Canadian Film Weekly (Nov 21, 1956)

Page scan 0000 from Canadian Film Weekly

Record Details:

Title:
Canadian Film Weekly
Date:
Nov 21, 1956
Volume:
Canadian Film Weekly (Nov 21, 1956)
Leaf #:
0000
Language:
English
Collection:
Canada, Hollywood Studio System, and Global Cinema
Format:
periodicals
Contributor:
Media History Digital Library, Greig Dymond in memory of David Dymond, 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:
May 23, 2024
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Se Vol. 21, No. 45 A VOICE. of the CANADIAN MOTION PICTURE INDUSTRY TORONTO, NOVEMBER 21, 1956 3.00 Per Annum FOX 57 PROGRAM: 50-54 FEATURES OURSLER'S LIFE OF CHRIST TO BE A TWO-YEAR PROJECT Twentieth Century-Fox, through a heartening announcement by President Spyros P. Skouras to a press conference in New York, made known its 1957 production schedule, which calls for from 50 to 54 feature productions, among them a two Astral To Handle Ten From Tudor Ten features, to be made at a cost of $125,000 each by Tudor Pictures, Inc., starting in January, will be distributed in Canada by Astral Films Limited, it was announced jointly by IJ. H. Allen, head of the latter company, and Moe Kerman of New York, presi(Continued on Page 5) CFI May Spread; Re-elect Cowan Growth of the Canadian Film Institute, a non-profit organization directed by Charles Topshee from Ottawa, may cause it to be decentralized in the future, James Cowan, president, told the annual meeting, held in the National Film Board offices, Toronto, recently. (Continued on Page 3) Toll TV Future Bright; Show TV NSG—Fitz “‘Pay-as-you-see TV has a tremendous future. We know, through surveys and so on, that if the viewer is offered top-flight entertainment uninterrupted by commercials, he'll be glad to pay the $1 or so it will cost.’’ That's what J. J. Fitzgibbons, president of Famous Players, told Ron Evans in an Associated Press interview printed by many papers. A $100 installation fee and a $5 monthly charge, in addition to the Telemeter coin box, will put any house on the hookup, which is ready and needs only government approval. “One other system — closed circuit theatre TV — appears unlikely to make much progress,”’ the CP story says. The price of telecasting rights are too high, Fitzgibbons informed Evans, and theatres can’t outbid TV. Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver and other large centres will get toll TV first if okayed, Fitzgibbons said. Fight For 12-Month Biz, Shackleford Urges The only hope theatres have for fighting TV competition during its peak period — Fall and Winter — is “‘a steady supply of good pictures,” yet the best pictures were being released in the summer to increased grosses, A. W. Shackleford, president of the Alberta Theatres Association, told the recent annual meeting in Red Deer. “We cannot hope to maintain costly and well-appointed theatres on a part-of-the-year basis; ours must be a 12-month business and we must do everything in our power to make it so,” he said. He urged renewed vigor to interest the public. Drive-in fees charged by the (Continued on Page 12) Mitzi Gaynor Cast in ‘Joker’ Mitzi Gaynor has been added to the cast of Paramount’s The Joker Is Wild, which stars Frank Sinatra in the title role. PARAMOUNT THIRD _ QUARTER FIGURES NDICATE DECLINE @ATI Annual Meeting Date November 28 Annual meeting of Quebec Allied Theatrical Industries has _ been scheduled for November 28 at the Mount Royal Hotel in Montreal. It will follow by a week the annual conferences in Toronto of the National Committee of Motion Picture Exhibitors Associations and the Motion Picture Industry Council of Canada. Delegates and observers from QATI, who will bring back the reports of the Toronto meetings, are Doris Robert, Leo Choquette, Bill Lester and John Ganetakos. Paramsunt Pictures Corporation reports $1,742,000 as consolidated net earnings for the third quarter of 1956, which represents 87c¢ per share, including 4¢ per share non-recurring profit on sale of film, etc. These earnings compare with year project about the life of Christ. Since the company produced 26 pictures this year, the news, which revealed plans for its greatest production activity in 20 years, will do much to bolster the morale of exhibitors, who have been worried about the shrinking supply of screen fare. It is obvious that 20th-Fox does not intend to depend on a few big pictures for its economic health, although it was the company which led the industry in that direction by initiating CinemaScope some years ago. Its product will again take into account every segment of (Continued on Page 3) AA Earnings Up; Best Backlog Yet Entering the 1957 fiscal year “with the largest and strongest picture backlog” in its history, Allied Artists expects sharp increases in its business volume in 1957 and 1958, Steve Broidy, the company’s president, stated in his annual report. AA’s total gross (Continued on Page 6) New BC Theatre DC Theatre Company has opened its third theatre, the Crest, in Dawson Creek, British Columbia. The other two houses, the only ones in the community, are the Vogue and the Northland and both are managed by D. Rosebourn. PREMIER FROST FOR CPP DINNER The Pioneer of the Year Award, designated for Oscar R. Hanson by the Canadian Picture Pioneers, will be presented by the Honorable Leslie M. Frost, QC, LL.D, DCL, Prime Minister of Ontario. The dinner will take place in the Crystal Ballroom, King Edward Hotel, Toronto, on November 22. Mayor Nathan Phillips will be among the distinguished guests at the head table and motion picture people from many parts of Canada have made known their intention of being among the 400 who can be accommodated. A supplementary award will be presented to James A. Whitebone, MBE, Saint John, NB, IATSE representative, for a career of distinction in both the industry and public life. John J. Fitzgibbons, CBE, will place it in his hands after some appropriate words. A member of the Winnipeg division of the Pioneers will be given the award for the most active branch by Morris Stein, CPP president, who will act as toastmaster. George Oullahan, co-ordinator of the dinner, feels that the dinner, to be followed by a dance, will provide the most enjoyable time yet. Chet Friedman, heading the ticket committee, urges that you make your ticket arrangements now, for a capacity attendance is indicated. TV Actress Signed Kathy Nolan, New York television actress and model, has been cast by producer Jerome C. Robinson for a leading role in the Sterling Hayden starrer, The Trial of Benjie Galt, Grand Production for United Artists, currently being directed by Sidney Salkow. Miss Nolan recently played the role of Wendy in Peter Pan. $2,515,000 or $1.15 per share in 1955. The nine-month figure is estimated at $6,743,000 compared with $7,680,000 in 1955-——$3.37 per share against $3.51. Dividends were based on 1,999,816 shares in 1956 and 2,188,911 in 1955. Kay Kendall Loaned The Rank Organization’s glamorous Kay Kendall has been loaned to MGM to star as an English ballerina in Sol C. Siegel’s production of Les Girls. The charming and vivacious Miss Kendall will sing and dance in the musical, set for a January start, in which Gene Kelly and Mitzi Gaynor are also starred.