July 4, 1988

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COVER

Baseball Romance

It is the season of lazy days at the ball park—and Hollywood nights in large, dark, air-conditioned rooms. Summer is movie season, the time when the big studios launch their pennant drives for box-office glory. The game plan: find a novel way of showing audiences something familiar. By Brian D. Johnson11 min

CANADA

‘Canada can be a prodder and poker’

Maclean’s: Why do economic summits rarely seem to make any progress? Thurow: The basic problem is very clear. If you went back to 1945 you would find that the United States economy was about 75 per cent of the world GNP and so the U.S. could play locomotive for the world economy.

COVER

THE WIZARD WHO FRAMED A RABBIT

Its star is an unknown talent, a hapless Bugs Bunny in clown pants from an imaginary place called Toontown. But the movie that bears his name, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, marks a milestone in the history of animation. Previous attempts to mix cartoon characters with live actors have been woefully unconvincing. By Brian D. Johnson6 min

COVER

A SIZZLING BOY OF SUMMER

The American leading man was becoming an endangered species. Where was the next Gary Cooper or Steve McQueen, the matinee idol who could sound smart and look tough at the same time? Paul Newman and Robert Redford were getting old. And audiences were left to choose between absurd extremes.

BUSINESS/ECONOMY

A debate about the dollar’s bold ascent

The Canadian dollar soared to a 6½-year high last week—a performance that drew applause in some economic sectors and expressions of alarm from others. Currency traders said that the dollar’s rise to 83.19 cents in terms of U.S. currency on June 23— compared with a low of 69.24 cents in February, 1986—reflects the growing international perception that Canada’s economy is one of the strongest in the world. By JOHN DeMONT6 min

CANADA

Spy wars with Moscow

The subdued, highly confidential meeting took place on a sweltering summer afternoon in Ottawa. In response to a summons from Alan McLaine, director general of the U.S.S.R. division at external affairs, Soviet Ambassador Alexei Rodionov arrived at the imposing red-brick department complex at 3 p.m. on June 15.

BUSINESS/ECONOMY

A heady new beer fad

While a blanket of heat smothered Toronto one evening last week, five young men in the Rotterdam pub decided to quench their thirst with something different. Their opportunities were ample: besides 27 varieties of draught beer, they could also choose from a stunning selection of 348 bottled beers.

CANADA

Backroom arm-twisting at the summit

From the businesslike tone of the discussions to the blandly worded final communiqué, the 14th economic summit in Toronto was a predictably low-key affair. But there was nothing restrained about the praise that the participants lavished on one another last week.

COLUMN

Playing a cunning postwar game

In one corner of the bustling media centre at the Toronto economic summit, the scene was sofas, sushi and snoozing Japanese journalists. During the three days of the summit, Japan’s media contingent of 231 editors, reporters and photographers was both jetlagged and overworked. By Diane Francis5 min

WORLD

A crucial test for glasnost

At 54 years of age, Vladimir Chichirov has been a loyal member of the Communist party since he was a teenager in Leningrad. A holder of the title of Hero of Socialist Labor and a twice-elected deputy to the Supreme Soviet, he is clearly one of the party’s more devoted adherents. By Anthony Wilson-Smith5 min

June 271988