Canadian Film Weekly (May 20, 1964)

CANADIAN FILM WEEKLY May 20, 1964 Short Throws NOTES: For prizes in its share of Toronto Confections’ Let’s Score in '64 contest Rowntree’s is putting up 25 shares of Famous Players stock, with first, second and third prizes being seven, six and four shares. FryCadbury's prizes went to B. Lamoureux, Windsor ($150); B. Wilson, Edmonton ($75); C. Doctor, Vancouver ($50); and B. Trudell, London ($25) A recorded synthesis of film ratings, prepared at a Catholic college and narrated by a priest, is available in Washington by phone through Dial aMovie Mrs. Saul (Molly) Nisker, secretary to Harvey Harnick, Columbia’s Canadian general manager, was elected president of the women’s section of District 22 of the B’nai B'rith at its inaugural convention in Montreal Charles Mason, Odeon ad-pub director, will be the speaker at a May 25 meeting of the Campbellford (Ont.) Rotary Club Ken Johnston is now assistant to Jeremy Brown, entertainment editor of The Telegram, Toronto, and Gordon Frogatt is now entertainment editor of The Globe and Mail, Toronto ... Ed Mirvish is now managing director of the Royal Alexandra Theatre, Toronto, replacing Ed De Rocher, who has other responsibilities, among them those of comptroller . . . The Coca-Cola Co. will merge with the Duncan Foods Co. of Houston and this will involve $32,000,000 of C-C stock _ Donald L. Bennett, 42, has been appointed director of program policy for CBC TV and radio, a new position. The Carman, Man. native, a former RCAF pilot who joined the CBC in 1951, will be responsible for programming policies and standards . . . Windsor, Ont. will have a harness track next February that will permit year-round racing. Al Siegel, Wm. Rowe and Mayor M. J. Patrick are the principals . Prime Minister Castro of Cuba has lifted the ban against USA films and they are now being shown in cinemas and on TV . Actors Equity Association has elected Frederick O’Neal, 58, its president. He is the first Negro to hold that post. SOLE AGENT for documentary film material by Hitler’s Germany is now a West German state company, Transit Films. This followed the return of the copyright of films captured by the Americans as war booty, the use of which was free. Transit is charging high fees, such as 23 pounds per foot to Jack Le Vien for use in his Churchill film, The Finest Hours, and it forced a 14 minute newsreel on a _ producer Ld com + ey Eee eos aly Wiig | furs te 7/7 “SQUARE , © wil NESOSSW ['! PETER SELLERS will star as Fagin in Columbia’s film version of the stage hit, Oliver. That ought to make the anti-defamationists feel easier about the way the character is played. Sellers, like Lionel Bart, who wrote Oliver, is Jewish . . . Both Charlie Mason of Odeon and Jimmy Nairn of Famous upped to Bill Watt of The Star when = he wrote them about the low character of film ads, asking for examples. He replied that he didn’t mean them .. . Ottawa will send out a Confederation train. In 1913 the late Bill Redpath accompanied a Buy Ontario train that used to stop in rural areas and welcome sightseers of the goods being shown. At night Bill would lower a sheet down the side of one of the cars and put on a movie show for large . crowds . Tony Curtis stopped for gas and _ the ..—§ attendant asked if he hadn’t seen him somewhere before . . . “Maybe at your neighborhood theatre,” he replied... . “Could be,” said the attendant. “Where do you usually sit?” .. . Jim Harrison, who has had a hard time physically the past few years, will leave 20th Century Theatres, where he is ad director, for more treatment and a long rest. A fine fellow and outstanding in his craft, we'll miss Jim . . . Ed Hocura left The Hamilton Spectator, where he was film critic for years. Stewart Brown took over. I hope Ed lands in Toronto. Good man .. . In the very funny Columbia short, The Critic, Mel Brooks, who wrote and narrated it, seems to be joshing the heck out of those Norman McLaren ink-on-film doodlings, so beloved of the National Film Board. I ENJOYED the Canadian Film Awards’ presentations immensely, as did all present. Wayne & Shuster were fresh and bright in their comments and observations and made the evening. I was lucky in having lively company at the table — the Nat Taylors, the Ron Weymans, Variety’s Paul Gardner of Ottawa, the NFB’s Mike Spencer of Montreal and Gil Rodan of Revue in Hollywood, who is working with Wayne & Shuster on the Revue-CBC coproduction series about old films .. . The dinner of the Canadian Society of Cinematographers, in the Tudor Room of the Royal York, was another enjoyable occasion. I sat with the Bob Martins, the Dean Walkers and Chris Chapman, he of the perceptive camerawork, who is just back from photographing the maiden voyage of the rebuilt champion sailing ship of two generations ago, The Bluenose. A stormy time it was, too . . . Gordon Sparling helped Guy Cote obtain the first sound camera used in Toronto and it will become part of his collection of film equipment, which will one day soon be used to inaugurate a film museum in Montreal . I hear that Robert Hershorn, coproducer of the Montreal-made feature, Take It All, is looking at several scripts with a view to making more features — but of a less experimental nature . . . Graham Gordon, who made a flurry with his short, Old Soldiers Never Die, has finished the feature he has been making quietly for 14 months . . . Johnny Foster has designed a light, facile camera that won the admiration of George Fenyon, Guy Cote and others when he showed it to us after he and wife Pam Hyatt invited us to their room for a drink following the CSC dinner... 1 don’t know why the Canadian Film Institute discriminated against us in releasing news of the awards. The daily papers got a pre-release in time to carry them on Saturday. We didn’t and so you are getting the results a week late. I like Roy Little but I must say that my press relations with the CFI have been quite unsatisfactory. It’s this sort of thing that gives Ottawa a reputation for being a sleepy town. ee Times. Director of NCFB is James A. Beveridge, formerly with the National Film Board of Canada, and Grant Crabtree, also a Canadian and a one-time NFB cinematographer, is working with him. The films shown were The Road to Carolina, an_historical film, The Ayes Have it, who wanted an item from it. “It does seem unfortunate that Transit should have difficult relations with responsible film-makers who are interested in historical record, not sensation,’ wrote Pendennis in The Observer, London, in a story on the subject. SCREENING of three 16 mm. documentaries of nine to be completed up to September by the North Carolina Film Board brought praise from Howard Thompson in the New York which deals with state legislative procedure, and The Dying Frontier, about Appalachia. The documentaries project was begun over two years ago by Governor Sanford. G. G. E. Steele The Eye On CBC, NFB For Lamontagne GG: E. tErnest) Steele, see retary of the Treasury Board of the federal Government for the past four years, has been appeinted to the newly-created post of second deputy minister in the Department of the Secretary of State, it was announced in the House of Commons by Prime Minister Lester Pearson. Effective May 15 Steele took over as the senior official to oversee the responsibilities allocated to Secretary of State Maurice Lamontagne for the CBC, the NFB and other agencies. How this affects the position held by Gordon Sheppard as special assistant on cultural affairs to Lamontagne, if it affects it at all, is not known. Samuel Firestone Passes Samuel Firestone, for many years an exhibitor until leaving the industry in the 50’s, died in Toronto’s Baycrest Hospital. At one time he had a theatre in Brantford, operated the Mayfair and Esquire in Toronto with his son Harry, and was for some years a partner in the Midtown, Toronto. Gillson Prexy; Fenyon V-P Canadian Cinematographers Denis Gillson was re-elected president of the Canadian Society of Cinematographers at the recent annual meeting in Toronto. George Fenyon is vicepresident, Robert Humble secretary and Francois Seguillon treasurer. Committee chairmen are Education — Wally Gentleman, Membership Relations — John Spotton and Public Relations — Gene Boyko. All are from the National Film Board but Fenyon, a freelancer: Chairman of the Toronto Chapter is John Gunn, ASP Productions. Grahame Woods, Canadian Broadcasting Corp.; Bob Brooks, Chetwynd Films; and Gordon Petty, Film Techniques, are members of his committee. Turnbull Leaves Gen. Sound; John J. Kilcullen Promoted Eastern Division manager in Montreal and Chief Engineer of General Sound and _ Theatre Equipment for many years, Allison D. Turnbull, P. Eng., has resigned, it was announced at the company’s head office in Toronto last week by Lloyd C. Pearson, president and general manager. Turnbull spent over 35 years with Northern Electric, Dominion Sound and _ General Sound and will be available to the company in an advisory capacity as sound consultant. He intends moving to Sydney, NS. John J. Kilcullen, who served the various companies for 30 years as aide to Turnbull, has been named Quebec District manager and will assume some of Turnbull’s responsibilities.