Australia's "Dad And Dave"

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 208, 3 September 1938, Page 7 (Supplement)

Australia's "Dad And Dave"

DAD and Dave, whose exploits in On Our Selection" originally set Cinesound and Director Ken Hall along a trail of picturemaking which now sees a tally of 14 productions, are again on the job at the studios. Now nearing completion, "Dad and Dave Come to Town" is being made under vastly different circumstances to those primitive makeshifts which comprised Cinesound's technical appointments in 1931 when "On Our Selection" was produced. Bert Bailey, Fred Mac Donald (both originals of the initial stage and screen presentation of the two characters who now enjoy a national fame), and the

rest of the family on this occasion mbve from the wide open spaces to the ultramodern luxury of the city. 'The same human and humorous values as marked the Steele Rudd personalities in the previous film hare been retained, but a veneer of sophistication has been added through the subsidiary characters," Ken Hall stated. "That 'On Our Selection' proved one of the most successful talking pictures ever released in Australia—and, in fact, is still earning revenue of no inconsiderable proportions after years of consistent screenings—is the box-office encouragement of this new film. "Many local exhibitors have already emphasised the confidence they feel regarding the potentialities of 'Dad and Dave' in modernised surroundings, and the directors of Cinesound will leave no stone unturned to assure that in this picture everything will' be incorporated to allow the utmost exploitation of the characters' possibilities." An interesting slant on "Dad" and ''Dave," to stress their national appeal, is that it is 26 years ago since they were introduced by the Bailey and Grant management in "On Our Selection" at the Palace Theatre, Sydney. Since that first success of the play—staged incidentally as a daring experiment in a waning season of melodrama—its revivals throughout Australia are beyond number.

The film version enjoyed a similar experience, only recently a new print being turned out at Cinesound laboratories. Fans of Australian cinema productions will be impressed, it k stated, by the striking modernity in design of the sets. These offer splendid contrast to the location "ehots ; " which have been made in backgrounds of some of the most beautiful countryside in New flfcith Wales. A highlight will be an elaborate fashion parade, while one of the most ambitious spectacles to have been arranged by a local studio is the ballroom speciality. The cast, in addition to Bailey and Mac Donald, includes Shirley Ann Richards, Billy Bayes, Alex Kellaway, Leila Steppe (United States "glamour girl") and Syi Wheeler.

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LAUGHTON" chow four exceptional cats for "St. Martin's Lane," the film he has just fini«lu»«l "shooting." They are pure white and are named Joey, Ann, Zack and Zippy. All have appeared in previous films last Christmas toured in a Dick Whittington pantomime. Ann and Joey «—« both walk tight-ropes, Joey tap-dances alone and the others can count do simple arithmetic. Joey has another claim to fame—he has one green and one red eye, These cats belong to Jack Phillips, a professional clown, who was originally an elephant trainee.