Ken G. Hall

Directing

Ken G. Hall

Born — Died

1901-02-22 — 1994-02-08

Place of birth

Sydney, Australia

Known for

Directing

Credits

33 titles

An Australian film producer-director, considered one of the most important figures in the history of the Australian film industry. He was the first Australian to win an Academy Award.

Known for

No artwork available
10.0

The first sequel to the original box office hit On Our Selection, Grandad Rudd drops in on the Rudd family, headed by patriarch Dad Rudd (Bert Bailey), much later in life, with the family now prosperous farmers.

Grandad Rudd

1935

On Our Selection poster
5.1

The movie opens with the title card "bushland symphony", followed by sounds and vision of the Australian bush. The subsequent action involves a series of various subplots centered on a "selection" in South West Queensland owned by Dad Rudd.

On Our Selection

1932

No artwork available
9.0

The plot concerns a man, Joe Blake, who works as a stage hand in a vaudeville theatre headlined by Mysto the magician. When he finds out that the girl he is in love with, Molly, is getting married, he gets drunk with his friend Happy Morgan and decides to commit suicide.

Let George Do It

1938

Mr. Chedworth Steps Out poster
7.0

A down-and-out clerk happens upon a bag of money. Unknown to him, the money is all counterfeit, forcing the innocent man to become involved with gangsters, as well as federal agents.

Mr. Chedworth Steps Out

1939

The Silence of Dean Maitland poster
6.5

In a small coastal town, young clergyman Cyril Maitland is involved in a tragedy that could ruin his rising career. After secretly impregnating his lover, Alma Lee, a violent struggle ensues with her enraged father, leaving the older man dead. Maitland denies responsibility and allows his close friend, Dr. Henry Everard, to be found guilty on false evidence and sentenced to 20 years in prison. Two decades later, as Maitland rises to prominence in the church, a bitter Everard is finally released, forcing the church leader to confront his decades of silence and guilt as his old friend seeks ultimate revenge.

The Silence of Dean Maitland

1934

Pacific Adventure poster
6.7

An Australian biopic about the life of pioneering aviator Charles "Smithy" Kingsford-Smith. The film is unusually frank about the controversies that occasionally dogged him. PG Taylor and Billy Hughes both make appearances playing themselves.

Pacific Adventure

1946

Behind the camera

No artwork available
10.0

The first sequel to the original box office hit On Our Selection, Grandad Rudd drops in on the Rudd family, headed by patriarch Dad Rudd (Bert Bailey), much later in life, with the family now prosperous farmers.

Grandad Rudd

1935

On Our Selection poster
5.1

The movie opens with the title card "bushland symphony", followed by sounds and vision of the Australian bush. The subsequent action involves a series of various subplots centered on a "selection" in South West Queensland owned by Dad Rudd.

On Our Selection

1932

On Our Selection poster
5.1

The movie opens with the title card "bushland symphony", followed by sounds and vision of the Australian bush. The subsequent action involves a series of various subplots centered on a "selection" in South West Queensland owned by Dad Rudd.

On Our Selection

1932

No artwork available
9.0

The plot concerns a man, Joe Blake, who works as a stage hand in a vaudeville theatre headlined by Mysto the magician. When he finds out that the girl he is in love with, Molly, is getting married, he gets drunk with his friend Happy Morgan and decides to commit suicide.

Let George Do It

1938

Mr. Chedworth Steps Out poster
7.0

A down-and-out clerk happens upon a bag of money. Unknown to him, the money is all counterfeit, forcing the innocent man to become involved with gangsters, as well as federal agents.

Mr. Chedworth Steps Out

1939

The Silence of Dean Maitland poster
6.5

In a small coastal town, young clergyman Cyril Maitland is involved in a tragedy that could ruin his rising career. After secretly impregnating his lover, Alma Lee, a violent struggle ensues with her enraged father, leaving the older man dead. Maitland denies responsibility and allows his close friend, Dr. Henry Everard, to be found guilty on false evidence and sentenced to 20 years in prison. Two decades later, as Maitland rises to prominence in the church, a bitter Everard is finally released, forcing the church leader to confront his decades of silence and guilt as his old friend seeks ultimate revenge.

The Silence of Dean Maitland

1934

The Silence of Dean Maitland poster
6.5

In a small coastal town, young clergyman Cyril Maitland is involved in a tragedy that could ruin his rising career. After secretly impregnating his lover, Alma Lee, a violent struggle ensues with her enraged father, leaving the older man dead. Maitland denies responsibility and allows his close friend, Dr. Henry Everard, to be found guilty on false evidence and sentenced to 20 years in prison. Two decades later, as Maitland rises to prominence in the church, a bitter Everard is finally released, forcing the church leader to confront his decades of silence and guilt as his old friend seeks ultimate revenge.

The Silence of Dean Maitland

1934

Pacific Adventure poster
6.7

An Australian biopic about the life of pioneering aviator Charles "Smithy" Kingsford-Smith. The film is unusually frank about the controversies that occasionally dogged him. PG Taylor and Billy Hughes both make appearances playing themselves.

Pacific Adventure

1946

No artwork available
7.0

Hubert Blaydon (Cecil Kellaway),a simple Australian farmer inherits a castle and a title in England, and moves his family from the farm to the castle. He also inherits a very stuffy, prim-and-proper butler who constantly reprimands Blaydon whenever he disobeys aristocratic protocol...which he often does.

It Isn't Done

1937

No artwork available
NR

The 1954 Round Australia Trial, officially the Redex Trial was the second running of the Round Australia Trial. The rally took place between 3 and 20 July 1954. The event covered 16,900 kilometres around Australia. It was won by Jack 'Gelignite' Murray and Bill Murray, driving a Ford 1948 V8.

Overland Adventure: The Story of the 1954 Redex Reliability Trial

1954

The Bismarck Convoy Smashed! poster
8.0

An Australia propaganda war film documenting the Battle of the Bismarck Sea. Nominated for the Academy Award.

The Bismarck Convoy Smashed!

1943

No artwork available
NR

This film extols the over-producing wheat, meat, dairy, timber, steel, and Merino wool industries of Australia as assets to the Allied war effort. Describes the production of weapons and military supplies in Australian plants. "Dedicated to maintaining a life-line to Britain, Australia aids in the production of supplies and munitions for export; 'Aussie' troops are shown training and embarking for the front lines."

Australia Marches with Britain: Highlights of the National War Effort

1941

100,000 Cobbers poster
8.0

Filmed at Liverpool Military Camp (Sydney) in 1941 and using national servicemen to lend authenticity, this film was one of many sponsored by the federal government during World War II to boost armed forces recruitment. The film also features recognisable actors of the day including Grant Taylor, Shirley Ann Richards and John Fleeting, who had appeared for director Ken G Hall in feataure films made by the Sydney-based Cinesound Productions.

100,000 Cobbers

1942

No artwork available
NR

This industrial short film provides a visual survey of the local timber industry, documenting the scale, infrastructure, and manufacturing pipelines of the pine plantations across New Zealand's North Island volcanic plateau. It follows the lifecycle of the forest from seedlings to maturity across 170,000 acres, and explores the commercial utilisation of wood pulp, detailing its transition into consumer goods like plastics, textiles, and structural materials for construction.

The Keeper of the Trees

1937

The Squatter's Daughter poster
7.5

A story of rival sheep stations and of the strong-willed squatter’s daughter who wants to unite them.

The Squatter's Daughter

1933

The Squatter's Daughter poster
7.5

A story of rival sheep stations and of the strong-willed squatter’s daughter who wants to unite them.

The Squatter's Daughter

1933

Dad and Dave Come to Town poster
6.0

Dad and Dave Come to Town is a 1938 Australian comedy film directed by Ken G. Hall, the third in the 'Dad and Dave' comedy series starring Bert Bailey. It was the feature film debut of Peter Finch

Dad and Dave Come to Town

1938

Gone to the Dogs poster
6.8

George is a disaster-prone zoo attendant who accidentally discovers a substance that accelerates motion, enabling his greyhound to run faster. This attracts the interest of a gang of criminals, who kidnap George's dog and plan to substitute their own in an important dog race. George and his friends defeat the crooks and their dog wins the race.

Gone to the Dogs

1939

Kokoda Front Line! poster
5.3

This iconic and Academy Award-winning newsreel shot by Damien Parer contains some of the most recognised images of Australian troops in the Second World War.

Kokoda Front Line!

1942

Moresby Under the Blitz poster
7.0

This Damien Parer/Ken Hall newsreel was shot at a time remembered as the dark days to Australia's north, with the Japanese still strong and threatening Port Moresby with air raids. The air battle for Port Moresby was a critical time for Australia. From this larger battle the newsreel selects a number of incidents for the visual record, as it looks at the damage to buildings in Port Moresby, the crash landing of an American bomber which had lost its undercarriage, and the sinking of the merchant vessel, the Macdhui, in Port Moresby harbour.

Moresby Under the Blitz

1942

Dad Rudd, MP poster
6.5

Dad Rudd wants the size of a local dam increased for the benefit of local farmers but faces opposition from a wealthy grazier, Henry Webster. When the local Member of Parliament dies, Webster runs for his seat, and Rudd decides to oppose him.

Dad Rudd, MP

1940

No artwork available
9.0

A story dealing with civilization's effect and man's cruelty on the Australian outback.

Wild Innocence

1936

No artwork available
9.0

A story dealing with civilization's effect and man's cruelty on the Australian outback.

Wild Innocence

1936

Strike Me Lucky poster
5.5

‘Mo’ McIsaac and his sidekick Donald try to find work to support a young orphan girl he finds dancing for pennies in the street, Miriam, unaware she is really the missing daughter of rich aristocrat, Major Burnett. Gangster Al Baloney and Mae West impersonator Kate kidnap the girl and Mo is blamed for her disappearance.

Strike Me Lucky

1934

Lovers and Luggers poster
7.0

Daubeney Carshott, a concert pianist, leaves London to dive for pearls on Thursday Island in the South Seas at the whim of Stella Raff, his fiancée. Once there, he discovers that the life he leads as a pearl diver is better in every way than his former existence as a social-lion pianist. He meets and falls in love with Lorna Quidley, after learning this Stella had send other suitors off in quest of a giant pearl for her.

Lovers and Luggers

1938

No artwork available
NR

South West Pacific is a 1943 propaganda short Australian film directed by Ken G. Hall which focuses on Australia as the main Allied base in the South West Pacific area. Actors depict a cross section of Australians involved in the war effort.

South West Pacific

1943

No artwork available
NR

This short Cinesound documentary from Ken G Hall boasts beautifully filmed visuals, with surfers seen in silhouette and sunlight bouncing off the water.

Thrill of the Surf

1949

The Men of Timor poster
7.0

The film looks at the men, their living conditions, the food they eat and their bamboo shower. It shows the men building a radio out of spare parts to re-establish contact with the mainland (contact had been lost after the Japanese victory), the use of florins to pay native helpers, and a raid on a hostile native village which sees huts set on fire.

The Men of Timor

1943

The Broken Melody poster
9.0

John Ainsworth helps win a rowing race for Sydney University against Melbourne University. While celebrating at a nightclub, he demonstrates his skill with the violin with one of his original compositions. He also flirts with a young woman, Ann Brady, to the displeasure of a crook, Webster. A brawl results and John is expelled from university. John's sheep farmer father – who is disdainful of culture and wants John to marry a rich girl – is furious and disowns his son.

The Broken Melody

1938

The Broken Melody poster
9.0

John Ainsworth helps win a rowing race for Sydney University against Melbourne University. While celebrating at a nightclub, he demonstrates his skill with the violin with one of his original compositions. He also flirts with a young woman, Ann Brady, to the displeasure of a crook, Webster. A brawl results and John is expelled from university. John's sheep farmer father – who is disdainful of culture and wants John to marry a rich girl – is furious and disowns his son.

The Broken Melody

1938

Thoroughbred poster
8.0

Joan (Helen Twelvetrees) is a Canadian, adopted by Ma Dawson (Nellie Ferguson), a struggling horse breeder and trainer. Joan thinks "legs don't make a race horse, it's blood", and so she buys an unwanted thoroughbred colt called Stormalong. Helped by Ma's son Tommy Dawson (Frank Leighton), Joan restores the horse to health and fitness, and soon enough the horse is winning race after race, becoming a favourite for the Melbourne Cup.

Thoroughbred

1936

Thoroughbred poster
8.0

Joan (Helen Twelvetrees) is a Canadian, adopted by Ma Dawson (Nellie Ferguson), a struggling horse breeder and trainer. Joan thinks "legs don't make a race horse, it's blood", and so she buys an unwanted thoroughbred colt called Stormalong. Helped by Ma's son Tommy Dawson (Frank Leighton), Joan restores the horse to health and fitness, and soon enough the horse is winning race after race, becoming a favourite for the Melbourne Cup.

Thoroughbred

1936

Tall Timbers poster
7.0

A young forestry graduate, Jim Thornton, is involved in a race between timber companies to fill a major contract. Jim has joined the crew of a genial timber baron, Burbridge, and foils attempts by a rival, Blake, to sabotage their work. J. Alan Kenyon's special effects are the highlights of the film with comic relief provided by Joe Valli as a Scottish timber-train driver amorously pursued by a shrill-voiced maid of the Burbridge's country house.

Tall Timbers

1937