Cirrus

The material on this page is available to AustLit subscribers. If you are a subscriber or are from a subscribing organisation, please log in to gain full access. To explore options for subscribing to this unique teaching, research, and publishing resource for Australian culture and storytelling, please contact us or find out more.

Latest Issues

VIEW ALL ISSUES (C172513)

AbstractHistoryArchive Description

Dad Rudd is a grandfather and a prosperous grazier employing his sons Dave, Joe, and Dan at low wages.
Tired of being treated poorly the sons threaten to leave. Dad increases their wages but raises their rent by an equal amount. When eldest grandchild Betty announces her intention to marry Henry Cook, Dad supports suitor Tom Dalley in his efforts to expose Cook as a liar with a conviction in his past.

[Source: Australian Screen]

8018483

8014658

VIEW ALL EXHIBITIONS

Notes

Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper (1980) note that Grandad Rudd demonstrates a clear shift away from the original Dad and Dave/Steele Rudd humour. 'The softening of the rustic caricatures,' they write, 'was perhaps at the expense of their energy and warmth [while] the film's emphasis on Grandad Rudd's overbearing and parsimonious nature seemed to destroy much of the sympathy that he once had from the audience' (p. 224). The Rudd family is also transformed into prosperous farmers, while several newcomers appear in the family to give the film greater dramatic variety.