Australian film director, producer, writer.
Australia's most commercially successful filmmaker up until the industry's revival in the 1970s, Ken G. Hall produced and directed eighteen feature films during the 1930s and 1940s, and is perhaps best remembered for his association with the Dad and Dave series of films, based on Steele Rudd's (q.v.) popular stories. He began his career in the film industry in 1924, briefly as a theatre manager for Union Theatres and later as the company's national publicity manager. The following year, he accepted a similar position with First National Pictures, travelling to the USA in order to better understand the motion-picture business. In 1928, he supervised the filming of new, and more favourably Australian, sequences for First National's imported German film Unsere Emden. Released in Australia as The Exploits of the Emden, the film's success, particularly Hall's segments, so impressed Union Theatres that he was given the chance to direct On Our Selection, the first of the four Dad and Dave films he directed and the film that effectively launched his career. From 1931 until the mid-1950s, Hall also made documentaries under the series title Cinesound Review. He moved to the field of televion in the late 1950s, becoming Chief Executive of Channel 9 in 1957, a position in which he remained until 1966. He was awarded an OBE in 1972.
Ken G. Hall's films were essentially made along Hollywood studio lines, particularly in terms of production techniques, publicity, and organisation. Even though he focused on Australian stories and themes, Hall did not seek to follow his contemporary filmmaking rival Charles Chauvel (q.v.) in passionately or artistically exploring his subject matter. His success as a director was largely due to his ability to create well-crafted stories. His direction was also well supported by Cinesound's quality production teams, many of whom Hall employed on a permanent basis.
Ken G. Hall's film credits include On Our Selection (1933), The Squatter's Daughter (1933), the Roy Rene box-office failure Strike Me Lucky (1934, the only film not to return Hall a profit), Grandad Rudd (1935), Tall Timbers (1937), Dad and Dave Come to Town (1938), The Broken Melody (1938), Mr Chedworth Steps Out (1939), George Wallace's Gone to the Dogs (1939), Dad Rudd M. P. (1940), and Smithy (1946). Hall also supervised the 1942 newsreel Kokoda Front Line. Footage for that documentary, shot by Damien Parer, helped the film win Australia's first Academy Award. His autobiography, Directed by Ken G. Hall, was published in 1977.
