Canadian Film Weekly (Nov 28, 1956)

Short Throws TORONTO exhibition patterns are changing because of long runs tieing up such theatres as Shea’s, Tivoli and the University. To put Allied Artists’ Friendly Persuasion before a large public at the same time day-and-date exhibition was arranged for the Towne Cinema, usually an art house with 693 seats, and the Eglinton, which has 1,080 seats. The Towne Cinema is a 20th Century Theatres’ house and the Eglinton belongs to Famous Players. Now Jack Labow of RKO has sold Death of a Scoundrel to Odeon for its beautiful uptown showcase, the Hyland. FOURTH screen in three years, this one from Vicra-lite, is being installed in the Uptown, Toronto. The new one is claimed to have 60 per cent more lighting. ODEON has been trying vaudeville oftener lately than in the recent past. The Mercier, Montreal has a weekly flesh and film program, the vaudeville being in French. It is also touring a USA Rock ’n’ Roll show, the Harlem Review, throughout Ontario at raised prices. SAFE-DRIVING Day has been extended to Safe-Driving Week by the Canadian Highway Safety Conference and is scheduled for December 1-7. Backed by Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent and the Premiers of all ten provinces, the campaign is endorsed by innumerable corporations, industries and associations. It urges pedestrians and drivers to observe all the common-sense safety rules of walking and driving for the special week and all the time. PRESENTATION of the 1956 Edison Awards for films, television and radio will be shared by Mary Pickford, Charles F. Kettering, president of the Thomas Alva Edison Foundation, which sponsors the Awards, and Charles Edison, honorary president. Some _ 500 guests of the Foundation will watch the ceremonies, which will take place at a dinner in the WaldorfAstoria Hotel, NY on December 3. Ralph J. Cordiner, president of General Electric, will be guest speaker. REFERRING to the 1956-57 edition of the Year Book of the Canadian Motion Picture Industry as “an authoritative guide for all those who require factual knowledge of the Dominion motion picture industry,” The Film Daily of New York, in its Book Reviews section, goes on to say: “‘All the vital statistics of Canadian exhibition, production and distribution are there.” The review lauds N. A. Taylor's Our Business article, CANADIAN FILM WEEKLY Martin Quigley, Jr., Presents Award to John McKim Shown above are Martin Quigley, Jr., of New York (right) presenting The Motion Picture Herlad’s Quigley Grand Award for Showmanship to Odeon Theatres’ John McKim at last week’s annual meeting of the Motion Picture Theatres Association of Ontario in the King Edward Hotel, Toronto. At the time of winning of the Award, which is given for the best campaign conducted by a manager in Canada or the USA, McKim was supervisor of the Odeon Theatre in Ladysmith, BC, but has since been promoted to the advertising and publicity department at Odeon’s head office in Toronto as assistant to Ron Leonard. which, it says, ‘‘intelligently summarizes the Canadian Industry situation.”’ JANET SCELLEN, who was the first National Film Board employee after John Grierson was hired 17 years ago, was presented with an oil painting as a wedding gift by Government Film Commissioner A. W. Trueman for her colleagues. She will leave the NFB after her marriage and live in New York, where she was stationed. FIRE recently destroyed Arthur Mitchell’s 250-seat Mayfair Theatre, the only one in Port Elgin, New Brunswick. Damage was estimated at $30,000. ORGANIZED to disseminate information to projectionists on new techniques and developments, the Projectionists Information Committee of the SMPTE will distribute its news mostly through popularized technical articles in the IA Bulletin. Chairman of the committee is Ralph Heacock and vicechairman is Merle Chamberlin. COURT CASE in Montreal may grow out of the summons issued to J. Arthur Hirsch and William Elman on the complaint of P. F. Portael of Brussels, president of Trans-Canada Film Distributors Corporation. The summons, signed by Judge Proulx at the request of Rene Dandurand, QC, requires Hirsch and Elman to be on hand for the answering of questions related to the operation of two small distribution comanies handling European films. They and Portael were jointly interested and the Belgian wants $50,000 that he claims should have come to him during the four-year association be GOODWILL tour of the Hon. Paul Martin, Minister of Health and Welfare, around the world is being filmed by Roy Tash, newsreel photographer of Associated Screen News Limited, which supplies 80 per cent of Canadian newsreel content. The trip will include Canada’s representation at the Colombo Plan conference and many discussions with Asian country leaders on matters of world importance. CLOSED for nearly a year, the 441-seat Capitol, the only theatre in Paris, Ontario, has been leased from Premier Operating by J. Kent Craig, who operates three theatres in Hamilton, Ontario. DAMAGE estimated at $600 was caused to Odeon Theatres’ Capitol in Moncton, NB by a recent fire in one of the washrooms during a Saturday matinee. Quick work by the staff confined the blaze and emptied the theatre of the large crowd of children without any confusion and without anyone being injured. RETURNED by acclamation for the 12th time as deputy reeve of York Township, Charles Cashman of Photo Engravers is entering his 21st year on the Council. November 28, 1956 Gray Successor To Marshall At NFB Successor to C. W. Marshall, NFB senior official recently appointed representative in Southeast Asia, is C. W. Gray, distribution supervisor in the Prairie Province. He will be assisted by Pierre de Bellefeuille, associate chief of distribution under L. W. Chatwin, who will handle French-Canadian matters. Marshall leaves for Delhi, India early in January and will establish headquarters in the office of the Canadian High Commissioner. He joined the NFB 12 years ago. No Olympics Movies For TV, Newsreels After negotiating for over a year with the Melbourne committee of the Olympic Games 25 American, Canadian, British and West European theatre and TV _ newsreel organizations have _ abandoned plans to show daily films due to restrictions set by the committee. This latter body proposed taking its own movies and_ releasing three minutes of film each day free of charge. The 25 organizations had agreed to use only three minutes of film in any one newsreel and no more than nine minutes a day but wanted to take their own films. The result is that films of the Games will only be shown after the Games conclude. ae Near? Christmas New Years Order your holiday trailers from ASN * In Eastmancolor or black and white In English, in French or bilingual Order now without delay. * ASSOCIATED SCREEN NEWS 2000 Northcliffe Ave. Montreal