Rudd's New Selection

Rudd's New Selection is a 1921 Australian silent film directed by Raymond Longford based on the Dad and Dave stories by Steele Rudd. It is a sequel to On Our Selection (1920). The plot concerns the marriage of Dave Rudd (Tal Ordell) and introduces a sister, Nell (Lottie Lyell).^[3]

Rudd's New Selection
Directed by	Raymond Longford
Written by	Raymond Longford
Based on	stories by Steele Rudd
Produced by	E. J. Carroll
Starring	J. P. O'Neill Tal Ordell Lottie Lyell
Cinematography	Arthur Higgins
Edited by	Arthur Higgins
Production company	Southern Cross Picture Productions[1]
Distributed by	E. J. Carroll Dan Carroll
Release date	28 May 1921 (1921-05-28)
Running time	6,000 feet[2]
Country	Australia
Languages	Silent film English intertitles

Although popular on release, the movie is now considered lost.^[4]

Synopsis

The movie is set eight years after the events of On Our Selection. The Rudd family are now more prosperous, but Dad is as autocratic as ever. His children are grown up and the baby twins are up to mischief Dave is married and tries to do as little work as possible, but is forced to do so by his wife and domineering mother.

Dave's sister Nell is pursued by the Regan brothers, the younger of whom, Jim, was a decorated returned soldier, the elder, Jack, a drunkard. The two brothers fight over Nell and Jack commits suicide. Jim is arrested for his murder but the truth comes out at the end and he and Nell are married.

There are other comic subplots, including one where Mr Dandelioon, a prohibitionist candidate for parliament, visits the Rudds and Joe laces his tea with rum.^[5][6]

Cast

• J.P. O'Neill as Dad Rudd^[7]
• Ada Clyde as Mum
• Tal Ordell as Dave Rudd
• Lottie Lyell as Nell
• Charlotte Beaumont as Sarah
• Gilbert Emery as Mr Dandelion
• Louis Fors as Joe
• Billy Williams as Jack Regan
• Ernest T Hearn as Jim Regan
• Dick Varley as storekeeper
• Clyde Marsh as Trooper Brady
• May Renne as Lily
• William Coulter as Grogan
• Ada St Claire as Mrs Banks
• Meadow Peel as Matilda
• Anne Parsons as Mrs McFluster

Production

Shooting began in late 1920 on location in the Megalong Valley, with interiors shot in the Carrolls' Studio at Waverly. The romantic male lead was Ernest Hearne, an ex-soldier from Queensland.^[8]

Rudall Hayward worked on the film as an assistant.^[9]

Reception

Reviews were good.^[10]

Box Office

Steele Rudd later claimed the film earned £2345 in one cinema alone, from which the producers earned £519. This sort of return helped disillusion him with the film industry.^[11]

See also

• List of lost films