Circular ‘Have You a Screen Personality?’
About this object
Circular issued by Rudall Hayward, pioneer New Zealand film maker, inviting local actors and ‘screen aspirants’ to appear in his ‘Local Community Films’. These were short comedy dramas shot on location in a selected town from a stock script using an entirely local cast. The films would be shot, processed, edited and screened in a local theatre within a fortnight. This circular, which would have been distributed in a town prior to the arrival of the film crew, pitches the films as vehicles for the discovery of untapped talent: ‘Among the million and a-quarter people who inhabit these fair isles, there must be some within whom the spark of true screen genius lies dormant.’ Hayward made at least twenty-three community comedies throughout New Zealand from 1920 to 1930, and employed some of their leading actors in his feature films.
This copy of the circular is part of the papers of Hilda Hayward (nee Moren), Hayward’s first wife. Hilda was closely involved in the production and printing of Hayward’s films until the couple separated in the late 1930s.
Filmmaker
MakerWright & Jaques, Printers Albert St Auckland New Zealand
Maker RolePrinter
Date Made1929
Place Made Medium and MaterialsPaper
Measurements28.2 x 22cm (HW)
Subject and Association DescriptionItems features stills from Hayward’s silent feature films ‘The Bush Cinderella’ (1928) and ‘The Te Kooti Trail’ (1927). Actors pictured in the stills are Dale Austen, Cecil Scott, Tony Firth and Patiti Warbrick.
CollectionHayward-Boak Collection
Credit LineHayward-Boak Collection
Object Type Object numberD0516 13/1
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