| On Our Selection | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Ken G. Hall |
| Produced by | Bert Bailey |
| Written by | Bert Bailey Ken G. Hall |
| Based on | play by Bert Bailey & Edmund Duggan based on the stories of Steele Rudd |
| Starring | Bert Bailey Fred MacDonald Dick Fair |
| Cinematography | Walter Sully |
| Editing by | George Malcolm |
| Studio | Cinesound Productions |
| Release date(s) | 12 August, 1932 (Sydney) |
| Running time | 99 minutes |
| Country | Australia |
| Language | English |
| Budget | ₤6,000[1] |
| Box office | ₤46,000 (Aus & NZ end 1933)[2] ₤60,000 (end 1953)[3] ₤2,000 (UK) |
On Our Selection is a 1932 comedy based on the Dad and Dave stories by Steele Rudd. These had been turned into a popular play by Bert Bailey and Edmund Duggan in 1912, which formed the basis for the screenplay. Bailey repeats his stage role as Dad Rudd. He also wrote the script with director Ken G. Hall.
Contents |
The movie opens with the title card "bushland symphony", followed by sounds and vision of the Australian bush. The subsequent action involves a series of various subplots centered around a "selection" in south west Queensland owned by Dad Rudd (Bert Bailey): he owes some money to his rich neighbour, old Carey (Len Budrick), who is determined to break Dad financially; his educated daughter Kate is pursued by two men, the poor but devoted Sandy (Dick Fair) and Carey's villainous son, Jim (John Warwick); one of his workers, Cranky Jack (Fred Kerry), has a mysterious background; comic visits from a parson (Arthur Dodds) and country dentist who removes Dad's tooth; his dim son Dave (Fred MacDonald) proposes to his girlfriend, Lily (Lilias Adeson); his other son, Joe (Ossie Wenban), causes slapstick havoc; Dave gets married and moves out with his wife and tries to borrow money from his father; Dad's daughter Sarah (Bobbie Beaumont) is pursued by the high-voiced Billy (Fred Browne), who Dad doesn't like; Dad Rudd runs for parliament opposite Carey; and his horse wins a race.
The main story concerns a murder mystery. Jim Carey attempts to blackmail Kate into being with him by lying about what she did in the city, and Sandy knocks him out. Carey later turns up dead and Sandy is suspected of the murder. The Rudds hold a dance and a police officer turns up to arrest Sandy when Cranky Jack confesses he killed Carey because the dead man stole his wife. The film ends with Dad and Mum happily watching the sun come up.
The film was the first full length feature from Cinesound Productions and was made for ₤6,000. Most of the cast had appeared in the stage version. Although Bert Bailey was clean shaven and generally wore a fake beard for his stage performances, Hall insisted he grow a real beard for the film version; Bailey did and ended up wearing a beard for the rest of his life.[4]
Shooting took place in mid 1931, partly in a makeshift studio at an ice skating rink in Bondi Junction, with location filming in Castlereagh, Penrith. Crucial to the movie's success was a sound recording system invented by Tasmanian engineer Arthur Smith, which enabled the film to be made without having to hire sound equipment from Hollywood. Hall later said Smith's contribution was so important "there would have been no Cinesound without him".[5]
The cinematographer, Walter Sully, was a newsreel cameraman for Cinesound. It was the only feature he made for that company as he soon left to go work for their competitor, Fox Movietone.
On Our Selection was an enormous success at the box office, being among the top four most popular films in Australian cinemas in 1932[6] and earning ₤46,000 in Australia and New Zealand by the end of 1933. It was continually revived and by 1953 had earned an estimated £60,000. The profits were split 50-50 between Cinesound Productions and the theatrical partnership of Bert Bailey and James Grant.[7] In 1938 Hall estimated that 70% of the film's income had been earned in country regions.[8]
The movie launched Hall's career as a director and led to three sequels, starting with Grandad Rudd (1935). All the sequels featured Bert Bailey as Dad and Fred MacDonald as Dave, but different actors would play Mum and their other children.