Canadian Film Weekly (Jan 17, 1968)

Page scan 0000 from Canadian Film Weekly

Record Details:

Title:
Canadian Film Weekly
Date:
Jan 17, 1968
Volume:
Canadian Film & TV Bi-Weekly (Jan 17, 1968)
Leaf #:
0000
Language:
English
Collection:
Global Cinema, Canada, and Hollywood Studio System
Format:
periodicals
Contributor:
Media History Digital Library, Canadian Media Magazines Project, 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 08, 2024
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Vol. 33, No. 2 *% VOICE OF THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY Incorporating the CANADIAN MOVING PICTURE DIGEST (Founded 1915) TORONTO, January 17, 1968 N.A. Taylor Honored Famous, Shel! Establish Credit-Card Moviegoing By Film Importers IFIDA (Independent Film Importors and _ Distributors’ of America) at a dinner this Friday in New York will present a special citation to N. A. Taylor, president of Twinex-Century Theatress fors-“contributions to the promotion of innational films in Canada as an exhibitor, distributor and adviser to the motion picture industry.” A founding dir2 Se ector of the Mo 5 Oe tion Picture Theatre Owners Association of Canada, Taylor is a member of the Motion Picture Distributors Association of Canada as president of International Film Distributors Limited, which distributes the product of Allied Artists, Embassy, Cinerama and Walter Reade. Sharing the spotlight with Taylor in the Imperial Ballroom of the Hotel Americana will be Rev. Father John M. Culkin, SJ, director of Fordham University’s Centre for Communications. A spe (Continued on Page 2) e Circuit enjoys benefits from 253 Ont. stations and 250,000 card-holders Credit-card moviegoing, a first for Canada, has gotten underway in Metropolitan Toronto following a deal between Famous Players and Shell Oil covering hardticket roadshow engagements in four theatres—the Eglinton (Doctor Dolittle), University’ (Camelot), Nortown (Thoroughly Mod “Heat Of The Night” NY Critics’ Choice Walter Miuirsch-United Artists’ In the Heat of the Night, directed by Canadian Norman Jewison, drew two of the top approbations in recent balloting by the New York Film Critics’ Circle, an annual event considered to be more than somewhat prophetic insofar as subsequent Academy Awards are concerned. In the Heat of the Night was selected as best picture by the 15 voting critics, while one of its (Continued on Page 3) A NEW SERVICE for Shell Oil credit-card customers and a new promotional ploy for Famous Players Theatres, this is the nub of discussion between Clare Kappler (right) Shell’s manager of petroleum products retailing; Bud Barker (centre), Famous advertising-publicity director, and Jim Cameron, FP’s publicity-promotion supervisor. eg Damage jiffy YWjfyyy) By Famo Dinuore Yyyy 4 —Staff photo “yyy Hh Othe yy ZU ern Millie) and Glendale (Far From the Madding Crowd), the last being an affiliated Twinex Century house. Worked out by Jim Cameron, head of Famous’ group sales, and Clare Kappler, Shell’s manager of petroleum products retailing, the agreement likely will become national at a later date. Meanwhile, Famous will be enjoying the benefit of direct mailings by Shell Oil to 250,000 credit card customers throughout Ontario, the country’s largest and most affluent market. The circuit will benefit further from special roadshow posters displayed by alt Shell service stations in the province, catching credit customers who might not have been included in the initial mailing. Cost of this unique tie-in for Famous is an eight per cent ser (Continued on Page 3) Film Pioneer & Writer Sol Allen Dies At 65 Sol Allen, movie pioneer and writer, died in Toronto Jan. 7 following a lengthy illness. He was 65. Native of Bradford, PA., the deceased was one of the four Allen brothers who’ with their father, Barney Allen, became one of the most powerful forces in the fledgling film industry of the early 1900’s. Settling in Brantford, Ont., they opened their first theatre in 1906 as the cornerstone of a circuit which grew to more than 40 and the same year formed a distribution company which ultimately became Columbia Pictures of Canada. Over the years, in the ebb and flow of a mercurial industry, the Allen holdings changed face and character. Today the family is no longer in distribution but con (Continued on Page 2) Westbrook In Calgary Ist ‘Automated House e Odeon & Twinex circuits have ordered automatic projection equipment Automated moviehouses, a fact of exhibition life in Britain for more than 12 years and installed in almost 500 UK theatres to date, are finally becoming part of the North American scene. First in Canada to let a robot into the projection booth is Monal Properties’ new dual auditorium in Calgary—the Westbrook Cinemas 1 and 2—in which General Sound installed a Cinematic System providing automatic projector starting, changeovers, non-sync’ rectification, cur tain openings and closings, up/ and down houselights and entr’acte music. Bill Walterhouse, who super vised installation (the Westbrook opened Dec. 28), described it as the No. 2 automated system his company is handling. The first or most basic, is called Project-o YY Matic which simply provides automatic starting and change over. Not yet in inventory at General Sound is the more inclusive Cinematic-Technomatic system which provides’ everything mentioned so far plus automatic marquee lighting, activation of concessions booths and automatic control of heating and air conditioning, and so on. One of the reasons Britain is so far ahead in the robot race is that the mechanically-brained consul which operates the sys tems was developed about 15 (Continued on Page 2) “Que. Film Makers Name Officers The Association of Film Mak— ers of Quebec (L’Association des Producteurs de Films du Quebec) have named Jean Dansereau as their president for the 1968 term. Elected with him were Guy Fournier, vice-president; Jacques Collins and David Bier, counselors, and Arthur Lamothe, secretarytreasurer. ob 4 , f : 4 ;