Published weekly to promote 20th-Century Fox films to American exhibitors.

Ballyhoo (1952-61) was published by Famous Players Canadian Corporation as a mimeographed internal sales and theatre managers’ newsletter. Editor, Dan Krendel, had been division manager of the Ontario ‘B’ District since 1942, and initially created Ballyhoo in 1952 to circulate weekly updates for a regional sales contest. Ontario ‘B’ District Ballyhoo continued until 1955 as a tool for sharing and incentivizing new sales techniques and publicity methods as the movie business declined in the face of television and the baby boom.

In Fall 1955, Profit Blitz for ‘Fitz’ was a nationwide sales contest, named for Famous Players’ president J. J. Fitzgibbons, honouring his 25th year as head of the business. Dan Krendel was made National Drive Captain and edited a weekly newsletter for the campaign.

From 1956 until at least 1957, National Ballyhoo was published weekly with Krendel as editor. He continued the style and content developed earlier for his Ontario ‘B’ District, but now extended vastly for a chain-wide coast to coast scale. Ballyhoo’s sharing promotional tools came at a time of contracting box office as television and automobile ownership became prevalent in the mid-1950s.

By 1960 until at least 1961, Time Out for Ticket Talk continued as a mimeographed newsletter, edited by Norman Barker of the head office publicity department. Time Out was compiled on a less ambitious scale than Ballyhoo. Compared to the earlier national compilation of local publicity gimmicks, Time Out often contained only a single memo or reproduced local story, and was often undated and only informally edited.

– Paul Moore, March 2024

BOXOFFICE was the leading American exhibitor trade paper of the post-World War II era. But the publication had modest beginnings. In 1920, Ben Shlyen founded the paper, orginally titled THE REEL JOURNAL, in an office located in Kansas City's Film Row district. Like other regional exhibitor publications, THE REEL JOURNAL focused its attention on the local -- in this case, KC and the nearby territories that the city's distribution exchanges served. By the end of the 1920s, however, Shlyen had acquired or founded several more small exhibitor papers serving other US markets. In 1932, their titles all changed to BOXOFFICE, though they continued to be published in regional editions for decades to follow. -- Eric Hoyt, 2015

BOXOFFICE was the leading American exhibitor trade paper of the post-World War II era. But the publication had modest beginnings. In 1920, Ben Shlyen founded the paper, orginally titled THE REEL JOURNAL, in an office located in Kansas City's Film Row district. Like other regional exhibitor publications, THE REEL JOURNAL focused its attention on the local -- in this case, KC and the nearby territories that the city's distribution exchanges served. By the end of the 1920s, however, Shlyen had acquired or founded several more small exhibitor papers serving other US markets. In 1932, their titles all changed to BOXOFFICE, though they continued to be published in regional editions for decades to follow. -- Eric Hoyt, 2015

This trade paper began in 1931 with a focus on radio, but as the TV industry expanded in the post-World War II era, the paper increasingly became devoted to television (even the title changed to BROADCASTING TELECASTING). Developments in technology, policy, advertising, and programming were covered. The paper's advertisements and articles reveal the intricate relationship among sponsors, stations, program suppliers, and station representatives -- the industry's term for middle-men who represented numerous local stations in negotiations with national sponsors. The success of particular stations or programming choices are frequently trumpeted in BROADCASTING'S advertisements -- always with the goal of selling more of something, such as a film program or a station's spot advertising time. -- Eric Hoyt, 2014

Canadian Film Digest (1971-76) was owned and published by Nat Taylor’s Film Publications of Canada, Ltd., and initially edited by Dan Krendel, who had edited What’s New? (1942-74) and originated Ballyhoo (1952-61) for nationally-dominant chain, Famous Players Canada, Ltd., also Taylor’s exhibition partner. Despite these ties to a Paramount-controlled theatre chain, the magazine nonetheless aimed to provide news and features about all aspects of the industry across Canada, exhibition, distribution and production. The Digest began when an attempted 1970 renewal of Canadian Film Weekly (1942-70) was short-lived. Taylor decided to relaunch under an entirely new title with a more contemporary, colour layout. Taylor later hired young Garth Drabinsky to edit, impressed by his initiative publishing Impact (1972), a lobby give-away for moviegoers. Drabinksy’s interest turned to film producing in 1977, letting the Digest come to an end, although he and Taylor continued to collaborate in building the original 18-screen Cineplex at Toronto’s Eaton Centre. Canadian Film Digest also published an annual directory Canadian Film Digest Yearbook (1971-86), which similarly continued Canadian Film Weekly Year Book (1951-70), and subsequently became Film Canada Yearbook (1986-2007). Because Canadian Film Digest originated in the Canadian Film Weekly, which had incorporated Canadian Moving Picture Digest (1917-57), which in turn had merged with Canadian Universal Bulletin (1915-18), the magazine dated its roots back to 1915, a single thread of ownership publishing these main periodicals and annuals of English Canada’s film press.

– Paul Moore, March 2024

Canadian Film Digest Year Book (1971-85) incorporated the Canadian professional film directory and was the annual handbook for Canadian Film Digest (1971-77), owned and published by Nat Taylor’s Film Publications of Canada, Ltd. Like the Digest’s continuation of Canadian Film Weekly (1942-70), the Digest Year Book continued the Canadian Film Weekly Year Book (1951-70). Initially edited by Dan Krendel, then Patricia Thompson, the Digest Year Book continued to 1986, a full decade after the Digest itself ceased publication. Thompson then purchased the business from Taylor and reincorporated as Cine-Communications, Inc., renaming the annual Film Canada Yearbook (1986-2007).

– Paul Moore, March 2024

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.

Hye Bossin was central in the 1950s 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 (1951-1970), an annual directory appendix to Bossin’s editorship at Canadian Film Weekly (1942-1970), owned by Nat Taylor’s Film Publications of Canada, Ltd. Early volumes included several significant historical essays under his byline, remarkably comprehensive and still cited today. Later volumes provided an annual spotlight of the Canadian Picture Pioneers of the Year. In the late 1960s, after Bossin’s death, the magazine was renamed Canadian Film & TV Bi-Weekly, scaling back the pace of publishing but added a purview for television and broadcasting. The annual was renamed similarly, its subtitle amended to “Year Book of the Canadian Entertainment Industry.” When the Film Weekly was relaunched as Canadian Film Digest (1971-76), the publication continued to include an annual, Canadian Film Digest Yearbook (1971-86), which was subsequently renamed Film Canada Yearbook (1986-2007).

– 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.
• ———. “At the Very Beginning, The Holland Brothers of Ottawa Ushered in the World Motion Picture Industry.” In Canadian Film Weekly Year Book of the Canadian Motion Picture Industry, 45-49. Toronto: Film Publications of Canada, 1952.
• ———. “The Story of L. Ernest Ouimet, Pioneer.” In Canadian Film Weekly Year Book of the Canadian Motion Picture Industry, 23-43. Toronto: Film Publications of Canada, 1952.

Canadian Moving Picture Digest (1917-57) was initially a Montréal-based rival of the first film paper in Canada, Toronto-based Canadian Universal Bulletin (1915-18, edited by W.A. Bach 1915-17, J.W. Cambridge 1917-18, Raymond S. Peck 1918). The two periodicals were combined in 1918, keeping the Digest name, but moving production to Toronto with Peck as editor. Canadian Moving Picture Digest assumed The Bulletin’s volume numbering and always claimed 1915 as its year of origin. Ray Lewis (née Rae Levinsky) was a writer and playwright, who spent time in early Hollywood’s publicity departments. She briefly took the Digest helm in 1918, then long-term editor, later owner and publisher, from 1920 until her death in 1954. Under Lewis’s leadership, the trade paper claimed to serve as a voice for independent exhibitors and advocated for a Canadian cultural presence in cinema, particularly emphasizing British films as a way to keep a distance from Hollywood. Lewis's editorials were notable for their advocacy, wit, and critique of American dominance in the Canadian film market. While initially positioning herself as an outsider, she became integrated within the industry and a true insider. She even had an ongoing correspondence with Canadian Prime Minister R. B. Bennett, advocating for the industry as a whole and supporting British film imports. She was well-known at Toronto’s Dundas Square film row as well as in New York and Hollywood. Variety’s Sime Silverman called her “the Girl Friend in Canada,” and she delighted when U.S. writers not “in the know” presumed “Ray” was a man’s name. Lewis was later an inaugural member of the Canadian Picture Pioneers, eventually the group’s first female president and Pioneer of the Year. After she died in 1954, her son Jay Smith took over editorial duties until Canadian Moving Picture Digest was bought by Nat Taylor’s Film Publications of Canada in 1957. Taylor incorporated the legacy journal into a joint masthead for Canadian Film Weekly (1942-70), which subsequently dated its roots back to the 1915 origins of the film press in Canada.

– Jessica Whitehead and Paul Moore, March 2024

Further Reading

• Whitehead, Jessica, Louis Pelletier and Paul Moore, “‘The Girl Friend in Canada’: Ray Lewis and Canadian Moving Picture Digest (1915–1957).” In Daniel Biltereyst and Lies Van de Vijver, eds., Mapping Movie Magazines: Digitization, Periodicals and Cinema History, 127-52. London: Pagrave-Macmillan, 2021.

The Vast Whizzbang Organization combined the intense film nostalgia of George Henderson and Pete Harris, among others, operating out of Henderson’s Memory Lane bookshop, a comic collectors’ and movie memorabilia haven in Toronto. Harris issued a quarterly magazine, Captain George’s Whizzbang. The weekly newsletter Captain George’s Penny Dreadful (1969-1982) was dedicated to celebrating silent and classic movies. Subscribers reportedly included Stan Lee and Pierre Berton.

– Paul Moore, June 2024.

Description (English): Cine-Mundial, the Spanish-language version of Moving Picture World, was published between 1916 and 1948. The magazine documents Hollywood’s growing dominance in Latin American markets in the 1920s and the emergence of national film industries, such as those of Mexico and Argentina after the introduction of sound film. Far from being a mere translation of its English-language counterpart, Cine-Mundial focused on issues that were important to its readers in Latin American and Spain—the representation of Latin Americans on screen, the geo-politics of film distribution, and Hollywood’s short foray into Spanish-language film production in the late 1920 and early 1930s. Functioning as both trade publication and fan magazine, its regular columns that featured reports from national correspondents and letters from readers from every corner of the Spanish-speaking world provides invaluable insight into Latin American audiences and their reception of both imported and nationally or regionally produced films. -- Laura Isabel Serna, 2013

Cinema Canada

Earlier Title: Canadian Cinematography (1961-67)

Cinema Canada (1967-89) was the primary trade journal for film and television production in Canada. The magazine originated as Canadian Cinematography (1961-67), published by the Canadian Society of Cinematographers, but was renamed to appeal to a wider readership and to recognize a degree of maturity of the national film production industry. Cinema Canada hosted a new slate of stridently nationalist film critics, scholars and writers. The magazine’s emergence coincided with a threshold, of sorts, when a national cinema became recognizable in character as having an independence from Hollywood genres, even if output remained relatively small in quantity. The publication’s archives are housed at the Toronto International Film Festival’s Film Reference Library.

– Paul Moore, 2024

As an active film magazine, CLOSE UP lasted only a short time, from 1927 to 1933. Yet the legacy of this English-language periodical, which was published in Switzerland, continues to matter. Edited by Bryher and her husband Kenneth Macpherson, CLOSE UP became THE magazine for energetic debates about the nature of cinema and manifestos imagining new forms of filmmaking and spectatorship. The magazine published articles by filmmakers, such as Sergei Eisenstein, and female literary modernists, such as H.D. and Gertrude Stein. As film scholar Anne Friedberg explains in the anthology CLOSE-UP, 1927-1933: CINEMA & MODERNISM, 'CLOSE UP became the model for a certain type of writing about film -- writing that was theoretically astute, politically incisive, critical of films that were simply 'entertainment.' For six and a half years, CLOSE UP maintained a forum for a broad variety of ideas about the cinema; it never advocated a single direction of development, but rather posed alternatives to existing modes of production, consumption, and film style.' Like Friedberg's own writing, CLOSE UP continues to be essential reading for anyone interested in the history of film and media theory. -- Eric Hoyt, 2014

Germany’s first film trade journal, Der Kinematograph, played a prominent role in the film publishing landscape during the late Wilhelmine and Weimar periods and remains a key source for film historians today. The journal’s early history exemplifies the gradual emergence of cinema from the cinematograph, since it began as supplement to the popular variety journal Der Artist before becoming an independent publication dedicated to all aspects of the burgeoning film industry. As other scholars have pointed out, Der Kinematograph played an important role in the development of film criticism, especially after the ascension of Alfred Rosenthal to the position of chief editor in 1923. But it also covered a wide variety of topics from film history to technology to economic and juridical questions. The journal could also provide an interesting case study for the film politics of the Weimar period. In the early-1920s, it came under the control of the Scherl Verlag, run by the conservative media mogul Alfred Hugenberg (the Rupert Murdoch of his day), who would also acquire the UFA studio in 1927. This made it a prime target for left-wing groups such as the Volksverband für Filmkunst (Popular Association for Film Art), who saw Rosenthal and Hugenberg as key representatives of a capitalist mass media system dedicated to dumbing down the masses. In 1933, Der Kinematograph, like other film publications, was purged of Jewish colleagues, and the journal itself folded in 1935. —Michael Cowan, 2020

In late-1916, Exhibitor's Trade Review entered a crowded market of weekly motion picture trade publications that already included the Moving Picture World, Motion Picture News, Exhibitor's Herald, and Motography, along with theatre and vaudeville-oriented papers that covered film, such as Variety, the Billboard, and the New York Clipper. To gain market share and differentiate itself from competitors, Exhibitor's Trade Review pursued a variety of tactics -- some constructive (gathering allies among exhibitor organizations), others destructive (smearing the reputations of competing trade papers and certain film companies that refused to buy advertising). Despite the behind-the-scenes controversies, though, Exhibitor's Trade Review appears to have, in the words of Alan Gevinson, 'established itself legitimately in its role as advisor to and fighter for the independent exhibitor.' All the issues that mattered to independent exhibitors were covered, including censorship, taxes, distributor contracts, piano accompaniment, and, of course, the films. In 1926, Exhibitor's Trade Review ceased weekly publication and only offered the daily service, Exhibitor's Daily, which was acquired a few years later by Martin Quigley as he attempted to consolidate the industry's trade papers under his control. -- Eric Hoyt, 2014

Founded in 1915 by a Chicago printing company as a regional trade paper for Midwest exhibitors. In 1916, editor Martin Quigley bought out the owners, and over the next 15 years, he grew EXHIBITORS HERALD into one of the most important national, weekly trade papers in the film business. Quigley acquired MOTOGRAPHY in 1917 and MOVING PICTURE WORLD in 1927. In 1930, he acquired MOTION PICTURE NEWS and the new 'consolidated' publication became MOTION PICTURE HERALD. From the pulpit of his editorial page, Quigley preached the need to improve the motion picture industry and improve the quality of the films. He skillfully served as a mediator in disputes -- between distributors and exhibitors, between the film industry and the Catholic Church (Quigley was one of the architects of the Production Code). Quigley claimed that EXHIBITORS HERALD represented the 'independent exhibitor' and sections like 'What the Picture Did for Me?' certainly provided a forum for theater owners. But plenty of exhibitors viewed Quigley as a servant to the studios and large theater chains. In response, publications such as SHOWMEN'S TRADE REVIEW, INDEPENDENT EXHIBITORS FILM BULLETIN, HARRISON'S REPORTS, and BOX OFFICE were either formed or grew significantly in the years following Quigley's brief moment of consolidation in 1930. -- Eric Hoyt, 2014

Famous News (1981-91) was a bi-monthly corporate newsletter for Famous Players Canada, Ltd., reviewing promotional ideas for early 1980s blockbusters, combined with news about the latest openings of multiplexes. Famous News revived and rebranded What’s New? (1942-74) when Famous Players moved into a new headquarters on Bloor Street in Toronto. Edited by Michelina Trigiani for its first issues, then by Elizabeth Pollack, the newsletter addressed all employees as “family.” Personal milestones of local ushers and head office staff alike were celebrated in every issue, noting birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, and retirements, alongside baby pictures and family snapshots.

– Paul Moore, March 2024

'A reviewing service free from the influence of film advertising... devoted chiefly to the interests of the exhibitors.' From 1919 to 1962, HARRISON'S REPORTS served as a watchdog for the interests of U.S. independent movie theaters. Founder and editor P.S. Harrison used his 4-page sheet (occasionally 8-pages) to praise films that he considered good for theaters and audiences and to excoriate bad pictures, 'immoral' theater operators, films on 16mm and TV, and any company or policy that made life more difficult for exhibitors. -- Eric Hoyt, 2014

A private newsletter published out of Washinton, D.C. Robert D. Heinl meticulously tracked FCC actions and other policy developments and provided frequent updates to subscribers of the newsletter. A fascinating source for seeing how policy developments and regulations were received and interpreted within the commercial broadcasting industry. -- Eric Hoyt, 2018

East Coast exhibitor publication. Founded in 1934 by the Independent Exhibitors' Protective Association in response to the perceived shortcomings of Motion Picture Herald and the Motion Picture Theatre Owners (MPTO). Served as a news source, reviewing service, and forum for independent exhibitors to share their many grievances. -- Eric Hoyt, 2014

A VARIETY-esque combination of vaudeville, theatre, and film news for the West Coast showbiz community. -- Eric Hoyt, 2017

International Projectionist presented the technology of cinema sound and image projection while addressing the issues and concerns of union projectionists. -- David Pierce, 2013

The Journal of the Society of Motion Picture Engineers (SMPE)Êdocuments the technological progress of the film industry, highlighting technical developments in production and exhibition. Of special interest are articles about special effects, theater practices, lighting, and the introduction of the 16mm format. Initially titled "Transactions of the Journal of the Society of Motion Picture Engineers."Digitized by the Prelinger Library and the Library of Congress Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division.

Le Film

Editors: Fernand de Verneuil (1921-42), Gerald Danis (1942-51), Thérèse Fournier (1952-), Gerard Laberge ( -1961)

Le Film (1921-61) continued Le Panorama (1919-21), also edited by de Verneuil from the same publisher, Poirier, Bessette et cie. Smaller and cheaper, but featuring similar illustrated, translated stories of Hollywood stars, this Québécois fan magazine was published for many years, until at least 1960. In the 1930s, Le Film was promoted as “the only French-Canadian cinema magazine (l’unique revue de cinéma canadienne-française).” The publisher also issued Le Samedi weekly and La Revue Populaire monthly, from the same editorial team but offering general reading about popular culture.

– Louis Pelletier and Paul Moore, 2024.

A New York-based daily trade paper published by Martin Quigley. The companion to Quigley's better known weekly publication, MOTION PICTURE HERALD, and a direct competitor to THE FILM DAILY, which was also published out of New York. Established in 1930, MOTION PICTURE DAILY enjoyed a circulation of roughly 5,000 readers most years of its four decades in print (a nearly identical circulation to THE FILM DAILY, but only one third of the readership of MOTION PICTURE HERALD, which reached a wider audience of exhibitors). In the 1930s, the MOTION PICTURE DAILY's editor, Maurice Kann, called on the movie industry to shift more production back to the East Coast. Any productions that filmed in New York received ample attention. New York City never regained its production lead over Hollywood, but the major studios used the Big Apple for their corporate and distribution headquarters. As a result, MOTION PICTURE DAILY tended to focus on economic and regulatory issues confronting the film industry. -- Eric Hoyt, 2014

Founded in 1915 by a Chicago printing company as a regional trade paper for Midwest exhibitors. In 1916, editor Martin Quigley bought out the owners, and over the next 15 years, he grew EXHIBITORS HERALD into one of the most important national, weekly trade papers in the film business. Quigley acquired MOTOGRAPHY in 1917 and MOVING PICTURE WORLD in 1927. In 1930, he acquired MOTION PICTURE NEWS and the new 'consolidated' publication became MOTION PICTURE HERALD. From the pulpit of his editorial page, Quigley preached the need to improve the motion picture industry and improve the quality of the films. He skillfully served as a mediator in disputes -- between distributors and exhibitors, between the film industry and the Catholic Church (Quigley was one of the architects of the Production Code). Quigley claimed that EXHIBITORS HERALD represented the 'independent exhibitor' and sections like 'What the Picture Did for Me?' certainly provided a forum for theater owners. But plenty of exhibitors viewed Quigley as a servant to the studios and large theater chains. In response, publications such as SHOWMEN'S TRADE REVIEW, INDEPENDENT EXHIBITORS FILM BULLETIN, HARRISON'S REPORTS, and BOX OFFICE were either formed or grew significantly in the years following Quigley's brief moment of consolidation in 1930. -- Eric Hoyt, 2014

Motion Picture News was the leading film industry trade journal during the 1920s. Founded in 1908 as a counterweight to the dominant Moving Picture World, the News was the voice for the independent, non-Trust, producers. Later Motion Picture News expanded its coverage to the entire industry, supporting the independent exhibitor with objective film reviews, summaries of programs at theatres across the nation, activities of regional exchanges in the cities with regional exchanges, and excellent coverage of the coming of sound and screenings and stage shots at the major New York City theatres. -- David Pierce, 2013

Movie reviews by members of the Los Angeles branch of the American Association of University Women.

Motion Play Magazine (1920-22) was one of many magazines for movie fans, but unique by virtue of being a newspaper supplement distributed free with Sunday papers such as the Washington Herald and the Indianapolis Star, along with a half-dozen others in the Midwest and Northeast. The syndicated magazine expanded the national reach of an earlier 1919 insert in the Philadelphia Record, which provided “news of screen players and plays, in rich sepia rotogravure.” Circulation reached nearly six hundred thousand by the end of 1921.While this was a modest result compared to syndicated color comics, it gave Motion Play a higher circulation than any fan magazine in the 1920s. In 1922, the movie features were folded into a general magazine in 1922 and the title “Motion Play” discontinued. Motion Play’s slim eight pages did not require staples or a glued spine, but its layout and content otherwise fit the form of other fan magazines of its day—a full-page poster cover of a movie star and other “portraits of the foremost cinema stars, together with interesting gossip about them and their work.”

– Paul Moore, March 2024

Originally Motion Picture Classic (first issue 1915), renamed Movie Classic in September 1931. Sold as 'The Newsreel of the Newstands'; on par with Picture Play and Screenland in terms of content, quality, and circulation (solid but below that of Photoplay, et. al.) until it was absorbed by Motion Picture in 1937. -- Anne Helen Petersen, 2013. Secondary sources consulted: Inside the Hollywood Fan Magazine by Anthony Slide and MovieMags.com.

Movie Makers, the official publication of the Amateur Cinema League, documented and championed home movies and production by local film clubs. During 27 years of publication, Movie Makers provided extensive coverage of the growth of 16mm, the availability of Hollywood films to the home, filmmaking style, amateur production, and color cinematography. -- David Pierce, 2013

Moving Picture World, founded in 1907 by J.P. Chalmers, was one of the motion picture industry's first trade papers. Published on a weekly basis in New York City, Moving Picture World informed exhibitors about films available for rental and editorialized on behalf of the growing industry (improving the quality of movies through higher filmmaking standards, not government censorship, was a frequent topic). The paper reached its height in the mid-to-late-1910s--a fact reflected in the circulation figures and the huge amount of advertising that filled every issue during the period. In the 1920s, Moving Picture World lost ground to other competing weekly trade papers -- including Variety, Exhibitor's Herald, and Motion Picture News. In 1927, Moving Picture World ceased publication when it was acquired by Martin Quigley's Exhibitor's Herald. Across the 20 year run of Moving Picture World, readers can watch the transition from short film programs to feature films and witness the transition from the dominance of Edison's Trust to the rise of the "Independent" film companies that ultimately became the Hollywood studios. Silent film historians have utilized and cited Moving Picture World more frequently than any other trade paper, and the publication still has many insights left to offer. -- Eric Hoyt, 2012/2013

The official newsletter of the National Association of Educational Broadcasters (NAEB) -- the predecessor to NPR, PBS, the CPB. Led primarily by faculty and staff at large Midwestern universities, the NAEB envisioned uses of broadcasting to improve society and educate both children and adults. The newsletter chronicles the NAEB's activities in advocating to the FCC for educational stations to obtain greater access to the public airwaves, coordinating the distribution of educational recordings, and planning the production of ambitious programs, such as 'People Under Communism' and 'The Jeffersonian Heritage,' which starred Claude Rains as Thomas Jefferson. This newsletter was digitized as part of the 'Unlocking the Airwaves' project, a collaboration among the University of Maryland, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Wisconsin Historical Society, with funding from the NEH. -- Stephanie Sapienza & Eric Hoyt, 2019.

Devoted to the interests of NBC and its affiliate stations.

The New York Clipper was one of the first theatrical trade newspapers in the United States. Founded in 1853, the Clipper offered weekly coverage of legitimate theatre, vaudeville, the circus, and other forms of entertainment (which, by the early-20th century, included motion pictures). In 1923, the Clipper was acquired and absorbed by one of its New York competitors: Variety. -- Eric Hoyt, 2013

The leading Hollywood fan magazine of the 1920s and 1930s. Photoplay offered readers portraits of their favorite movie stars and stories about their personal lives. The magazine played an important promotional function for the Hollywood industry, but its editors and reviewers could also be highly critical of Hollywood. Beginning in 1921, Photoplay bestowed its annual 'Medal of Honor' for the film readers voted as the best of the year. -- Eric Hoyt, 2011.

Began publishing in 1915; mid-level fan magazine on par with Movie Classic and Screenland. Cost a twenty five cents an issue up until pricing pressure from New Movie (c. 1932) incited an across-the-board price decrease to 10 cents. Merged with Charm in 1941, which would later become Glamour magazine (1959). -- Anne Helen Petersen, 2013. Secondary sources consulted: Inside the Hollywood Fan Magazine by Anthony Slide and MovieMags.com.

Publix Opinion (1927-32) was a broadsheet house organ for Paramount-Publix Corporation sharing nationally various exhibition stunts and ideas among managers of first-run locations. Content aimed to coordinate collegial competition among local exhibition managers, furthering the standardized management style implemented by Balaban & Katz in Chicago before the merger to create Publix. The paper offered news, insights, news and ideas about new features and the studio’s productions. “Contents strictly confidential,” editor Ben Serkowich explained in a short article, “How to Use Publix Opinion” (January 17, 1930): “the paper is sent only to theatre advertising managers… It is by order of Mr. Katz that these copies are not to be cut or mutilated… They are not to be taken from the theatre.” At a couple of points, the masthead changed to mirror a seasonal sales contests (“Publix Harvester” in fall 1927, “Comin’ Thru” in spring 1928). Bound, numbered compiled folios of issues were indexed and provided to managers for reference.

– Paul Moore, March 2024

Radio Broadcast supported home listeners of the new technology of radio – for building or buying a receiving set to explaining the technology used by the new radio stations. Throughout the magazine shows the cultural influence of radio as it evolved from hobbyist to mainstream. -- David Pierce, 2011

Radio Mirror (later known as Radio and Television Mirror) was a fan magazine for radio listeners and later TV viewers that includes profiles of the stars, visits to radio and television studios, and program listings. The early years in the 1930s show the interaction of motion pictures, recordings, the stage, radio and even politics. The role of radio in World War II is well covered in the 1940s, and by the 1950s the focus shifts to television and a new generation of personalities. -- David Pierce, 2013

Radio Broadcast supported home listeners of the new technology of radio – for building or buying a receiving set to explaining the technology used by the new radio stations. Throughout the magazine shows the cultural influence of radio as it evolved from hobbyist to mainstream. -- David Pierce, 2011

Radio Mirror (later known as Radio and Television Mirror) was a fan magazine for radio listeners and later TV viewers that includes profiles of the stars, visits to radio and television studios, and program listings. The early years in the 1930s show the interaction of motion pictures, recordings, the stage, radio and even politics. The role of radio in World War II is well covered in the 1940s, and by the 1950s the focus shifts to television and a new generation of personalities. -- David Pierce, 2013

Screen and Radio Weekly (1934-40) was launched by the Detroit Free Press in April 1934 and published with that masthead until 1940, when its material was folded into the paper’s general content Sunday Magazine. By October 1934, it was syndicated nationally in dozens of different newspapers, all offering “a week-end of gala reading enjoyment. Not just ‘another section,’ but a full-size tabloid in brilliant colors and breezy pictorial, FREE with your Sunday Free Press,” or Sunday Oakland Tribune, or Sunday Democrat and Chronicle, or whichever location the novelty began, separated by months and thousands of miles across the entire United States. The sixteen-page tabloid magazine was printed in bold color blocking, featuring rainbow-bright portraits of movie stars on its front and back covers. There are indications it was available as a magazine in its own right, not only as a newspaper supplement, at least in Detroit. Over its six years of publication, Screen and Radio Weekly was included in at least thirty-two papers, at least fifteen concurrently in 1937. Its circulation approached 1.5 million copies weekly at the time, higher than the watermark for Photoplay (1911-80) of 1.4 million circulation in the mid-1950s. Douglas Martin was editor in Detroit and Grace Wilcox, his recently widowed sister-in-law, penned the main gossip column from Los Angeles, “Hollywood Reporter” (apparently no relation to the fledgling magazine of the same name). Wilcox’s bylines also often used her married name, Edith Dietz. She had worked in the publicity departments at Mutual and Universal, then writing for the Los Angeles Express in late 1910s, It Magazine in the early 1920s, and the Los Angeles Times in the late 1920s, before writing screenplays for Anna May Wong. Another near-weekly reporter in the magazine’s first months was Douglas W. Churchill, just before he became Hollywood correspondent for the New York Times.

– Paul Moore, March 2024

Mid-range fan magazine. Ran from 1920 to 1952, at which point it changed its name to Screenland Plus TV-Land. Merged with Silver Screen in 1971 and ceased publication. -- Anne Helen Petersen, 2013. Secondary sources consulted: Inside the Hollywood Fan Magazine by Anthony Slide and MovieMags.com.

Established in 1933 by Charles 'Chick' Lewis, who previously edited the 'Manager's Round Table' section in Quigley's MOTION PICTURE HERALD. Lewis originally called his new publication SHOWMEN'S ROUND TABLE, but after a lawsuit from Quigley, he changed the title to SHOWMEN'S TRADE REVIEW (STR). Over the next two decades, STR proved to be a formidable competitor to Quigley's HERALD and steadily grew in circulation. It's easy to see why exhibitors wanted to subscribe. STR's editorial voice, reviews of features and shorts, 'Box Office Slant' tips for how to promote movies, and concise and well organized 'Booking Guides' made it a trustworthy and highly useful magazine for exhibitors. -- Eric Hoyt, 2014

Preceeded by an unnumbered issue published in 1916 called: Incorporation and by-laws

Subtitle varies: The Buyers of broadcast advertising; The weekly magazine TV/radio advertisers use; the national weekly of TV & radio advertising

Radio Mirror (later known as Radio and Television Mirror) was a fan magazine for radio listeners and later TV viewers that includes profiles of the stars, visits to radio and television studios, and program listings. The early years in the 1930s show the interaction of motion pictures, recordings, the stage, radio and even politics. The role of radio in World War II is well covered in the 1940s, and by the 1950s the focus shifts to television and a new generation of personalities. -- David Pierce, 2013

A predecessor to TV GUIDE, TV FORECAST was published in Chicago from 1948 to 1953. The title FORECAST referred to the anticipated weekly schedule of television programming, but we can also think about it as speculations, predictions, and fever dreams about what the medium would become -- some of which were realized, others of which were quickly forgotten. -- Eric Hoyt, 2019.

Take One (1966-79) was a Montréal-based film magazine offering criticism and news about international, Canadian, and Hollywood cinema. Founded by Peter Lebensold, Adam Symansky, and John Roston—alumni of the McGill Film Society—its creation coincided with the burgeoning Canadian film industry, which Take One placed in global context. Articles included essays by filmmakers themselves, such as Brian DePalma and Richard Dreyfuss. The magazine concluded its run in 1979 after publishing 81 issues, but remained sufficiently influential that a 1992 Toronto-based magazine took the same title in homage to the original.

– Jessica Whitehead, March 2024

TeleVISIONS was a early trade magazine for the emerging videotape, cable television and satellite broadcasting industries published by the Washington Community Video Center, an Adams Morgan-based collective focused on democratizing media access. It evolved out of WCVC's Community Video Report newsletter and their volumes were numbered continuously.

Scanned from an original in the collection of the People's Archive, DC Public Library.

The Canadian Independent (1936-40) was created to serve as a mouthpiece for the Independent Theatres Association, an alliance of theatre owners in Canada. It emerged in response to the industry's anti-competitive dynamics, aiming to provide a platform free from Hollywood distributors' influence and the monopolistic practices of the Famous Players Canadian Corporation. Edited by Stella Falk, the trade paper positioned itself as a champion for the interests of independent exhibitors, distinguishing its mission and editorial stance from other publications, notably the Canadian Moving Picture Digest (1917-57) edited by Ray Lewis. According to Falk, Lewis had become too much of an insider and was no longer interested in “fighting” for the independent exhibitor. This would lead to an eventual editorial dispute and libel lawsuit, which eventually resulted in a reorganization and rebranding under a new title of The Canadian Motion Picture Exhibitor (1940-41).

– Jessica Whitehead, March 2024

The Canadian Motion Picture Exhibitor (1940-41) emerged from the legal and editorial battles involving The Canadian Independent (1936-40) and the Canadian Moving Picture Digest (1917-57), and represented a significant new phase in Canadian film industry journalism. The first issue was published on December 1, 1940, in the wake of a high-profile libel lawsuit between editor Stella Falk and her Digest rival editor Ray Lewis. Like The Canadian Independent, it continued to act as an official publication of the Independent Theatres Association. After Stella Falk's departure in March 1941, it was briefly edited by R. Coper before Hye Bossin took over in June 1941, under the new ownership of Nat Taylor. No longer focused on fighting for the rights of independent exhibitors, the new editorial direction marked a shift towards a broader coverage of the film industry, including exhibition, distribution, and production, under a renamed Canadian Film Weekly (1942-70).

– Jessica Whitehead, March 2024

Reprint, with an introduction added, of a periodical published 1903-1916 in New York by the National Phonograph Co

Regional trade paper that began in Philadelphia, but expanded to include editions for other markets.

This leading industry publication, published out of New York, was founded in 1915 by Wid Gunning (who called his publication Wid's Daily until 1922). The Film Daily documented the rise of the Hollywood studios, the transition to sound, and the evolution of the American film industry (the paper finally shuttered in 1970). The Film Daily included feature reviews, news stories, and advertisements, but its extensive coverage of short films in the 1920s and 30s distinguished it from other trade papers of the period. -- Eric Hoyt, 2011/2013

Relatively short-lived magazine that nonetheless played a crucial role in the gossip industry. Launched in 1929, it cost only ten cents, when the majority of high-end magazines sold for a quarter. It was also primarily sold through Woolworth’s five and dime stores; the combination of cost and accessibility led to its dominance, by 1933, over all other magazines (circulation: 650,000). As a result, the other magazines decreased their price to match New Movie’s. New Movie had less content and poorer quality drawings and illustrations, but the content similar in tone and quality to that of the high end magazines. Ceased publication in 1935. -- Anne Helen Petersen, 2013. Secondary sources consulted: Inside the Hollywood Fan Magazine by Anthony Slide and MovieMags.com.

International Photographer, published by the Hollywood local of the film industry union for cameramen and camera operators, reported news of the arts and crafts of the motion picture, with an emphasis on cinematography. -- David Pierce, 2011/2013

The organ of the Universal Film Manufacturing Company. Previously titled MOVING PICTURE WEEKLY.

Founded in 1905 by Sime Silverman, Variety is the best known and most important trade paper in the history of American entertainment. Variety began as a New York weekly publication covering vaudeville, however, its scope expanded over time to include legitimate theatre, burlesque, motion pictures, radio, and television (transitions that the MHDL will eventually document within this record). In 1933, Daily Variety was launched in Los Angeles to offer in-depth coverage of the motion picture industry and serve as a competitor to The Hollywood Reporter, which was founded 'on the Coast' in 1930. In March 2013, Variety's owner ended the print edition of Daily Variety, though as of this writing, the weekly publication and a website offering non-stop news updates still exist. Variety may ultimately be best remembered for its integration of show business slang into entertainment trade coverage. Boffo. Hokum. Quickies. Svelte. Climaxer. Tenpercenter. Coastlander. Skein. We're still feeling zowied. -- Eric Hoyt, 2013

What's New? (1942-74) was the house organ for Famous Players Canadian Corporation, the nation’s largest chain of cinemas for 85 years from 1920 to 2005. The Manager was an early Famous Players’ house organ, launched by 1934 and edited by head of publicity, James R. Nairn, director of publicity for the company since 1930. James Nairn, was also head of publicity for Famous Players, renaming an earlier magazine following a major 1941 realignment of theatre ownership in Canada, with the creation of Odeon Theatres, a new national competitor. What’s New? was “issued in the interest of employees and associates coast to coast.” Dan Krendel became editor in 1968, after many years as district sales manager and editor of Ballyhoo (1952-61) local management newsletters. Bud Barker was then editor when Krendel left to take the helm of Canadian Film Digest (1971-76). With a move to new headquarters in the 1980s, What’s New? was replaced by a new magazine, Famous News (1981-91).

– Paul Moore, March 2024