Canadian Film Weekly (Feb 27, 1970)

Page scan 0002 from Canadian Film Weekly

Record Details:

Title:
Canadian Film Weekly
Date:
Feb 27, 1970
Volume:
Canadian Film Weekly (Feb 27, 1970)
Leaf #:
0002
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:
April 11, 2024
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FEBRUARY 27, 1970 CANADIAN FILM WEEKLY Page 3 f | ITS MY BAG By Ed Hocura To hear Frank McCarthy tell it, George C. Scott was not his origi nal choice to play the controversial U.S. Army General in Patton. McCarthy, who served under General George Marshall in the Second World War, spent a couple of days in Toronto recently beating the publicity drums for the 20th Century-Fox war film which will have its Canadian Premiere at the University on March 11. McCarthy revealed that it took almost 20 years for the film biography of General George Patton to reach the screen. “In the beginning, Spencer Tracy was my first choice, but because of objections from the U.S. Army and the Patton family it took me years to convince everyone that the Patton story was in public domain. I then switched from Tracy to Burt Lancaster because I wanted a younger actor. But when I was finally given the go-ahead by the Zanucks, I settled for George C. Scott.” McCarthy joined 20th Century-Fox following his stint in the U.S. Army, produced two pictures (Decision Before Dawn and Sailor of The Kings) and spent the ensuing years as a studio executive. He returned to producing with A Guide For The Married Man, the first American film to be released with an “M” rating. “After that I settled down to preparing Patton, which finally got underway in Spain in January, 1969. I won’t deny that I wasn’t more than a little disappointed that the studio didn’t release Patton in time to qualify for the Academy Awards. But they didn’t want my film to overshadow Hello, Dolly.” Faced with rave reviews from the New York film critics, but mixed reviews from Time and Newsweek, McCarthy discovered to his surprise that he overlooked television as a selling point. “Right from the time he saw the film, Johnny Carson told his audience how much he enjoyed it. He invited George C. Scott to be his guest on two different occasions, and Carson’s enthusiasm for the film made a noticeable impact on ticket sales. I don’t think I’m over-estimating when I say that the boost we got from Carson will be worth three million dollars at the boxoffice.” McCarthy is still miffed over 20th Century-Fox’s decision to shelve Tom Swift, which he had budgeted as a $15 million roadshow attraction. “I disagree with their thinking that this film was too big a risk in today’s market. I believe that the enormous audience that turned out to see ‘The Sound of Music’ are still out there, and they will come out to see something special. But I have been told that Tom Swift will only be considered as a future project if it can be redesigned to fit a smaller . budget. I don’t know if it can be done, but I’m sure going to give it _ one helluva try.” Once all the various premieres for Patton are launched in the U.S., McCarthy plans to devote all his time preparing a new concept for Tom Swift. He spent almost a million dollars on the building of a special airship for the film, which today is gathering dust in a Kansas aircraft plant. * * * THE BIG, BAD PRESS: Paramount and 20th Century-Fox had little to cheer about when Toronto Star reviewers had unkind things to say about two major films slated to have their Canadian premieres in March. Which again brings up the problem of inviting film critics to advance critics, and expecting them to hold off publishing their reviews until the films open. Both The Adventurers and Patton received unflattering reviews from Toronto Star critics Dorothy Mikos and Jim Beebe, and needless to say both Paramount and 20th Century-Fox were more than upset in seeing the reviews published before they mounted their advance publicity campaigns. The Adventurers was previewed for members of the news media aboard a TWA jet giant on its inaugural flight from New York to Los Angeles; Patton was previewed at Toronto’s Nortown Theatre, and could not be considered as a private screening since it was open to people from all walks of life. In both cases, the Toronto Star did not feel they were breaking their agreement with distributors and exhibitors that advance reviews would not be published for films seen by their reviewers in screening rooms. The paper contends that since people other than film critics were invited to see these films, printing the reviews was in keeping with reporting things as they happen. Which, in my estimation, was their right to do. Any distributor who invites the press on a publicity junket or a public preview has no reason to expect that a film critic will hold off publishing a A distinguished guest at the preview of Patton in Toronto was U.S. Consul General Alan Moreland, left, shown above with producer Frank McCarthy and Victor Beattie, Canadian general manager for 20th Century-Fox Corp. Ltd. review until a particular film begins its regular engagement. And Paramount and 20th Century-Fox have no recourse in feeling that the Toronto Star should have held back the reviews on The Adventurers and Patton. What happened will happen again, and distributors will have to face up to it. But are two unflattering reviews from such a powerful newspaper as the Toronto Star cause for concern for Para— mount and 20th Century-Fox? Only if they underestimate the paying public’s desire to see two films that could emerge as big moneymakers. Even if every film critic in the country pans The Adventurers, the phenomenal success of the novel by Harold Robbins has given the film a pre-sold guarantee that thousands of readers of the book want to see it. As for Patton, this controversial war movie may appear to be a boxoffice risk with its all-male cast but it could turn out to be a big winner. The boxoffice fates of The Adventurers and Patton lies with the paying public. Unflattering reviews from a major Canadian newspaper, I feel, are nothing to worry about. But if Paramount and 20th Century-Fox feel they are, we'll just have to wait and see what happens when The Adventurers and Patton open in Toronto theatres. American war veterans Forrest Monner, Bob Wolfe, Allan Pohn and Andy Krestel, all living in Toronto, gave their seal of approval to Frank McCarthy, right, producer of Patton, after they attended a preview of the war film which will have its Canadian Premiere at the University Theatre on March 11. (Photos by Len Bishop)