Rewi's Last Stand

Rewi's Last Stand is the title of two feature films written and directed by pioneering New Zealand filmmaker Rudall Hayward: a 1925 silent movie, and a 1940 remake with sound. They are historical dramas, based on the last stand of Rewi Maniapoto at the Battle of Ōrākau.^[1]

The camera used to film Rewi's Last Stand

Rewi's Last Stand
Directed by	Rudall Hayward
Written by	Rudall Hayward
Starring	Charles Alexis Nola Casselli Wightman McCombe
Release date	30 July 1925 (1925-07-30)
Country	New Zealand
Language	English

Hayward believed that New Zealand's history offered material as dramatic as any Hollywood western. He set out to make films involving conflicts between Māori and Pākehā "while there were still people alive" who remembered the period accurately.^[2]

1940 Remake

Rewi's Last Stand
Directed by	Rudall Hayward
Written by	Rudall Hayward
Starring	Ramai Te Miha Leo Pilcher Stanley Knight
Distributed by	Frontier Films Ltd
Release date	1940 (1940)
Running time	64 min
Country	New Zealand
Language	English

In 1940 Rudall Hayward remade his second feature on a more ambitious scale, this time with sound. He cast his future wife Ramai Hayward in the romantic lead.

The 1940 remake was released in a shortened version in the United Kingdom, as The Last Stand. The shortened version is the only one surviving.^[3]