Kenneth George Hall was an Australian film producer and director, considered one of the most important figures in the history of the Australian film industry. He was the first Australian to win an Academy Award.
Cinesound Productions Pty Ltd was an Australian feature film production company. Established in June 1931, Cinesound developed out of a group of companies centred on Greater Union Theatres that covered all facets of the film process, from production to distribution and exhibition. Cinesound Productions established a film studio as a subsidiary of Greater Union Theatres Pty Ltd based on the Hollywood model. The first production was On Our Selection (1932), which was an enormous financial success.
John Longden was a British film actor. He appeared in more than 80 films between 1926 and 1964, including six films directed by Alfred Hitchcock.
Dad and Dave Come to Town is a 1938 Australian comedy film directed by Ken G. Hall, the third in the 'Dad and Dave' comedy series starring Bert Bailey. It was the feature film debut of Peter Finch and is one of the best known Australian films of the 1930s.
Mr. Chedworth Steps Out is a 1939 Australian comedy film directed by Ken G. Hall starring Cecil Kellaway. Kellaway returned to Australia from Hollywood to make the film, which features an early screen appearance by Peter Finch.
The Broken Melody is a 1938 Australian drama film directed by Ken G. Hall and starring Lloyd Hughes, based on a best-selling novel by F. J. Thwaites. Hall later said in 1974 that "This was a film that I’m particularly keen about still."
Frank Harvey was a British-born actor, producer, and writer, best known for his work in Australia.
The Squatter's Daughter is a 1933 Australian melodrama directed by Ken G. Hall and starring Jocelyn Howarth. One of the most popular Australian films of the 1930s, it is based on a 1907 play by Bert Bailey and Edmund Duggan which had been previously adapted to the screen in 1910.
The Silence of Dean Maitland is a 1934 Australian film directed by Ken G. Hall, and based on Maxwell Gray's 1886 novel of the same name. It was one of the most popular Australian films of the 1930s.
Strike Me Lucky is a 1934 Australian comedy musical film starring popular stage comic vaudevillian Roy Rene in his first and only film. It was the fourth feature film from Cinesound Productions but proved a box office disappointment. Director Ken G. Hall claimed it was the only one of his features not to go into profit within a few years of release, although the film eventually covered costs.
Grandad Rudd is a 1935 comedy featuring the Dad and Dave characters created by Steele Rudd and based on a play by Rudd. It was a sequel to On Our Selection, and was later followed by Dad and Dave Come to Town and Dad Rudd, MP.
Thoroughbred is a 1936 Australian race-horse drama film directed by Ken G. Hall, partly based on the life and career of Phar Lap. Hollywood star Helen Twelvetrees was imported to Australia to appear in the film. The film also stars Frank Leighton and John Longden.
Orphan of the Wilderness is a 1936 Australian feature film from director Ken G. Hall about the adventures of a boxing kangaroo. It starred Brian Abbot who disappeared at sea not long after filming completed.
It Isn't Done is a 1937 Australian comedy film about a grazier who inherits a barony in England.
Tall Timbers is a 1937 action melodrama set in the timber industry directed by Ken G. Hall and starring Frank Leighton and Shirley Ann Richards.
Let George Do It is a 1938 comedy starring popular stage comedian George Wallace. It was the first of two films Wallace made for Ken G. Hall at Cinesound Productions, the other one being Gone to the Dogs (1939). Hall later called Wallace "in my opinion, easily the best comedian that this country has produced."
The Silence of Dean Maitland is a 1914 Australian silent film directed by Raymond Longford. It is an adaptation of the 1886 novel of the same name by Maxwell Gray which was later filmed by Ken G. Hall in 1934. It is considered a lost film.
The Man They Could Not Hang is a 1934 Australian film directed by Raymond Longford about the life of John Babbacombe Lee, whose story had been filmed previously in 1912 and 1921.
George D. Parker (1873-1937) was an Australian actor, writer and director who worked extensively in Australian theatre during the 1920s and 1930s, mostly for J.C. Williamson Ltd. He was later employed by Cinesound Productions as a dialogue director and screenwriter, as well as running the Cinesound Talent School with Frank Harvey. According to Hall, "Parker was much more slick in his handling of dialogue" than him around the time of The Silence of Dean Maitland but he did not work with Cinesound after Grandad Rudd.
Kitty Bluett was an English-Australian actress and singer for radio, television and film. She played Ted Ray’s wife on the BBC radio show Ray's a Laugh from 1949 to 1961, the "longest running husband-wife radio show ever" with an estimated audience of 10 million. She appeared in several films, including A Son Is Born (1946), alongside Ron Randell. She was the first female radio DJ in Australia.
