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Dad and Dave Come to Town (1938)

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clip Modernising the country cousins

Original classification rating: G. This clip chosen to be G

Clip description

The gala reopening of Cecille’s dress shop is threatened by an unpaid debt of £1,000. As Jill (Shirley Ann Richards) introduces her fabulous new fashions, Dave (Fred MacDonald) and his new sweetheart Myrtle (Muriel Flood) mount a guerrilla campaign against hired thugs in the shop’s lobby. Mr Entwhistle (Alec Kellaway) puts his body on the line to stop the pillaging.

Curator’s notes

by Paul Byrnes

The idea of feminine allure runs throughout the film, and it’s well integrated into the script. The country folk initially seem to find the feminine form confronting, even on a naked mannequin (see clip two), but by the end, Jill’s fashion parade is able to satirise the city view of the country cousins, by her modernising designs. This scene is ambitious because of the way it balances action in two locations – the high comedy in the foyer and the high fashion in the 'saloon’ – which is presumably Dad Rudd’s version of the 'salon’. The fashion parade is a huge publicity stunt to relaunch the store. The design makes clever use of Cinesound’s relatively newly acquired back projection equipment, to give the fashion parade a witty, not to mention sporty, appeal.

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australianscreen is produced by the National Film and Sound Archive. By using the website you agree to comply with the terms and conditions described elsewhere on this site. The NFSA may amend the 'Conditions of Use’ from time to time without notice.

All materials on the site, including but not limited to text, video clips, audio clips, designs, logos, illustrations and still images, are protected by the Copyright Laws of Australia and international conventions.

When you access australianscreen you agree that:

  • You may retrieve materials for information only.
  • You may download materials for your personal use or for non-commercial educational purposes, but you must not publish them elsewhere or redistribute clips in any way.
  • You may embed the clip for non-commercial educational purposes including for use on a school intranet site or a school resource catalogue.
  • The National Film and Sound Archive’s permission must be sought to amend any information in the materials, unless otherwise stated in notices throughout the Site.

All other rights reserved.

ANY UNAUTHORISED USE OF MATERIAL ON THIS SITE MAY RESULT IN CIVIL AND CRIMINAL LIABILITY.

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