Boxoffice-December.20.1952

j
QUEBEC—If
. . R.
isiiQuebec Leader Insists
ifdJOn
TV Censoring Right
the courts rule that provln-
Mal censorship of televised films unci tcle-
/Isloti shows origlnatlriR In the province Is
Imconstlliitlonal. then Quebec still will have
:Ialmcd a right which 11 believes to be Its
>wn. Fdouard A&selln, National Union kov-
•rniiifiit leader, told the legislative council.
jJerlouK doubts as to the constitutionality
jf the bill adopted recently by the leglsla-
Ive assembly were raised when the measure
iwne up for discussion in the upper house.
be doubts were expressed by Jacob Nlcol.
bo also sits as a Liberal senator In Ottawa.
Nicol questioned whether the province
ould create a censorship of a purely federal
BTvice. At the present time only federal
Uthoritles, through the Crown-owned Canalan
Broadcasting Corp., have lelevlscd
roadcasts. Hector Laferte, Liberal Opposllon
leader, expressed the same views as
>nator Nlcol.
Such doubts did not exist for Asselin. who
Bid that while it was true that, the Supreme
Jourt of Canada and the privy council had
^''fteld that control of radio was a federal matthe
fact .still remained that there was
•'Is
10 question that movies were strictly of prov-
''^^flliclal
Jurisdiction.
Asselin said that while it was true that
A the present time television was operated
nly by the CBC, this was only incidental.
le could not see courts ruling against the
Quebec stand simply because it affected only
he CBC. The time would come when a
^ '•
kuinber of private television stations will be
peratlng, he pointed out.
"In any event," Asselin said, "is the provnce
going to cede what it believes to be
ts rights without a fight? Quebec believes
yfc has the right to censor movies presented
iiliij in television even as it censors movies in
>tJ^he ordinajy way."
The latter censorship included that of
itoi^Ums produced by the National Film Board,
»t! federal agency.
The bill was given second and third rearing
on division, that is without a recorded
.Lit
rote.
[mflfPC Gives Extra Dividend
MONTREAL — Famous Players
Canadian
'orp. has declared an extra dividend of 15
lents, payable December 27 to shareholders
3f record December 12. Since December 1950
^ this company has been paying 30 cents quar-
''*
terly. An extra disbursement of 20 cents was
:1 ft nade on March 22, bringing total payments
praii
tor 1952 to $1.60 compared with $1.20 last year.
VANCOUVER
. . .
KU theatres are pushing Chri.nmas gift
books, and reports are that sales are
Alex Entwisle, now 86 and a Famous
trisk . . .
yers partner in a chain of Edmonton theaes.
is the oldest active exhibitor in Canada,
ais son and partner Arnold died recently in
'^nis 58th year The University of British
Columbia has opened a new 200-seat theatre
m the former campus cafeteria . . . Raymond
McDonald, chief provincial censor, is
jWatching the fight in Quebec with the federal
i^overnment over censorship of TV films. The
irovinces have no power to censor films and
Ive shows for television.
M ARIT I
M E S
'pilmlniitliin lontrsU were held on the
.stages of the Strand In Sydney Mines
and the Odcon In North Sydney, udjalnlng
town.s on Capo Breton I.slnnd, In the "Penny
Princess" contest. There were gifts of dotuited
merchandise from .stores for thi
winners . F. Ha/el of Port Hawkesbury
Ivan L. Haley, manager of the Dundas
and Mayfair Theatres, Dartmouth, N. S.,
who died recently.
owner-manager of the Rialto at Tatamagouche
and State at Port Hawkesbury, N. S.,
has decided to sell one and retain operation
of the other.
Cy Miller, originally of Toronto who recently
has been on the staff of Malcolm
Walker at the Gaiety, Halifax, has returned
to St. John, pending another affiliation.
Prior to joining the Walker staff, he was
here as a salesman and later as branch
manager for United Artists. While here he
was active in softball. His wife is a niece of
Abe Garson, operating the local Strand and
Kent, and Garrick and Oxford in Halifax.
Sam Babb, head booker for Franklin &
Herschorn, has been devoting considerable
time to photography, including enlarging,
developing and printing. Lately in the vicinity
of his Lancaster home, he has had
excellent opportunity for reproducing work
of Mother Nature on film. He has not given
up his philatelic collecting . . . The drum
beating talents of Tommy Gorman of Ottawa
were discernable in the challenge (?)
from Sonja Henie to Barbara Ann Scott
for a S30.000 (?) side bet on the comparative
skating merits of the two skater.-^. The
contest was to have been held at St. Andrews,
according to the tale from pressagentryville,
but appears to have been lost
in the maze of word.s. Gorman has been
active in promotions of hockey, horse racing,
wrestling and baseball, and he chaperoned
Babe Scott when she made her first
sortie into showdom, but she quit him for
bigger auspices and now he's with the opposition.
.\ bottle of whisky and another of rum
proved the undoing of two youths, aged 17
and 18. at St John'A Nfld For «jn>*
month.s, patrons of 81. J '
! before the geiidu-
•
oi. the
witll they erred in