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Dad Hayseed (Cecil Kellaway) is surprised when his peaceful Sunday is disturbed by a line of tap dancing girls in hiking shorts. He goes to quieten them down and meets the Townleighs, a well-to-do Sydney family enjoying a ramble in the mountains. Mr Townleigh (Kenneth Brampton) suggests he give his cows a day off from milking.
Curator’s notes
Typical Beau Smith direction – there’s absolutely no explanation of what a line of dancing girls is doing on the edge of Dad Hayseed’s land, no establishing shots to give us a sense of the farm, no physical or even aural connection between the Hayseeds on their porch and the dancing line of girls (who are accompanied by a band). The film was a JC Williamson production and Williamsons had a chorus line for their stage shows – which is presumably why they ended up in the scene. Still, audiences at the time were still enjoying the novelty of sound on film, and they probably enjoyed the incongruity of these scenes just as we do now.
