Canadian Film Weekly (Dec 21, 1960)

Page scan 00022 from Canadian Film Weekly

Record Details:

Title:
Canadian Film Weekly
Date:
Dec 21, 1960
Volume:
Canadian Film Weekly (Dec 21, 1960)
Leaf #:
00022
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 15, 2024
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er Christmas Number FRANK H. FISHER Elected president of the Motion Picture Industry Council of Canada as successor to Chas, S. Chaplin. January Manitoba Motion Picture Exhibitors Association holds annual meeting and re-elects Harry Prygrocki to the presidency. E. L. Bushnell, who recently resigned from the CBC, becomes president of a new firm, Bushnell Broadcasting Associates Ltd., in which he is associated with the N. A. Taylor group. Later the company gets licences for erection of TV stations in Ottawa and Pembroke, Ont. J. J. Fitzgibbons, Jr. elected Chief Barker of the Variety Club of Ontario. MGM signs agreement to make a number of large-scale dramas and musicals in the Cinerama process. Russell Simpson resigns as general manager of the Ottawa Valley Amusement Co. and moves to the West Coast. Meridian Films opens a new subsidiary, The Videotape Centre, the first fully-equipped such studio in Canada. David Axler is elected president of the Motion Picture Theatres Association of Ontario, succeeding Russell Simpson. Frank Gow, 70, Famous Players partner who retired four years ago as its BC District manager, dies in Vancouver. Dr. Herbert T. Kalmus retires as president of Technicolor, Inc., after 45 years and is succeeded by John R. Clark. CANADIAN FILM WEEKLY Roundup of the News 1960 Thermoplastic recording, a new electronic photographic process, is announced by General Electric. Said to be better than either film or videotape, the new system is about five years and $150,000,000 away from practical use. Canadian Film Weekly records show that at the end of 1959 Canada had 1,756 35 mm. theatres, of which 231 were drive-ins. Installations of 70 mm. in Canada now total five and it is estimated that the number will reach 15 by the end of the year at a total cost of about $450,000, aside from expenses incurred by structural changes. Survey by Canadian Film Weekly shows that only three theatres were destroyed by fire in Canada in 1959, as compared to 10 in 1957 and eight in 1958, pointing to a fortunate year in that respect. Opinion about the BBG’s ruling that Canadian TV stations will have to show programs with 55 per cent Canadian content are varied. Ben S. Okun, 56, one of the founders of the Toronto Variety Club and president of Biltmore Theatres, passes suddenly while on vacation in Miami. February Matt Park, veteran Calgary exhibitor and secretary for the last four years of the Alberta Theatres Association, passes. Rank Film Distributors of Canada announces that it is quitting distribution and is turning over its product April 1 to 20th-Fox for release in Canada. Application by Vantel Broadcasting Co. for a licence for a second TV station in Vancouver is the first granted by the BBG. Vantel is headed by Arthur Jones, president of Artray Film Productions Ltd. Station goes on the air in October. In November Famous Players and ATV of the UK buy 25 per cent between them. All restrictions on the remittance of USA film earnings in the UK are lifted. The CBC appoints Capt. W. E. S. Briggs, formerly director of the Maritime provinces, to succeed Ernest L. Bushnell as v-p. Gerald S. Kedey is elected to succeed Spence W. Caldwell as president of The Association of Motion Picture Producers and Laboratories of Canada at the annual meeting in Toronto. First v-p is Henry Michaud, second v-p is John T. Ross and Frank A. Young continues as sec.-treas. A plan is under way for the BBG and the producers’ association to set up a consultative board, similar to a number of such groups already functioning as advisory bodies to the BBG. Announcement is made by Creative Telefilms and Artists of Toronto that sale of $15,000,000 in debentures has been negotiated with Louis Chesler. The company changes its name to Seven Arts Productions Limited. Fourteen booking offices are found to be operating in Canada, a record number, which compares with about six some years ago. They buy for over 350 theatres and return an estimated 17 per cent of the national film rental. British Columbia Exhibitors Association holds its-annual meeting in Vancouver and re-elects Myron C. McLeod and all incumbent officers for another term. Reports of the annual industry meetings are given and discussions range from taxes to Telemeter. Harry A. Alexander, operator of the Lansdowne Theatre in Toronto and prominent in exhibition circles for two decades until illness forced his retirement, passes. March Michael Costom starts demolition of his Canadien Theatre in Montreal. Originally the Ouimetoscope, it was built by Leo Ernest Ouimet in August, 1907, to replace his theatre of the same name which he opened on Jan. 1, 1906. It was Canada’s first successful deluxe operation. It became the Canadien in 1915. Toward the end of the Summer Costom opens his new Canadien on the site, a modern 690-seat theatre. Page 25 GERALD S, KEDEY Succeeds Spence W. Caldwell as president of The Association of Motion Picture Producers and Laboratories of Canada. Telemeter gets under way with 1,000 subscribers attended by fitting launching ceremonies at which local and provincial government reps are in attendance. Paramount top brass and USA Telemeter executives are also present in the Toronto suburb for the opening. By the end of the year the pay-see system has some 6,000 subscribers and is visited by interested parties from all over the world. Many conflicting reports are carried about Telemeter’s chances and costs but the company says that it will take at least a year to properly evaluate its success or failure. Leslie Allen and a group of associates take over New Vinray Mines Ltd. and change it to Atlas Telefilm Ltd. The new company acquires a large group of films from Britain’s Ealing Studio for distribution to TV and later adds product from several other companies. Ontario branch of the Canadian Picture Pioneers holds its annual meeting in Toronto and elects four new directors to the 1l-man board. The directors meet the following week and name Frank H. Fisher president as successor to R. W. Bolstad, Dan Krendel to Fisher’s former position as v-p and Lionel Lester sec.-treas. Montreal cuts the per-seat theatre licence fee from $1.08 to 27c. President of Associated Screen Industries of Montreal and Du Art Film Laboratories of NY, Al