2 reviews
Broad slapstick. Even so, Dad is less of a moron in this one, but co-producer Bert Bailey still comes across as an irrepressible camera hog. Fans will notice Peter Finch in a small role (you can recognize him, but not his voice) and the lovely Ann Richards in a major one. The other girls are mildly attractive and there's a fashion show for connoisseurs as well.
Production values in the photography and art departments are visually attractive, though thrown away on low-grade slapstick like this. Historians will likewise be disappointed to find that a large amount of the city footage has either been contrived through the process screen or is simply a montage of newsreel material from the stock library. All the same, editing (utilizing sophisticated wipes and clever montage routines) and photography are highly professional.
Although the movie is slickly produced, Hall's direction seems less smooth than usual. Some awkward cuts testify that the movie was undoubtedly made in a rush. Nonetheless it became a smash hit on first release and was still playing in Australian theaters forty years later.
Production values in the photography and art departments are visually attractive, though thrown away on low-grade slapstick like this. Historians will likewise be disappointed to find that a large amount of the city footage has either been contrived through the process screen or is simply a montage of newsreel material from the stock library. All the same, editing (utilizing sophisticated wipes and clever montage routines) and photography are highly professional.
Although the movie is slickly produced, Hall's direction seems less smooth than usual. Some awkward cuts testify that the movie was undoubtedly made in a rush. Nonetheless it became a smash hit on first release and was still playing in Australian theaters forty years later.
- JohnHowardReid
- Jan 15, 2007
- Permalink
If your not Australian and you have never seen any of Ken G. Hall's movies, do yourself a favor and start with this one. If your under 40 and your Australian and you keep hearing your grandparents going on about life in the bush when they were young. Then you need to watch this film.
Dad and Dave are a father and son team that run a small farm (Selection). Ken G. Hall adapted this movie from the author Steel Rudd. This movie gives a time capsule of life in the Australian Bush between 1890's to the 1930's, lost now forever. The movie is about how Dad and Dave take on the towns folk in there own style.
One could say they are pair of country bumpkins but they always get their own way in the end and give us all a good belly laugh on the way.
On the negative side I remember the sound-track having few problems and unless it has been undated to DVD, you may have some difficulty with this side.
Ken G. Hall was great Australian director of 1930's & 1940's and this is one of great offering.
Not to be missed.
Dad and Dave are a father and son team that run a small farm (Selection). Ken G. Hall adapted this movie from the author Steel Rudd. This movie gives a time capsule of life in the Australian Bush between 1890's to the 1930's, lost now forever. The movie is about how Dad and Dave take on the towns folk in there own style.
One could say they are pair of country bumpkins but they always get their own way in the end and give us all a good belly laugh on the way.
On the negative side I remember the sound-track having few problems and unless it has been undated to DVD, you may have some difficulty with this side.
Ken G. Hall was great Australian director of 1930's & 1940's and this is one of great offering.
Not to be missed.
- bmthatcher
- Mar 29, 2002
- Permalink