A series of four films, all directed by Ken G. Hall and made for Cinesound Productions, based on the On Our Selection stories of Steele Rudd.
On Our Selection
Sydney
:
Cinesound Productions
,
1932
Z1253929
1932
single work
film/TV
This cinematic adaptation is based on the stage play On Our Selection by Albert Edmunds (aka Bert Bailey and Edmund Duggan), which was itself based on the stories of Steele Rudd. Set in south-west Queensland, it tells of the Rudd family, which has been all but ruined by the drought and is in debt to their villainous neighbour Old Carey. While Carey seizes the Rudds' cattle in an attempt to leverage a hold on their land, his son Jim attempts to get his hands on the eldest daughter Kate. Her long-suffering suitor Sandy Graham warns her. However, Jim is no better than his father. In order to relieve financial pressure on the family, Kate moves to the city, but when the rains eventually come she returns to help the family rebuild their stock. When Sandy finds out that Jim has tried to force his sweetheart into marriage (by threatening to sully her reputation), he knocks him down. Unfortunately, Jim dies, and Sandy is charged with murder. While Kate frets over Sandy's future, eldest son Dave marries his sweetheart Lily White. Dad Rudd's woes continue to escalate when he is forced to repeatedly rebuff Billy Bearup's attempts to woo his other daughter Sarah, while youngest son Joe continues to upset one and all by his mischief. Sandy is eventually cleared of the murder charge when another character, Cranky Jack, admits his part in the death, leaving Sandy and Kate free to finally marry (much to the delight/relief of the Rudd family).
Grandad Rudd
Sydney
:
Cinesound Productions
,
1935
Z362149
1935
single work
film/TV
humour
Dad Rudd is a grandfather and a prosperous grazier employing his sons Dave, Joe, and Dan at low wages. [Source: Australian Screen]
Dad and Dave Come to Town
The Farmer Goes to Town
Sydney
:
Cinesound Productions
,
1938
8100251
1938
single work
film/TV
Dad inherits a Sydney fashion shop from his brother, whom he hadn't seen in more than twenty years. He sends one of his daughters down to run the shop, but it soon becomes apparent that a corrupt manager is in league with a competitor, Pierre. In an attempt to counter the dirty tricks campaign being waged against him, Dad closes the shop for renovations and to prepare for a major fashion show. Pierre still has a trump card up his sleeve, however: a debt of £1,000 left by Dad's brother.
Sydney : Cinesound Productions , 1938
Dad Rudd, M.P.
Australia
:
Cinesound Productions
,
1940
8100386
1940
single work
film/TV
The fourth in the 'Dad and Dave' (On Our Selection) series, Dad Rudd, M.P. sees Dad clash with his neighbour Henry Webster over the need for a higher wall for a dam being constructed in the district. When the local member of the state parliament dies, Dad and Webster stand against each other for the seat. Webster's camp uses every dirty trick to stop Dad Rudd's campaign, but with the help of an old friend Mr Entwhistle, Dad responds with some tricks of his own. On polling day, a major flood threatens the dam wall, while a party of workman on the other side are trapped and certain to die if it collapses. Henry Webster's son Jim (who is in love with Ann Rudd) helps rescue the stranded workers. The emergency sees Dad Rudd vindicated, and he is elected. In his maiden speech to parliament, Dad gives a rousing speech that foreshadows the coming war.
Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper (1980) note that Dad Rudd, M.P. has almost nothing in common with the original Steele Rudd stories, and 'resembles instead the sort of small-town family comedy emphasised by Hollywood's Andy Hardy series. Dad Rudd [becomes] less a naive comic figure than a bastion of middle-class morality, and the story [turns] from the frivolity of the earlier films to an inherently more sober, if rudimentary, allegory on the war in Europe' (p. 249).
The narrative also sees the Rudds attempting to modernise their farm, with unpredictable (and comic) results. Dad Rudd, for example, sets off to buy a new car and returns with an ancient horse-drawn fire-engine. Dave installs a new gas-powered stove for Mum but almost blows the kitchen apart. Among the other comedy interludes scattered through what is essentially a serious plot is a scene in which a team of country fire fighters operate with all the efficiency of the Keystone Kops (Pike and Cooper, p. 249).
Australia : Cinesound Productions , 1940
