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Rudall Hayward
Rudall Hayward
Rudall Hayward
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Rudall Charles Victor Hayward MBE (4 July 1900 – 29 May 1974) was a pioneer New Zealand filmmaker from the 1920s to the 1970s, who directed seven feature films and numerous others.

Key Information

Biography

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Hayward was born in Wolverhampton, England, and died in Dunedin while promoting his last film.

He was the son of Rudall and Adelina Hayward, who came to New Zealand in 1905. With Henry John Hayward (1866–1945) Rudall senior's brother, his parents were involved with entertainment and silent cinema in New Zealand, in West's Pictures and "The Brescians", a family of variety performers.

Rudall (junior) was educated at Wanganui Collegiate School from 1916 to 1917 and the Waihi School of Mines. He worked in Australia c. 1920 under Raymond Longford (who in 1915–16 was filming in New Zealand), on some of Longford's films: The Sentimental Bloke, On Our Selection, and Rud's New Selection.

He made his first two-reel comedy The Bloke from Freeman's Bay in 1920 (which his uncle Henry offered him £50 to burn). He was prosecuted by the Auckland City Council in the Police Court and fined £1 on each of two charges for putting up posters for The Bloke from Freeman's Bay in unauthorised places contrary to city by-laws, in October 1921.[1]

His first feature was My Lady of the Cave (1922). In 1923 he married Hilda Moren and she worked with him on his later projects as an editor and producer: Rewi's Last Stand (1925), The Te Kooti Trail (1927), and The Bush Cinderella (1928).[2][3]

In 1928–30 the couple made 23 two-reel "community comedies" with local settings and actors at various towns, and titles like: Tilly of Te Aroha, Hamilton’s Hectic Husbands, A Daughter of Dunedin, Winifred of Wanganui, Natalie of Napier, and Patsy of Palmerston. Lee Hill worked with Hayward on these, then went into competition with him.

His first sound film was On the Friendly Road (1936) with Colin Scrimgeour, and he remade Rewi's Last Stand with sound (1939). In 1943 he married the star of the movie, Ramai Te Miha.[3]

His films were made on a shoestring budget, and in an interview from 1961 Hayward explains, "We had a sound camera which I built up with the help of friends who had lathes. Other parts I had made by Auckland companies, and I laboriously paid off the cost because no one was earning very much. We had a sound engineer, Jack Baxendale, a brilliant pioneering ham radio enthusiast, and he built not only the recording side but also the microphones. It was a major task for anyone to build condenser microphones in those days."[4]

After World War II he worked in England, then made his most successful film The Amazing Dolphin of Opononi about Opo the dolphin. He made educational films in New Zealand and overseas, then his final film To Love a Maori (1972), which was shot on 16 mm.

In the 1973 Queen's Birthday Honours, Hayward was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire, for services to the community.[5]

References

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Rudall Hayward

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Rudall Hayward is a New Zealand pioneer filmmaker known for his prolific contributions to the country's early cinema, directing seven feature films and producing numerous short comedies, educational films, newsreels, and documentaries over a career spanning the 1920s to the 1970s. He is regarded as New Zealand's most prolific pioneer film-maker during an era when local film-going was dominated by American imports, creating ambitious and publicity-savvy productions that helped establish a national filmmaking identity. Born Rudall Charles Victor Hayward on 4 July 1900 in Wolverhampton, England, he migrated to New Zealand with his family in 1905 and later received the MBE in recognition of his services to film. His early work included silent-era shorts such as My Lady of the Cave (1922) and The Bush Cinderella (1928), while later features like Rewi's Last Stand (1940)—a historical drama—and the documentary Inside Red China (1958) demonstrated his versatility and international scope. Hayward's long career reflected both innovation in local production and a commitment to capturing New Zealand stories and global subjects, cementing his legacy as a foundational figure in the nation's film history until his death on 29 May 1974.

Early life

Birth and family background

Rudall Charles Victor Hayward was born on 4 July 1900 in Wolverhampton, Staffordshire, England. He was the son of Adelina Maria Teresa Martinengo and Rudall George Hayward. His mother was one of three Martinengo sisters, each of whom married a brother from the Hayward family, forming part of an extended network of talented performers based in the English Midlands. His parents had toured England for twenty years, presenting musical concerts as part of a family tradition in entertainment, and later incorporated motion pictures into their programme as the technology emerged. The family was associated with the touring company known as West’s Pictures and The Brescians, which combined live music performances with early film screenings. This background in touring musical and cinematic entertainment shaped the family's long-standing involvement in the performing arts.

Migration to New Zealand and family cinema business

Rudall Hayward arrived in New Zealand in 1904 at the age of four with his family, who were members of the touring entertainment company West’s Pictures and The Brescians. This group combined musical and variety performances with early film screenings, and their programmes proved highly successful during initial seasons in New Zealand and Australia. After three years of profitable touring across Australasia, the company disbanded. Rudall's father and uncle Henry then formed Hayward’s Picture Enterprises to concentrate on cinema exhibition. In 1909 they purchased Auckland's Royal Albert Hall and transformed it into a permanent cinema, commencing operations on 26 April that year. The enterprise expanded quickly, and by 1912 Hayward’s Picture Enterprises operated at least 14 movie theatres across New Zealand. The family established their home base in Waihi, from where they ran a circuit of cinemas and toured portable shows around the Coromandel peninsula. As a child, Rudall assisted in these family cinemas by helping with projection tasks.

Education and early filmmaking experiments

Rudall Hayward attended Wanganui Collegiate School from 1916 to 1917. He subsequently spent two years studying electricity at the Waihi School of Mines. From childhood, he assisted projectionists in his family's cinemas by hand-turning the take-up spools for hand-cranked projectors. By age nine he had begun learning the projectionist's trade more actively as the family operated multiple theatres. At the age of 12, Hayward constructed a crude camera by placing a projector inside a box and used it to photograph the family cat jumping out of a watering can. This early experiment reflected his growing hands-on interest in filmmaking amid his family's cinema enterprises. As a 20-year-old, Hayward worked as an assistant on the Australian film The Betrayer (1921), which used Rotorua locations for shooting. He then traveled to Australia, where director Raymond Longford hired him as an assistant on Rudd's New Selection (1921). These experiences provided practical exposure to professional film production before his own independent directing efforts.

Early career and silent films

First shorts and entry into feature production

Rudall Hayward began his independent filmmaking efforts with the two-reel comedy short The Bloke from Freeman's Bay in 1920, drawing on his family's involvement in the cinema business to facilitate its production and initial screenings in their owned theatres. The film attracted a full house on opening night but failed to interest Queen Street theatres, and Hayward's uncle Henry was unimpressed with the result. To promote it, he conducted early publicity stunts such as postering widely and calling the police about crowds to generate media attention and secure further screenings. In 1922, Hayward contributed to Harrington Reynolds's production The Birth of New Zealand. That same year, he transitioned to feature-length production with his first full-length film, the romantic melodrama My Lady of the Cave, adapted from a newspaper serial and produced on a budget of £1000. On 18 September 1923, Hayward married Hilda Maud Moren, who provided uncredited assistance in editing, casting, and costumes for his early films.

Major silent feature films

Rudall Hayward directed four silent feature films during the 1920s, more than any other New Zealand director of the era. Following his debut feature, he turned to historical subjects with Rewi's Last Stand (1925), a drama depicting the 1864 Battle of Ōrākau in the Waikato during the New Zealand Wars, where Rewi Maniapoto and around 300 supporters resisted more than 2,000 imperial troops over a three-day siege. The film was heavily indebted to historian James Cowan's accounts of the conflict and included a re-enactment of the battle. It reportedly played for five weeks in Auckland. Hayward followed with The Te Kooti Trail (1927), a historical drama dramatising events from Te Kooti Arikirangi Te Tūruki’s late-1860s campaign, including his escape from the Chatham Islands and subsequent resistance in the central North Island. Produced by Whakatane Films, the film featured a substantial Māori cast, with Tūhoe chief Te Pairi Tūterangi in the starring role; he had carried rifles for Te Kooti as a boy. It was notable for its ambitious location shooting and scale of re-enactment sequences involving many participants, marking an early New Zealand feature to centre a major Māori historical figure. On the day planned for its premiere, the government arranged a private screening for Māori politicians and Ringatū elders, after which the censor required removal of two subtitles referring to Te Kooti’s “fake miracles”. His final silent feature, The Bush Cinderella (1928), shifted to a contemporary romance starring Dale Austen, crowned Miss New Zealand in 1927. Hayward later noted that its low budget helped make it his most successful film. These silent features demonstrated a sensitivity and political awareness of Māori history beyond that of Hayward’s Pākehā contemporaries.

Depression-era productions

Community comedies

Between 1928 and 1930, at the onset of the Great Depression, Rudall Hayward produced 23 two-reel community comedies, traveling around New Zealand towns to create these local-focused silent shorts. These films built on his prior silent feature experience by employing a formulaic approach that involved entire communities in both production and performance, ensuring enthusiastic local participation and sell-out screenings. Each comedy featured local residents as actors, incorporated the town name in the title, and included a signature chase scene, often involving cars, horses, and the local fire brigade. The standard plot typically revolved around community participation, with a newcomer—such as a schoolteacher—disrupting a peaceful town and sparking comedic rivalries and pursuits among locals. Notable titles included Hamilton’s Hectic Husbands, Tilly of Te Aroha, A Daughter of Dunedin, A Daughter of Christchurch, and A Daughter of Invercargill, many of which followed variations like the “Daughter of” series tailored to specific regions. This approach allowed Hayward to sustain filmmaking by capitalizing on local pride and excitement, screening the completed films in the same towns shortly after production.

Transition to sound and technical developments

In response to the arrival of sound films, which disrupted New Zealand's nascent film industry and made imported American sound equipment prohibitively expensive, Rudall Hayward collaborated with Jack Baxendale and Armitage Moren to develop their own sound camera over a period of around two years. This Auckland-built equipment enabled Hayward to enter sound production locally and was first used for the early comedy Hamilton Talks (1934) as well as several newsreels, including an interview with George Bernard Shaw that Hayward reported was distributed internationally. Hayward applied the technology to his first sound feature, On the Friendly Road (1936), a moralising Depression-era narrative that prominently featured the well-known radio broadcaster Reverend Colin Scrimgeour (known as Uncle Scrim).

Sound era features and wartime work

On the Friendly Road

On the Friendly Road On the Friendly Road (1936) marked Rudall Hayward's first feature-length sound film. The production was shot using an Auckland-built camera and was produced by the New Zealand Film Guild. Hayward served as writer, editor, and cinematographer, with his photography receiving particular praise for capturing picturesque New Zealand settings and demonstrating artistic quality. The film premiered at the Majestic Theatre in Auckland on 28 August 1936 to a nearly full house. Set in Depression-era New Zealand, the story centers on a family struggling after the father, McDermott, is wrongly convicted of theft and imprisoned; upon his release, he faces ongoing hardships in rehabilitating himself and his household. Inspiration comes from the voice of radio broadcaster Rev. C. G. Scrimgeour (known as "Uncle Scrim"), drawn from his real-life popular programme The Friendly Road, which encourages the family to overcome adversity. A friendly old tramp, revealed to have a heart of gold, assists them in navigating setbacks, while the narrative includes comic relief from the family's two impish children and supporting characters such as Māori figures who add cultural authenticity and enthusiasm. Scrimgeour appeared as himself, with other key roles filled by local actors including John Mackie as McDermott, Jean Hamilton as his wife Mary, and Stanley Knight as the tramp Old Bill. Contemporary reviews described the film as a minor triumph for local production, highlighting its effective blend of drama and sparkling comedy that sustained audience attention throughout, despite some weaknesses in dialogue and occasional action gaps attributed to technical challenges. The Auckland Star reviewer noted that the photography revealed the producer's artistry and commended the use of natural outdoor backgrounds and available locations, while emphasizing that the film demonstrated modern feature production as a realistic possibility in New Zealand. As Hayward's entry into sound filmmaking, On the Friendly Road reflected social conditions of the time and showcased local talent and ingenuity in equipment and storytelling.

Rewi's Last Stand (sound remake)

Rewi's Last Stand (1940) marked Rudall Hayward's sound remake of his 1925 silent feature of the same name, with significantly greater attention to historical accuracy in depicting the 1864 Battle of Ōrākau during the New Zealand Wars. Many scenes were shot on or close to the actual Waikato locations, including a meticulously recreated replica of Ōrākau pā, enhancing the film's authenticity compared to the earlier version. The score was composed by Alfred Hill. The film received praise from British documentary pioneer John Grierson, who was visiting New Zealand at the time and viewed it positively. To increase its chances of theatrical release in the United Kingdom, Hayward agreed to substantial cuts, resulting in a shortened version distributed there as The Last Stand. The 1940 production stood as the only feature-length historical drama made in New Zealand for at least three decades, and it became widely seen by schoolchildren across the country through repeated screenings in later years. During the Second World War, Rudall Hayward worked for the New Zealand National Film Unit as a cameraman. He contributed to the unit's Weekly Review newsreel series in 1945, filming material that documented New Zealand's response to the end of hostilities in Europe and the Pacific. Hayward was credited as one of the cameramen on Weekly Review No. 195 - New Zealand Celebrates VE Day, a National Film Unit newsreel that captured widespread celebrations across towns and cities following the victory in Europe, with scenes of jubilant crowds, relief among civilians and servicemen, and a reminder from Deputy Prime Minister Walter Nash that the war against Japan was ongoing. He also served as cameraman for the interview segment in Weekly Review No. 215 - New Zealand Cameraman in Singapore, which focused on the repatriation of New Zealand prisoners of war from Japanese camps, including an interview with returned POW Dr Johns of Auckland. Additionally, Hayward was credited as cameraman on Weekly Review No. 208 - VJ Day Celebrations, covering New Zealand's response to victory over Japan. His National Film Unit work concluded prior to his departure for Britain in 1946.

Post-war career and collaboration with Ramai Hayward

Marriage to Ramai and joint filmmaking

Rudall Hayward met Ramai Te Miha (born Patricia Miller) in 1938 when she auditioned for the female lead in his planned remake of Rewi's Last Stand. She was cast as Ariana in the 1940 film, marking her entry into acting and the beginning of their professional association. Hayward divorced his first wife, Hilda Moren, on 22 November 1943 and married Ramai Te Miha on 29 November 1943. He had one daughter from his first marriage. Following their marriage, Ramai became a close collaborator in Hayward's filmmaking ventures, contributing as a sound recordist and production assistant. This partnership built on her earlier involvement as an actor and allowed her to take on technical roles behind the camera, supporting Hayward's ongoing production efforts in New Zealand cinema. Their joint work represented an important evolution in his career, with Ramai providing essential creative and technical input as his wife and professional partner.

Documentaries and international projects

After World War II, Rudall Hayward and his wife Ramai Hayward relocated to Britain from 1946 to 1950, where they worked as freelancers producing newsreels and documentaries. During this period, Rudall directed the 34-minute short documentary The Goodwin Sands (1948), focused on the shipwreck-prone sands in the English Channel. The couple also collaborated on The World Is Turning Towards The Coloured People, a film addressing race relations. They returned to New Zealand in 1950. Rudall then spent three years in Australia working for a film company set up by C. G. Scrimgeour. Back in Auckland in the mid-1950s, they resumed local filmmaking. In the mid-1950s, they produced The Amazing Dolphin of Opononi, a documentary about the famous friendly dolphin Opo that gained international attention and was sold to 26 countries. In 1957, the Chinese Government invited the Haywards to produce a series of films in China, marking the first English-language productions shot there since the Communist government took power in 1949. Their work included Inside Red China, which documented Ramai Hayward placing a Māori feather cloak (a gift from the fifth Māori King) on Chairman Mao Zedong. Ramai also wrote, directed, and helped shoot the educational film Children in China, the first in a series of approximately 12 children's educational films she initiated over the following 15 years for the National Film Library. The Haywards continued their international documentary and educational work with excursions to several countries, including Albania in 1971 and Australia. During the 1960s, they created a series of educational and travel films, some shot in Samoa, which were widely distributed and used in New Zealand schools. In 1972, they completed their final feature film, To Love a Māori, a colour production about young Māori moving to the city and facing racial discrimination, made in close collaboration with Ramai providing significant creative input.

Later career and final feature

1960s-1970s educational and travel films

In the 1960s and 1970s, Rudall Hayward, working closely with his wife Ramai Hayward, shifted his focus toward educational films, travel documentaries, and cultural projects, many of which were produced for screening in New Zealand schools. During the 1960s, the couple completed a series of educational films—including some shot in Samoa—that reached a wide audience of New Zealand schoolchildren. In 1971, they spent seven weeks filming in Albania. In the early 1970s, amid multiple ongoing projects, Hayward and his wife produced a short film adaptation of Katherine Mansfield's story The Doll's House. As Hayward grew older, Ramai assumed a greater share of the practical and creative responsibilities in their collaborative work.

To Love a Māori

To Love a Māori was Rudall Hayward's final feature film, released in 1972 and co-directed, produced, and written with his wife Ramai Hayward. The film is significant as the first colour feature made by New Zealanders on home soil, shot in 16mm colour on a low budget that Rudall described as "half a shoestring." It centres on an interracial love story between a Pākehā woman and a Māori man, addressing themes of racial discrimination and prejudice in New Zealand society. The narrative portrays the social challenges and racism encountered by the protagonists, including their experiences in urban Auckland after leaving rural Māori communities. Through this romantic drama, the Haywards sought to challenge attitudes toward Māori-Pākehā intermarriage and promote understanding amid ongoing racial tensions. Described by some as a "romantic documentary," the film blends storytelling with elements that highlight real social issues of the era.

Personal life and death

Marriages and family

Rudall Hayward married Hilda Maud Moren on 18 September 1923 at St Peter's Anglican Church in Takapuna. The couple had one daughter together, and Hilda contributed significantly to his early filmmaking efforts, working uncredited as an editor, producer, and in other roles on several features and shorts. Their marriage ended in divorce on 22 November 1943. Seven days after the divorce, on 29 November 1943, Hayward married Patricia Rongomaitara Te Miha, known professionally as Ramai Hayward, at the Auckland registry office. He had met Ramai during the production of the 1940 sound remake of Rewi's Last Stand, in which she starred as the Māori heroine. This marriage lasted until his death in 1974, during which time Ramai became his key creative collaborator on numerous documentary, educational, and travel films. No children resulted from the union. Hayward was survived by his second wife Ramai and a daughter from his first marriage.

Final years and death

In his final years, Rudall Hayward remained active in promoting his work, undertaking nationwide tours to screen his films for audiences across New Zealand. These efforts focused particularly on his last feature, To Love a Māori (1972), which he continued to present and discuss during promotional appearances. He died on 29 May 1974 in Dunedin Hospital, at the age of 73, while engaged in one of these promotional tours.

Legacy and recognition

Awards

Rudall Hayward received formal recognition for his pioneering contributions to New Zealand cinema in the later stages of his career. He was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1973 for services to the film industry. This honour followed the release of his final feature film To Love a Māori (1972) and acknowledged his long-standing role in local filmmaking. He also received a special Feltex Award in the 1970s, after the New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation screened his earlier film Rewi's Last Stand, which brought renewed attention to his work.

Contributions to New Zealand cinema

Rudall Hayward stands as a foundational figure in New Zealand cinema, having directed seven feature films over five decades from the 1920s to the 1970s, which made him the most prolific pioneer of local feature filmmaking during a period when the concept of Kiwi movie-making was often considered an oxymoron and cinema screens were dominated by Hollywood imports. His persistent efforts established a tradition of narrative cinema rooted in New Zealand, countering the overwhelming presence of American films by creating stories that reflected national experiences. Hayward's features frequently drew upon New Zealand's history and geography, notably incorporating events from the New Zealand Wars and showcasing the country's distinctive landscapes as essential elements of storytelling, thereby giving early expression to a local cinematic voice amid international dominance. His long career, spanning from silent-era productions to later sound films, was described in contemporary accounts as one of the longest in motion pictures worldwide, underscoring his enduring commitment to filmmaking in a challenging environment. Several of Hayward's early works have been preserved through restorations by Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision, which has safeguarded three of his features to maintain their historical and cultural significance for contemporary audiences. These efforts highlight his lasting impact as a trailblazer who laid groundwork for the development of a distinctive New Zealand film industry.

References

  1. https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/4h22/hayward-rudall-charles-victor
  2. https://www.nzonscreen.com/profile/rudall-hayward
  3. https://natlib.govt.nz/blog/posts/off-the-record-rudall-hayward-nz-film-pioneer
  4. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1283233/
  5. https://www.nzonscreen.com/profile/rudall-hayward/biography
  6. https://natlib.govt.nz/records/22382868
  7. https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/3h11/hayward-henry-john
  8. https://www.ngataonga.org.nz/search-use-collection/search/F5690/
  9. https://teara.govt.nz/en/ephemera/37838/rewis-last-stand
  10. https://www.nzonscreen.com/title/the-te-kooti-trail
  11. https://www.nzgeo.com/stories/comedy-capers/
  12. https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AS19360829.2.154
  13. https://www.nzonscreen.com/profile/rudall-hayward/screenography
  14. https://www.nzonscreen.com/title/weekly-review-195-nz-celebrates-ve-day-1945
  15. https://www.nzonscreen.com/title/weekly-review-215-nz-cameraman-in-singapore-1945
  16. https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/6h2/hayward-ramai-rongomaitara
  17. https://www.deborahshepardbooks.com/tributes/ramai-rongomaitara-hayward
  18. https://www.nzonscreen.com/profile/ramai-hayward/biography
  19. https://www.ngataonga.org.nz/search-use-collection/search/F14678/
  20. https://teara.govt.nz/en/interactive/31205/to-love-a-maori-1972
  21. https://kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/digital/collection/akldpeople/id/245500/
  22. https://letterboxd.com/film/to-love-a-maori/
  23. https://citygallery.org.nz/event/film-screening-to-love-a-maori/
  24. https://teara.govt.nz/en/ephemera/30255/books-and-movies-to-love-a-maori
  25. https://www.nzonscreen.com/profile/hilda-hayward/biography
  26. https://www.nzonscreen.com/title/to-love-a-maori-1972/quotes
  27. https://m.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU0007/S00005/major-nz-film-legacy-to-be-deposited.htm
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