the Ten Best. It seems that the players were giving better performances also. The number who got votes in the Ten Best Poll was 106 in 1954—and 109 in 1955. What’s a good picture? It seems that the professional experts differ widely. NB Exhibs’ Delegation Presents Tax Brief An average decline of theatre revenue in 1955 of 15 per cent is expected and New Brunswick exhibitors can no longer afford to let the provincial government have the amusement tax, a brief submitted by a delegation from the Maritime Motion Picture Exhibitors’ Association said last week. It was presented at the NB capital, Fredericton, by a delegation led by F. Gordon Spencer, Saint John, and it asked for a removal of the tax, which averages between lic and 12c per ticket. Theatres, now sick from conditions beyond their control, have for 40 years contributed more (Continued on Page 4) "The Buster Keaton Story’ Donald O’Connor will star in Paramount’s The Buster Keaton Story, the biography of the famed silent screen comedian. FULL-LENGTH FILM OF QUEBEC CITY’S CARNIVAL PLANNED "Cockleshell' Visitors Big Hit In Toronto Visit to Toronto of Trevor Howard, Yana and Bill Sparks, DSM, for the premiere of Columbia’s Cockleshell Heroes at the Odeon-Toronto, drew a tremendous amount of publicity from newspapers, TV and radio. Howard and Yana are in the film and Sparks is a survivor of the operation it is based on. The trio was accompanied by Mrs. Howard, Bob McElwaine, v-p and USA rep of Warwick, which made the film, and Jim Nullmeyer, his assistant. A Aeature film with Quebec City’s annual winter carnival as iis setting will be made by Rene Sarvil, and author, it was reported last week. Sarvil, Quebec with the Marcel Pagnol Theatre Compeny, discussed vote yet in the annual Ten Best poll of the Canadian Film Weekly. Runner-up in a picture finish was United Artists’ black-and-white picture of life in the Bronx, Marty, which lost out by the narrowest margin in the 14-year history of the poll. Both films have been nominated for Academy Awards. Tops in the selections for the Ten Best players was Grace Kel (Continued on Page 3) Full Poll Results Inside Complete results in both the pictures and players polls are to be found on Page 9. Film Daily Poll 1-2 With Ours USA critics, voting in the “Ten Best” of 1955 poll conducted by The Film Daily, and Canadian critics, giving their choices in the Canadian Film Weekly balloting, picked the same pictures for first and second place—Mr. Roberts and Marty. Their third (Continued on Page 3) Three Houses Close Three theatres in Quebec closed recently. They are R. St. Pierre’s 450-seat Capitol in Senneterre, R. Matte’s 500-seat Plaza in Buckingham and J. Croisetiere’s 250-seat Oasis, also in Buckingham. All three showed both English and French films. Some Interesting Variety Guests and Hosts The second Variety luncheon meeting, in the Sheraton Room of the King Edward Hotel, was well attended. After the business meeting some interesting guests were presented by those who had invited them. Above is the head table group. The front row, left to right, shows Chief Barker David Griesdorf; Miss Mahalia Jackson, the famed Gospel singer; Ringmaster Nat Taylor; and Rev. Daniel of the Grant African Episcopal Church. Back row: Frank Shuster of Wayne & Shuster, who brought Dave Broad foot, the well-known comedian, shown next to him; Lorne Greene, inter national stage star, a former Canvasman; and the Rev. Ray McCleary, one of Variety’s chaplains, who invited Miss Jackson and Rev. Daniel. Several guests famed internationally will be presented at the next meeting, to be held at noon, Thursday, March 29 in the King Edward Hotel. wai G oe Td Sow er ene ys French actor while in lyric writer in France. POE SaR FORO RR TER eee ATO SN I ot NT are the plan with Roger Vezina, director general of the Quebec ; Theatre of Commerce. With interiors to be shot in Paris, a French-Canadians will play the leads. Sarvil is a well-known re Shooting will begin next winter.