The Bush Cinderella
About The Bush Cinderella
Margaret's fiancé leaves for the Boer War. She is pregnant, and her Scottish uncle casts her out. She dies with the Codlin family after giving birth to Mary, leaving a pair of booties and an address. Mary grows up with the Codlins. The uncle's will makes her the heir if she reaches the lawyer by a set hour. His secretary, Michael Myrgatroyd, kidnaps her to take the money. Lieutenant Neal Harrison gets her off a boat on the Waitematā Harbour, and they race up Queen Street in Auckland to the lawyer's office in time to marry.
Cast & crew
More about The Bush Cinderella
Rudall Hayward directed and filmed it in and around Auckland in 1928. Hilda Hayward edited. Ngā Taonga records the premiere at the Strand Theatre, Auckland, on 24 August 1928. Dale Austen, the second Miss New Zealand, plays both Margaret Cameron and her daughter Mary.
Themes
Background
Hayward was making feature melodramas in New Zealand when almost all theatrical film in the country was imported.
Making
Hayward used the harbour and the city street as the action, with a rural prologue for Margaret's disgrace and death.
Look
Rudall Hayward photographed the Auckland streets, the Waitematā, and the bush prologue.
Preservation
A print survives. Ngā Taonga holds material on the film, and a shorter copy is in circulation.
Notes
- Walter Gray plays Andrew Cameron, Ernest Yandall plays Michael Myrgatroyd, and Cecil Scott plays Lieutenant Neal Harrison.
- Mae Bain plays Mrs. Codlin and Tom McDermott plays Sam Codlin. Tony Firth plays Sergeant Bennett.
- The finish is a race up Queen Street, not a ballroom.
- A second reported opening date is 4 August 1928.
Scenes
- Margaret leaves booties and an address before she dies.
- Myrgatroyd kidnaps Mary to beat the deadline in the will.
- Mary and Lieutenant Harrison race up Queen Street to the lawyer.
Also available
- Wikimedia Commons
