AUSTRALIAN TALKIE.

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 661, 14 January 1933, Page 25 (Supplement)

AUSTRALIAN TALKIE.

“On Our Selection” Has Rich Humour.

”On Our Selection,” the excellent Australian talking picture version of Steele Rudd’s immortal story, began its second week at the Crystal Palace Theatre to-day. Australia is almost the only country in the world wherein are to be found those wonderfully homely backblocks settlers with granite-like exteriors and hearts of gold. In “On Our Selection ” they are Inimitably and faithfully portrayed. Bert Bailey as Dad, bluff, hearty and be-whiskered, could not be excelled. Alfreda Bevan’g interpretation of Mum, robust and lovable withal, certainly leaves nothing to be desired, while the other characters, Fred MacDonald as Dave, Willie Driscoll as Uncle Rudd and Lilias Adeson as Lilly White, Dave’s girl, play their parts to perfection. ‘ Underlying the theme of cheerful ar{ .Mr-ffree contempt for hardship and disappointment is a story of trials and battles against adversity which only those on the land “ way-back ” can , appreciate. However, pathos is never

protracted, but is fortified by a richness of humour and hilarity, both in dialogue and situation, inseparable from Rudd’s stories of outdoor life. All the artists contribute to the full their measure of humour, but, head and shoulders above all, stands Dad. His repartee is truly brilliant, and, thougli more often than not, almost insulting, it does not give offence, and simply lends colour to the lovableness of his nature. On the serious side of the story are Molly Raynor, who portrays the charming and more refined Kate Rudd, and Dick Farr as Sandy Graham. These two weave into the picture a lov4 story both human and full of tender realism. There is a good supporting programme.