''Rewi's Last Stand'' is the title of two feature films directed by pioneering New Zealand filmmaker

Rudall Hayward Rudall Charles Victor Hayward (4 July 1900 – 29 May 1974) was a pioneer New Zealand filmmaker from the 1920s to the 1970s, who directed seven feature films and numerous others. Biography Hayward was born in Wolverhampton, England, and died i ...

: a 1925 silent movie, and 1940 remake with sound. They are historical dramas, based on the last stand of

Rewi Maniapoto Rewi Manga Maniapoto (1807–1894) was a Ngāti Maniapoto chief who led Kīngitanga forces during the New Zealand government Invasion of Waikato during the New Zealand Wars. Kinship Rewi, or Manga as he was known to his kin, was the child of ...

at the

Battle of Ōrākau The Invasion of the Waikato became the largest and most important campaign of the 19th-century New Zealand Wars. Hostilities took place in the North Island of New Zealand between the military forces of the Colony of New Zealand, colonial gover ...

. Hayward believed that New Zealand's history offered material as dramatic as any Hollywood western. He set out to make films involving conflicts between

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

and

Pākehā Pākehā (or Pakeha; ; ) is a Māori term for New Zealanders primarily of European descent. Pākehā is not a legal concept and has no definition under New Zealand law. The term can apply to fair-skinned persons, or to any non-Māori New Ze ...

"while there were still people alive" who remembered the period accurately.L. R. Shelton. 'Hayward, Rudall Charles Victor - Biography', from the ''Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand'', updated 1-Sep-10
accessed 22 November 2012

1940 Remake

In 1940 Rudall Hayward remade his second feature on a more ambitious scale, this time with sound. He cast his future wife

Ramai Hayward Patricia Rongomaitara "Ramai" Hayward (née Te Miha, 11 November 1916 – 3 July 2014) was a New Zealand photographer, actor, and filmmaker who made films in five countries. Her film career began in 1940 when she co-starred in the historical mo ...

in the romantic lead. The 1940 remake was released in a shortened version in the United Kingdom, as ''The Last Stand''. The shortened version is the only one surviving.''THE LAST STAND'' at ARCHIVING PRACTICE, FILM, NZ HISTORY
accessed 5 August 2016

References

External links

''Rewi's Last Stand'' (1925)
at

IMDb 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, ...

''Rewi's Last Stand'' (1940)
at

Article on the real last stand
at NZ History

at New Zealand Feature Film Database 1925 films 1920s New Zealand films 1940 films 1940s New Zealand films New Zealand silent films 1925 in New Zealand 1940 in New Zealand Films set in New Zealand New Zealand historical films New Zealand Wars films Sound film remakes of silent films Films about Māori people 1940s English-language films 1920s English-language films {{NewZealand-film-stub