Our Friends, the Hayseeds
Encyclopedia
Our Friends, the Hayseeds is a 1917 Australian rural comedy from director Beaumont Smith
. It centers around the rural family, the Hayseeds, and their rivalry with a neighbouring family, the Duggans.
The film was divided into four sections: the first two dealing with a day in the life of the Hayseeds; the last two with Joe and Pansy's courtship. A contemporary reviewer said that of the film's 5,000 foot length, 1,000 feet was dedicated to humorous titles.
's stage adaptation of Steele Rudd
's Dad and Dave stories, On Our Selection
and Phillip Lytton's play The Waybacks
. Smith had worked with Bailey and Edmund Duggan
on the initial production of Selection.
Shooting took place on location in South Australia
in Campbelltown
and Norwood
. The movie's local appeal was heavily advertised to South Australian audiences in publicity.
Many of the cast had appeared in Beaumont Smith
's theatrical productions of While the Billy Boils (which he filmed in 1921
) and Seven Little Australians
..
Box office response was strong and there were a number of sequels starting with The Hayseeds Come to Sydney
. It was the first feature from theatrical entrepreneur Beaumont Smith
who went on to become one of Australia's most prolific filmmakers of the silent era.
Beaumont Smith
Frank Beaumont Smith , was an Australian film director, producer and exhibitor, best known for making low-budget comedies. After a career in theatre production, including managing a midget circus, he made his first film in 1917, Our Friends, the Hayseeds. He went on to become one of the most...
. It centers around the rural family, the Hayseeds, and their rivalry with a neighbouring family, the Duggans.
Synopsis
The Hayseeds and Duggaans live on selections next to each other. Joe Hayseed and Pansy Duggan want to get married but their families quarrel when the Hayseeds' cow gets into the Duggan's corn and they are forbidden to see each other. The two families have a brawl on the bush fence, a fight that only ends in exhaustion. However, a bush fire unites them and Jim and Pansy marry. Pansy falls pregnant and Dad Hayseed and Dad Duggan both hope for a boy which will be named after them. She ends up giving birth to twin girls.The film was divided into four sections: the first two dealing with a day in the life of the Hayseeds; the last two with Joe and Pansy's courtship. A contemporary reviewer said that of the film's 5,000 foot length, 1,000 feet was dedicated to humorous titles.
Production
The movie was inspired by the success of Bert BaileyBert Bailey
Albert Edward Bailey , better known as Bert Bailey, was a New Zealand-born writer and actor best known for playing Dad Rudd on stage and screen.-Biography:...
's stage adaptation of Steele Rudd
Steele Rudd
Steele Rudd was the pseudonym of Arthur Hoey Davis an Australian author, best known for On Our Selection.-Early life:...
's Dad and Dave stories, On Our Selection
On Our Selection (1912 play)
On Our Selection is a 1912 Australian play by Bert Bailey and Edmund Duggan based on the stories of Steele Rudd. Bailey played Dad Rudd in the original production....
and Phillip Lytton's play The Waybacks
The Waybacks (play)
The Waybacks, also known as The Waybacks at Home and in Town, was a 1915 Australian play by Philip Lytton which was adapted from the stories by Henry Fletcher about the comic adventures of a rural family...
. Smith had worked with Bailey and Edmund Duggan
Edmund Duggan (playwright)
Edmund Duggan was an Irish-Australian actor and playwright best known for writing a number of plays with Bert Bailey including The Squatter's Daughter and On Our Selection . His solo career was less successful than Bailey's. His sister Eugenie was known as "The Queen of Melodrama"...
on the initial production of Selection.
Shooting took place on location in South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
in Campbelltown
Campbelltown, South Australia
Campbelltown is a suburb of Adelaide, South Australia in the City of Campbelltown.Campbelltown Post Office opened on 1 January 1855.-References:...
and Norwood
Norwood, South Australia
Norwood is a suburb of Adelaide, about 4 km east of the Adelaide city centre. The suburb is in the City of Norwood Payneham & St Peters, the oldest South Australian local government municipality, with a city population over 34,000.-History:...
. The movie's local appeal was heavily advertised to South Australian audiences in publicity.
Many of the cast had appeared in Beaumont Smith
Beaumont Smith
Frank Beaumont Smith , was an Australian film director, producer and exhibitor, best known for making low-budget comedies. After a career in theatre production, including managing a midget circus, he made his first film in 1917, Our Friends, the Hayseeds. He went on to become one of the most...
's theatrical productions of While the Billy Boils (which he filmed in 1921
While the Billy Boils
While the Billy Boils is a 1921 Australian film from director Beaumont Smith which adapts several stories from Henry Lawson. Lawson himself appears in a brief prologue.-External links:* in the Internet Movie Database...
) and Seven Little Australians
Seven Little Australians
Seven Little Australians is a classic Australian children's novel by Ethel Turner. Set mainly in Sydney in the 1880s, it relates the adventures of the seven mischievous Woolcot children, their stern army father Captain Woolcot and flighty stepmother Esther.In 1994 the novel was the only book by an...
..
Box office response was strong and there were a number of sequels starting with The Hayseeds Come to Sydney
The Hayseeds Come to Sydney
The Hayseeds Come to Sydney is a 1917 Australian rural comedy from director Beaumont Smith.-Production:...
. It was the first feature from theatrical entrepreneur Beaumont Smith
Beaumont Smith
Frank Beaumont Smith , was an Australian film director, producer and exhibitor, best known for making low-budget comedies. After a career in theatre production, including managing a midget circus, he made his first film in 1917, Our Friends, the Hayseeds. He went on to become one of the most...
who went on to become one of Australia's most prolific filmmakers of the silent era.
Cast
- Roy RedgraveRoy RedgraveRoy Redgrave was an English stage and silent film actor. Redgrave was the founder of the Redgrave acting family.-Early life:...
as Dad Hayseed - Walter Cornock as Joe Hayseed
- Pearl Hellmrich as Pansy Duggan
- Margaret Gordon as Mrs. Hayseed
- J. Plumpton Wilson as Parson
- H.H. Wallace as Dan Hayseed
- Vera Spaull as Poppy Hayseed
- Cecil Haines as Lizzy Hayseed
- Jack Radford as Tommy Hayseed
- Peter Ward as Peter Hayseed
- Tom Cannam as hired hand
- Percy Mackay as Mr Duggan
- Nan Taylor as Mrs Duggan
- Crosbie Ward as Mike Duggan
- Fred Carlton as Jack Dugggan
- Olga Agnew as Mollie Duggan
- Gerald Kay Souper as parliamentarian
- Esther Mitchell as his wife
See Also
- The Hayseeds Come to SydneyThe Hayseeds Come to SydneyThe Hayseeds Come to Sydney is a 1917 Australian rural comedy from director Beaumont Smith.-Production:...
(1917) - The Hayseeds' Back-blocks ShowThe Hayseeds' Back-blocks ShowThe Hayseeds' Back-blocks Show is a 1917 Australian rural comedy from director Beaumont Smith. It was the third in his series about the rural family, the Hayseeds.-Synopsis:...
(1917) - The Hayseeds' Melbourne CupThe Hayseeds' Melbourne CupThe Hayseeds' Melbourne Cup is a 1918 Australian rural comedy from director Beaumont Smith. It was the fourth in his series about the rural family, the Hayseeds, and centers around Dad Hayseed entering his horse in the Melbourne Cup.-Synopsis:...
(1918) - Townies and HayseedsTownies and HayseedsTownies and Hayseeds is a 1923 Australian film comedy from director Beaumont Smith. It is the fifth in his series about the rural family the Hayseeds.-Synopsis:...
(1923) - Prehistoric HayseedsPrehistoric HayseedsPrehistoric Hayseeds is a 1923 Australian film comedy from director Beaumont Smith. It is the sixth in his series about the rural family the Hayseeds and concerns their discovery of a lost tribe.-Synopsis:...
(1923) - The HayseedsThe HayseedsThe Hayseeds is a 1933 Australian comedy from director Beaumont Smith. It centres around the rural family, the Hayseeds, about whom Smith had previously made six silent films, starting with Our Friends, the Hayseeds . He retired from directing in 1925 but decided to revive the series in the wake of...
(1933)
External links
- Our Friends, the Hayseeds at National Film and Sound ArchiveNational Film and Sound ArchiveThe National Film and Sound Archive is Australia’s audiovisual archive, responsible for developing, preserving, maintaining, promoting and providing access to a national collection of audiovisual materials and related items...