| Dad and Dave Come to Town | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Ken G. Hall |
| Produced by | Ken G. Hall |
| Written by | Bert Bailey Frank Harvey |
| Based on | story by Ken G. Hall characters created by Steele Rudd |
| Starring | Bert Bailey Fred MacDonald Shirley Ann Richards |
| Music by | Hamilton Webber |
| Cinematography | George Heath |
| Editing by | William Shepherd |
| Studio | Cinesound Productions |
| Distributed by | British Empire Films |
| Release date(s) | 30 September 1938 (Australia) 1939 (UK) 1943 (USA) |
| Running time | 97 minutes (Australia) 78 mins (UK) |
| Country | Australia |
| Language | English |
| Budget | £12,000[1] or ₤23,000[2] |
| Box office | £40,000[3] |
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.
Contents |
Dad Rudd (Bert Bailey) inherits a woman's fashion store in the city from his dead brother. The Rudd family moves there to take charge but find it difficult to adapt to city ways. He also finds opposition from a rival shop owner, Pierre (Sidney Wheeler), who wants to put Dad's store out of business. Dad places his daughter Jill (Shirley Ann Richards) in charge of the store, and she hires a young press agent from Pierre, Jim Bradley (Billy Rayes), to help promote it. Jill decides to put on a giant fashion show at the film's climax. Pierre hires some thugs to disrupt things, but they are stopped by Dave (Fred MacDonald), his new girlfriend Myrtle (Muriel Flood) and the store's effeminate floorwalker Entwistle (Alec Kellaway). The show is a big success, Jill and Jim become a couple, and Dad Rudd returns to the country.
Unlike the first two Dad and Dave films starring Bert Bailey, On Our Selection (1932) and Grandad Rudd (1935), this was not based on a play by Bailey but an original story by Ken G. Hall. Hall claims he asked his regular writer Frank Harvey to develop a premise, but Harvey could not do it, and indeed threatened to resign prior to the scripting of the film because he felt he couldn't write comedy. However, Hall came up with a story and Harvey stayed on the film, ending up with a writing credit. Uncredited work was done on the script by Hall's "comedy team" of Jim Bancks, Hal Carleton and Bill Maloney.[4] The humour was considerably more risque than normal for a Cinesound film.[5]
Hall made the movie because Cinesound Productions needed a guaranteed box office success. There had recently been a ruling that Australian films were no longer eligible as British under the local quotas in England, which hurt their ability to sell overseas. Hall needed to make a film which was appealed to local audiences and On Our Selection (1932) had just enjoyed a fifth run in Sydney, indicating the market was still strong for Dad and Dave movies.
"I'm fully prepared for verbal onslaughts from a certain section of the public that considers we are ruining Australia's prestige overseas," said Hall before filming. "In fact, it's the English markets that vitally concern us. But as our pictures have been subjected to certain restrictions there, we have cut our cloth to suit our pocket. Cinesound's next picture will be made for Australian audiences."[6]
Bert Bailey and Fred MacDonald repeated their roles as Dad and Dave from the earlier films in the series, but the rest of the cast were newcomers. Ingenue Shirley Ann Richards, who was under long-term contract to Cinesound Productions was cast as Dad's daughter.
Billy Rayes and Leila Steppe were both Americans touring on the Tivoli vaudeville circuit.[7]
Peter Finch plays a young man in love with Dad Rudd's daughter Sarah (Valerie Scanlan). Finch had appeared in a short film, The Magic Shoes (1935), but this was his first feature. He was recommended to Hall by George Cross, Cinesound's casting director, and so impressed the director he was cast in the role.
"He was almost painfully thin in his early days, with high, prominent cheekbones, and his looks gave no real promise of the handsome, world-class screen star he matured into overseas," wrote Hall late. "But from the beginning he was a really first-class actor."[8] Indeed, Hall later cast him in a larger role in Mr. Chedworth Steps Out (1939).
Valerie Scanlan was an 18 year old Sydney actor who had come to the attention of George Cross in an amateur proudction of Men Without Wives. It was her first film role.
Muriel Flood was a former vaudeville actor who was a well known radio personality "Susie" on 2GB.[9]
The film was a success at the box office, Ken G. Hall later calling it a "very substantial hit",[10] and led to a fourth (and final) entry in the series, Dad Rudd, MP (1940). It was released in England as The Rudd Family Goes to Town, and was the first Australian film to screen in a cinema on the West End.[11] It was released in the USA as The Farmer Goes to Town.
In one scene, Jill (Shirley Ann Richards) says to Jim Bradley (Billy Rayes), "Don't call me girlie". This line was used as the title for a 1985 documentary about women in the Australian film industry.[12]
The character of Entwistle (Alec Kellaway), the effeminate floorwalker who works at the fashion store, is a rare gay character in early Australian cinema. Although a stereotype, he is depicted as a loyal friend of the hero - the "first upfront camp male character to be treated in a positive fashion"[13] and was so popular with audiences he returned in Dad Rudd, MP (1940).[14]
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