Rudall Hayward
2021A Takapuna Scandal
Rudall Hayward
Hector St. Clair, Mona Jeffries
A short silent comedy set in Takapuna, Auckland. Features Hector St. Clair, the London Pantomime Comedian. One of 23 community comedies made by director Rudall Hayward in different New Zealand towns between 1928 and 1929.
A Takapuna Scandal
Inside Red China
Rudall Hayward
Ramai Hayward, Mao Zedong
October 1st, 1957. Dusk descends on Tiananmen Square, Peking. Fireworks crackle light across the night sky, above a city alive with National Day festivities and celebrations. Two intrepid New Zealand film-makers - Rudall and Ramai Te Miha Hayward - are there, documenting the life and times of communist China. The distinction of being the first English speaking foreigners to film unfettered in communist China was significant. The invitation to visit China was facilitated through the New Zealand China Friendship Society. They filmed in Canton, Shanghai, Peking (Beijing) and Wuhan. It was a small window of opportunity for Westerners to gaze on a country that was largely a mystery to the outside world since 1949. The unfortunate irony was that two of the documentaries; “Wonders of China”, and “Inside Red China”, were considered to be communist propaganda, and were not distributed outside of New Zealand.
Inside Red China
