“THE BUSH CINDERELLA”

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 437, 20 August 1928, Page 14

“THE BUSH CINDERELLA”

AT STRAND ON FRIDAY “The Bush Cinderella,” a great modern drama of the New Zealand baekblocks, comes to the Strand Theatre next Friday. Miss Dale Austen, fresh from her four months at the big American studios, is starred in this first modern story of New Zealand life, produced by Rudall Hayward, New Zealand’s pioneer film producer, who made “Te Kooti’s Trail” and “Rewi’s Last Stand.” The story was written by Mr. Henry Hayward, the first man to bring pictures to the Dominion, and now one of the foremost leaders in the industry. The story of “The Bush might be that of any New Zealand family. It is filled with laughter, and touched with tears. The prologue takes us back to 1900, when we get a first glimpse of our own Dale in flowered, wide-brimmed hat and ground-length frock with spaced and tiny bows—an almost “old world” charm about her—so far it seems from now. In striking contrast, in the second part she plays a truly modern “Cinderella.” It is a dramatic presentation, in every sense a true picture. Mr. Hayward has brought to the screen incident and feeling alight with the spirit of the pioneers, in a swift-running drama of to-day. It has the atmosphere of the bush, dear to us a_U the scent of manuka is upon it, and the incense of the camp fire rising, and through it all the tui’s note calls. Cecil Scott, the leading man, plays the part of a young naval officer who meets Cinderella on a fishing expedition. Mr. Thomas McDermott, well known to Aucklanders, plays the part, of a New Zealand farmer, with a fine touch of the soil.