Grandad Rudd

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Grandad Rudd
Grandad Rudd.jpg
Directed by Ken G. Hall
Written by Vic Roberts
George D. Parker
Based onplay by Steele Rudd
stories Grandpa's Selection and Our New Selection by Steele Rudd
Produced by Ken G. Hall
Starring Bert Bailey
Fred MacDonald
Cinematography Frank Hurley
George Heath
Edited byWilliam Shepherd
Production
company
Release date
February 1935
Running time
90 minutes
CountryAustralia
LanguageEnglish
Budget£8,000 [1] [2] or £15,000 [3] [4]
Box office£18,000 [2] or £20,000 [5]

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 .

Contents

Plot

The movie's plot is similar to that of the play: Dad Rudd (Bert Bailey) has become a successful father but is very tight with his money and oppresses his sons Dave (Fred MacDonald), Joe (William McGowan) and Dan (George Lloyd). The sons eventually stand up to their father and manage to persuade him to give them a wage increase – but he increases their rent by an equal amount.

As in the play, there is a serious subplot about Dad's grandchild Betty (Elaine Hamill) who becomes engaged to a corrupt neighbour, Henry Cook (John D’Arcy), despite the true love of another farmer, Tom Dalley (John Cameron). The climax involves a comic cricket game involving the Rudds.

Cast

Original play

Gran'dad Rudd
Written by Steele Rudd
Date premiered22 September 1917
Original languageEnglish
Genrecomedy

The play Gran'dad Rudd was first produced in 1917, being based on the stories Grandpa's Selection and Our New Selection.

Plot

The story is set twenty years after the events of the 1912 play, On Our Selection : Dad has become a prosperous farmer and member of Parliament, while Dave has married Lily and become a father. Dad tries to bully Dave and his other son Joe (who has also married), but their wives encourage them to rebel against their father.

There were subplots involving a love triangle between Dad's granddaughter Nell, handsome Tom Dalley, who has invented a potato harvester, and unscrupulous produce agent Henry Cook; the return of a prodigal son, Dan Rudd, keen to claim Dad's estate, and his romance with Amelia Banks; and their neighbours, Mrs Regan and the Banks family. [6]

Original production

The original production was presented by Bert Bailey and Julius Grant, and saw Bert Bailey and Fred MacDonald repeat their stage roles as Dad and Dave respectively. Making its debut on 22 September 1917, it ran for seven weeks in that city, only ending because the theatre had to vacate for another production. It then toured around the country over the next few years, although it was never as successful as On Our Selection. [7]

Production

Shooting a scene for 'Grandad Rudd', Cinesound-Ken Hall, Sydney, ca. 1935, Sam Hood Shooting a scene for 'Grandad Rudd', Sydney, ca. 1935, Sam Hood.jpg
Shooting a scene for 'Grandad Rudd', Cinesound-Ken Hall, Sydney, ca. 1935, Sam Hood

Development

The box office success of On Our Selection (1932) saw Cinesound announce plans to make Gran'dad Rudd as a follow-up almost immediately, but Steele Rudd issued a statement claiming that since he wrote the play, no movie could be made without his permission. [8] For a time there was talk the second Dad Rudd film would be Rudd's New Selection, but this did not eventuate. [9]

It was originally reported that Bert Bailey and Ken G. Hall would write the script, as they had done for On Our Selection, [10] but eventually the job of adaptation went to Vic Roberts and George D. Parker.

Although Grandad Rudd's production had been planned prior to making Strike Me Lucky (1934), its importance to Cinesound grew when that earlier film failed at the box office and the new studio needed a hit.

Shooting

Shooting took place over five weeks. [11] On this and the other two Dad Rudd sequels, Cinesound paid Bert Bailey £150 a week plus 25% of the profits. [2]

Reception

Ken G Hall later said the film was successful "but it was not in the On Our Selection class as a money-spinner". [12] According to Bert Bailey's obituary, the star thought this drop was caused in part by him playing the role with a clean shaven top lip. "The slight change took him out of character." [2]

The film was released in England under the title of Ruling the Roost. [13]

Cinesound originally intended to follow this movie with a version of Robbery Under Arms but decided not to proceed because of uncertainty arising from a ban the NSW government had on films about bushrangers. [14] The company ended up ceasing production for several months in 1935 to enable Hall to travel to Hollywood and research production methods.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steele Rudd</span> Author novelist and short story author (1868 - 1935)

Steele Rudd was the pen name of Arthur Hoey Davis an Australian author, best known for his short story collection On Our Selection.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ken G. Hall</span> Australian film producer and director (1901–1994)

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cinesound Productions</span> Australian film production company

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.

<i>Dad and Dave Come to Town</i> 1938 film by Ken G. Hall

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.

<i>On Our Selection</i> (1932 film) 1932 film

On Our Selection is a 1932 comedy based on the Dad and Dave stories by Steele Rudd. These had been turned into a popular play by Bert Bailey and Edmund Duggan in 1912, which formed the basis for the screenplay. Bailey repeats his stage role as Dad Rudd. He also wrote the script with director Ken G. Hall.

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.

<i>Strike Me Lucky</i> 1934 Australian film

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.

<i>Dad Rudd, M.P.</i> 1940 Australian film

Dad Rudd, M.P. is a 1940 comedy that was the last of four films made by Ken G. Hall starring Bert Bailey as Dad Rudd. It was the last feature film directed by Hall prior to the war and the last made by Cinesound Productions, Bert Bailey and Frank Harvey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bert Bailey</span>

Albert Edward Bailey, better known as Bert Bailey, was a New Zealand-born Australian playwright, theatrical manager and stage and screen actor best known for playing Dad Rudd, in both mediums, the character from the books penned by Steele Rudd.

<i>Our Friends, the Hayseeds</i> 1917 Australian film

Our Friends, the Hayseeds is a 1917 Australian rural comedy from director Beaumont Smith. It centers on the rural family, the Hayseeds, and their rivalry with a neighbouring family, the Duggans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edmund Duggan (playwright)</span> Irish-Australian actor and playwright (1862-1938)

Edmund Duggan was an Irish-born actor and playwright who worked in Australia. He is best known for writing a number of plays with Bert Bailey including The Squatter's Daughter (1907) and On Our Selection (1912). His solo career was less successful than Bailey's. His sister Eugenie was known as "The Queen of Melodrama" and married noted theatre producer William Anderson, for whom Duggan frequently worked as an actor, writer and stage manager.

On Our Selection is a 1912 Australian play by Bert Bailey and Edmund Duggan based on the stories with the same name by Steele Rudd. Bailey played Dad Rudd in the original production.

On Our Selection is a 1920 Australian silent film directed by Raymond Longford based on the Dad and Dave stories by Steele Rudd.

Rudd's New Selection is a 1921 Australian silent film directed by Raymond Longford based on the Dad and Dave stories by Steele Rudd. It is a sequel to On Our Selection (1920). The plot concerns the marriage of Dave Rudd and introduces a sister, Nell.

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.

Alec Kellaway (1894–1973) was a South African–born actor best known for his work in Australian theatre and film, notably playing a number of character roles for director Ken G. Hall. He was the brother of Cecil Kellaway. He also worked as a producer in vaudeville and helped run the Talent School at Cinesound Productions.

Fred MacDonald (1895–1968), was an Australian actor best known for playing Dave Rudd opposite Bert Bailey on stage and screen, starting with the original 1912 production of On Our Selection. He also played a similar role, Jim Hayseed, several times on screen for director Beaumont Smith.

George Heath was an Australian cinematographer best known for his collaboration with Ken G. Hall for whom he shot several features. According to one observer, he fitted into the Cinesound world far more than his predecessor, Frank Harley - "Heath adapted much more easily to studio work and soon developed into a technician of world class. His work on the features was always attuned to the demands of the film and its future audience: his images show few of the pretensions to grandeur which are to be found in the work of Hurley, and instead his photography is clear, expressive and undemanding."

On Our Selection (1899) is a series of stories written by Australian author Steele Rudd, the pen name of Arthur Hoey Davis, in the late 1890s, featuring the characters Dad and Dave Rudd.

References

  1. "Counting the Cash in Australian Films"', Everyones 12 December 1934 p 19-20
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Bert Bailey Started in Melodrama And Made A Fortune From A Beard". The Sunday Herald . Sydney: National Library of Australia. 5 April 1953. p. 12. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
  3. Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production, Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, 169.
  4. Pike, Andrew Franklin. "The History of an Australian Film Production Company: Cinesound, 1932-70" (PDF). Australian National University. p. 245.
  5. "CINESOUND CAVALCADE", The Home: An Australian Quarterly, Sydney: Art in Australia, 18 (6), 1 June 1937, nla.obj-389169660, retrieved 2 May 2023 via Trove
  6. '"GRAN'DAD RUDD." A HUMOROUS AUSTRALIAN PLAY', The Advertiser (Adelaide), Monday 6 May 1918 p 7
  7. '"GRANDAD RUDD"', The Register (Adelaide), Saturday 27 April 1918 p 10
  8. 'NEW AUSTRALIAN FILM. Statement by Steele Rudd', The Sydney Morning Herald, Wednesday 14 December 1932 p 6
  9. "AUSTRALIAN FILMS." The West Australian (Perth) 20 Feb 1933: 8. Retrieved 7 December 2011
  10. '"GRANDAD RUDD" Cinesound's New Pictures', The Courier-Mail (Brisbane), Thursday 11 October 1934 p 3
  11. '"GRANDAD RUDD" New Australian Film', Examiner (Launceston) Tuesday 15 January 1935 Edition: DAILY p 4
  12. Ken G. Hall, Directed by Ken G. Hall, Lansdowne Press, 1977 p94
  13. "PICTURES AND PERSONALITIES". The Mercury . Hobart, Tas.: National Library of Australia. 28 September 1935. p. 5. Retrieved 10 August 2012.
  14. "BONUSES FOR FILMS". The Sydney Morning Herald . National Library of Australia. 20 October 1934. p. 20. Retrieved 10 August 2012.