''Dad Rudd, M.P.'' is a 1940 comedy that was the last of four films made by

Ken G. Hall Kenneth George Hall, AO, OBE (22 February 1901 – 8 February 1994), better known as Ken G. Hall, was an Australian film producer and director, considered one of the most important figures in the history of the Australian film industry. ...

starring

Bert Bailey Albert Edward Bailey (11 June 1868 – 30 March 1953), 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 ...

as Dad Rudd. It was the last feature film directed by Hall prior to the war and the last made by

Cinesound Productions 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 produ ...

, Bert Bailey and Frank Harvey.

Synopsis

Dad Rudd wants the size of a local dam increased for the benefit of local farmers but faces opposition from a wealthy grazier, Henry Webster. When the local Member of Parliament dies, Webster runs for his seat, and Rudd decides to oppose him. Webster and his team use dirty tricks to defeat Rudd, so he calls in his old friend from the city, Entwistle to help. Matters are complicated by the fact that Rudd's daughter Ann falls in love with Webster's son Jim. On polling day, a fierce storm causes the dam to collapse. A major flood traps workers on the wrong side of the dam and the Rudds and Jim Webster team up to save the day. Dad Rudd is elected to parliament, where he gives a rousing speech.

Cast

Production

Script

The last six films made by

were all comedies as producer

sought to ensure guaranteed box office successes. He elected to make another Dad and Dave film instead of two other long-planned projects, an adaptation of ''

Robbery Under Arms ''Robbery Under Arms'' is a bushranger novel by Thomas Alexander Browne, published under his pen name Rolf Boldrewood. It was first published in serialised form by ''The Sydney Mail'' between July 1882 and August 1883, then in three volumes in ...

'' and a story about the

Overland Telegraph The Australian Overland Telegraph Line was a telegraphy system to send messages over long distances using cables and electric signals. It spanned between Darwin, in what is now the Northern Territory of Australia, and Adelaide, the capital o ...

. Hall said in 1939 that:

Though we were entertaining the idea of other types of stories, the amazing enthusiasm for ''
Dad and Dave Come to Town ''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 fi ...
'' makes another Bailey picture the wisest commercial choice. We feel that, by placing 'Dad' in politics, we will inject any amount of comedy material which is typical of Bailey at his best.

William Freshman William Freshman (1 November 1902, in Sydney, Australia – 1980 in London, England) was an Australian-born actor, scriptwriter and director. He moved to England as a child and worked in the British film industry, writing over 20 screenplays an ...

was originally reported as having worked on the script and is credited along with Frank Harvey on the script submitted for copyright registration with the

National Archives of Australia The National Archives of Australia (NAA), formerly known as the Commonwealth Archives Office and Australian Archives, is an Australian Government agency that serves as the national archives of the nation. It collects, preserves and encourages ...

. However he does not have screen credit. The movie was more serious than others in the series, being basically a drama with comic interludes.

commented during filming that:

In one of the old 'Selection' books, Dad did stand for Parliament. But that was for comedy purposes. In ''Dad Rudd, M.P.'', when Dad does come down and speak in Parliament, there is not one tinge of comedy. He is an earnest old chap, speaking in a plain, ordinary, common-sense way on water conservation. He is saying what he believes is the right thing to be done for the farmer, and for the country. For water is a national asset. In this scene, Dad does allude to the war. He says that the spirit which animated the pioneers who crossed the plains and fought the land is the same spirit behind the adventurous boys who go abroad to fight for Australia."

Ken Hall himself edited out this speech when the film screened on ABC TV in 1970. "In the light of the world as we know it in the seventies, it all sounded so follow, so phony, so naive", he wrote. But the speech remains in most copies of the film available today.

Casting

The romantic leads were played by Yvonne East and Grant Taylor, both graduates of the Cinesound Talent School making their first film.

Chips Rafferty John William Pilbean Goffage MBE (26 March 190927 May 1971), known professionally as Chips Rafferty, was an Australian actor. Called "the living symbol of the typical Australian", Rafferty's career stretched from the late 1930s until his death ...

makes an early screen appearance as a fireman in the

Keystone Kops The Keystone Cops (often spelled "Keystone Kops") are fictional, humorously incompetent policemen featured in silent film slapstick comedies produced by Mack Sennett for his Keystone Film Company between 1912 and 1917. History The idea for the ...

-style opening sequence. The cast had more continuity than usual for a Cinesound Rudd film, with

Alec Kellaway 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 pro ...

, Connie Martyn, Ossie Wenban, Valerie Scanlan and Marshall Crosby all reprising their roles from ''

Dad and Dave Come to Town ''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 fi ...

'' (1938). American actor Barbara Weeks, who was visiting Australia at the time of shooting with her husband, played a small role at the behest of Ken G. Hall.

Shooting

During pre production, Cinesound was visited by

Adolph Zukor Adolph Zukor (; hu, Zukor Adolf; January 7, 1873 – June 10, 1976) was a Hungarian-American film producer best known as one of the three founders of Paramount Pictures.Obituary ''Variety Obituaries, Variety'' (June 16, 1976), p. 76. He produ ...

, founder of

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

, then touring Australia. He had seen ''

'' on the boat trip from the US, and been so impressed with the film's quality he wanted to visit the studio. Shooting took place in February and March 1940, in the Cinesound Studio and on location at

Woronora Dam The Woronora Dam is a heritage-listed concrete gravity dam with an uncontrolled serpentine spillway across the Woronora River, located south of Greater Metropolitan Sydney, in the suburb of Woronora Dam, Sutherland Shire, New South Wales, Au ...

and Camden. Cinesound hired space on the lot of the closed-down Pagewood studios for building a scale reproduction of the dam for the climax. These were supervised by J Alan Kenyon, who did the special effects for most of Cinesound's movies. The fake dam was 125 feet long and held 12,000 gallons of water. According to Hall:

It was the smoothest, best-made of the Bert Bailey films. In the process of the gradual evolution of the people and the storylines we had set down for these productions, the rawness had gone off the characters. There was much less burlesque of the types. The story was more modern and believable.

The movie was partly financed with an guaranteed overdraft of £15,000 from the New South Wales government.

Release

Box office

''Dad Rudd, M.P.'' was a hit at the box office, earning £28,000 and achieving a successful release in Britain. However it was generally felt this result was below expectations. Hall thought this was due in part to the fact that it was released "when Britain was standing alone under the blitz and all of Europe was aflame. It was a grim time for the whole world and a disastrous time for the entertainment industry. The theatres in Australia reached their lowest ebb since the depths of the Depression. Some suburban houses went dark and many city houses might just as well have been closed for all the good they were doing." The drain on material caused by World War II saw Cinesound abandon feature production in June 1940 for the duration of the war. They never made another feature film.

Critical

''Filmink'' later wrote that Grant Taylor "had looks, swagger and charm, albeit a hairline that was already receding. He was a man. His performance was well-received and he was launched as an actor."

References

External links

''Dad Rudd, M.P.''
in the

Internet Movie Database IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

''Dad Rudd, M.P.''
at

Australian Screen Online The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA), known as ScreenSound Australia from 1999 to 2004, is Australia's audiovisual archive, responsible for developing, preserving, maintaining, promoting and providing access to a national co ...

''Dad Rudd, M.P.''
at Oz Movies
Complete copy of shooting script
at

Review of film
at Variety
''Dad Rudd, MP and the making of a national audience'' by Julieanne Lamond
{{Dad and Dave 1940 films Films directed by Ken G. Hall Films based on works by Steele Rudd Australian black-and-white films Australian comedy films 1940 comedy films 1940s English-language films 1940s Australian films Cinesound Productions films