Australian
Screen

Clip description

Mr Chedworth (Cecil Kellaway) has been summoned to the office of his employers, Messrs Mason (Harvey Adams) and Welch (Ben Lewin). After 24 years of service, they tell him he is to be retrenched in a cost-cutting exercise. Mr Mason apologises and offers him a job as a caretaker, on the basic wage. Mr Chedworth returns to his desk a shattered man.

Curator’s notes

This scene shows exactly why Cecil Kelloway had such a long and distinguished film career, both in Australia and Hollywood. His playing of the scene is masterful, from the slight obsequiousness of his arrival, the merest hint of a bow as they ask him to sit, the smile that turns to shock, then pain, then bewilderment as he realises his fate. He is almost unable to reach the door; beyond it lies another humiliation as he realises that the secretary already knows what has happened. The shot continues from there to his desk, through several doors – a continuous dolly shot. At the second door, Mr Chedworth rallies, to check himself and correct his bearing. Note that the sound of typewriters gets louder as he walks past the ladies of the typing pool. It then recedes slightly as he reaches his desk.

There is nothing quite like this shot in earlier Cinesound films. Ken Hall relies upon the camera and sound, rather than dialogue. He uses the camera movement to maintain contact with Mr Chedworth’s emotions and heighten their impact. This was sophisticated direction of a very dramatic moment, the kind of moment that Hall rarely attempted in a Cinesound film. Mr Chedworth Steps Out is largely a comedy, but it has stronger dramatic scenes than almost any previous Cinesound film. A large part of the reason was Hall’s confidence in his actor, Cecil Kellaway.