Canadian Film Weekly (Mar 27, 1970)

Page scan 0003 from Canadian Film Weekly

Record Details:

Title:
Canadian Film Weekly
Date:
Mar 27, 1970
Volume:
Canadian Film Weekly (Mar 27, 1970)
Leaf #:
0003
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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ITS MY BAG By Ed Hocura Betting on the Academy Awards is like betting on a football game, a hockey game or a horse race. You weigh the odds, consider the qualifications of the entries and put your money on the line. It may be possible to win that way, but over the years I have never been that. lucky. My record has been so bad in picking Academy Award winners, I play it safe and list more than one combination of winners. I usually list my own personal choices, together with the probable winners, outside favorites and least likely to win. This year it goes like this: My personal choices — Best actor, Peter O’Toole, Goodbye Mr. Chips; Best actress, Maggie Smith, The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie; Best picture, Midnight Cowboy; Best supporting actor, Gig Young, They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?; Best supporting actress, Sylvia Miles, Midnight Cowboy; Best director, John Schlesinger, Midnight Cowboy. The probable winners:~ Best actor, John Wayne, True Grit; Best actress, Genevieve Bujold, Anne Of The Thousand Days; Best picture, Anne Of The Thousand Days; Best supporting actor, Elliott Gould, Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice; Best supporting actress, Dyan Cannon, Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice; Best director, Sydney Pollack, They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? The outside favorites: Best actor, Dustin Hoffman, Midnight Cowboy; Best actress, Jane Fonda, They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?; Best picture, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid; Best supporting actor, Jack Nicholson, Easy Rider; Best supporting actress, Goldie Hawn, Cactus Flower; Best director, George Roy Hill, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Least likely to win: Best actor, Richard Burton, Anne Of The Thousand Days; Best actress, Jean Simmons, The Happy Ending; Best picture, Hello, Dolly; Best supporting actor, Rupert Crosse, The Reivers; Best supporting actress, Catherine Burns, Last Summer; Best director, Arthur Penn, Alice’s Restaurant. Are you surprised that my own personal choices do not match up with the probable winners or outside favorites? You shouldn’t be. I’m the guy who predicted that Peter O’Toole would win for Lawrence of Arabia. The winner that year was Gregory Peck for To Kill A Mockingbird. I never believed for one moment that Rex Harrison wouldn’t win for Cleopatra. The winner that year was Sidney Poitier for Lillies Of The Field. I didn’t think any actor but Paul Newman would win the year he was nominated for The Hustler. The winner was Maximilian Schell for Judgment At Nuremburg. West Side Story the best picture of 1961? I predicted it wouldn’t stand a chance competing against The Guns Of Navarone. again. Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? over A Man For All Seasons as the best picture of 1966? Wrong again. Doctor Zhivago, not The Sound Of Music, as the best picture of 1965? Please, don’t remind me. I was wrong again. If there’s one time of the year my wife dreads being in the same room with me, it’s on Academy Award night. I always promise her that I won’t lose my temper when the winners names are called out. But she always smiles, knowing full well she will be going downtown the next day to buy a new lamp, ash tray or knick-knack. On the night of Tuesday, April 8, theatre attendance across the country will probably hit the lowest figure of the year. Exhibitors have long conditioned themselves to the fact on Academy Award night, the last place they want their customers to be is away from their television sets. What they always count on, and what usually happens, is that business will pick up considerably the day after the Academy Awards are given out to more than cover the previous-night’s losses. Hollywood has chosen a Tuesday night this year to hold its annual shindig to sell products for the sponsors who are picking up the tab for the telecasting of their biggest night of the year. The fact that Hollywood has never seen fit to sponsor their own star-studded parlor game has always mystified me. But they probably feel why should they pay for something that has sponsors lining up a year in advance to dangle their sales messages before the year’s biggest television audience. And as it has been in previous years, millions of television viewers will be subjected to two hours of painful speeches, clumsy attempts at comedy and fleeting glimpses of glamorous stars. But like millions of others, I’m looking forward to Academy Award night, and not for one minute do I feel that I will see the awards given to the films and stars that are my particular favorites. I’m prepared to be disappointed for the umpteenth year in a row. CANADIAN FILM WEEKLY I was wrong’ Everyone knows that there are people who will bet money on anything. So, a bookie friend of mine thinks he has something that will appeal to Canadian Film Weekly readers: The Oscar Derby. All he asks from the winners is his usual fee, and here are the odds he is willing to give: First Race Best Picture Handicap Odds Midnight Cowboy: Shows plenty. Good chance if not picked up for hustling. 6-5 Anne Of The One to watch. Could cop race because it Thousand Days: has lots of royal blood. 5-2 Butch Cassidy and Mean enough to knock off anyone who gets the Sundance Kid: in its way. 3-1 Hello, Dolly: Keep eye on jockey Barbra Streisand. Could win by a nose. 5-1 Z: Foreign entry. Greek government threatening to have it scratched for political reasons. 8-1 Second Race Best Actor Allowances {Colts and geldings) John Wayne: Been running for over 40 years. Shows “True Grit” at all times. 8-5 Dustin Hoffman: Don’t let gimpy leg fool you. Check with Mrs. Robinson. 3-1 Jon Voight: A real frisky colt, and a favorite with the old nags. 4-1 Peter O’Toole: Has lost too many close races to be counted out. Good money bet. _. 8-1 Richard Burton: This is sixth time he’s been in big race. Strong legs, weak liver. 10-1 Third Race Best Actress (Fillies and mares) Genevieve Bujold: Classy Canadian entry. Full of spirit, not afraid of kings. 7-5 Jane Fonda: Good family background. Will finish race with, or without, jockey. 4-1 Jean Simmons: Breaks down at crucial moment. Could have “Happy Ending” if husband doesn’t leave her before the race. 5-1 Maggie Smith: Just reaching her “prime.” Likes to do things her own way. Real troublemaker. 8-1 Liza Minelli: Comes from good stock. Mother was tops in her class. Daughter needs more experience to be a winner. 15-1 Fourth Race Best Supporting Actor (Sweeps, stallions) Gig Young: Long overdue to be a winner. Change of pace could do it for him this time. 2-1 Elliott Gould: Should be a strong contender in any race. Wants to show his filly he can make it on his own. 5-1 Jack Nicholson: Had class once, but relied too much on booze and drugs. Could be hard race for “Easy Rider.” 6-1 Anthony Quayle: Thinks he’s too good to bother with royal horses. Too pompous to be a serious threat. 10-1 Rupert Crosse: A slave to some people. But Steve McQueen thinks he'll win it. 12-1 Fifth Race Best Supporting Actress (Hurdles) Maidens Dyan Cannon: Shocks easily. Not interested in any stable orgy. Needs whip to get going. 3-1 Goldie Hawn: A real dumb filly, but not too dumb to fool everyone in her first race. 6-1 Susannah York: Too interested in looking nice to worry about losing. Iffy bet. 10-1 Sylvia Miles: Likes to hang around young stallions. Check stable before race. 15-1 Catherine Burns: Ran into lots of trouble “Last Summer.” Too easily led astray to be dependable. 20-1 MARCH 27, 1970 S| Bice Ng Rac on s is Sate oe . bo