Dad Rudd, M.P. and the making of a national audience

Abstract

This article contextualizes Ken G. Hall's 1940 film Dad Rudd, M.P. with the history of Dad Rudd, a fictional character who pervaded Australian popular culture throughout the first half of the twentieth century. It argues that the fiction, theatre, film, cartoon and radio narratives in which he appeared have been instrumental in the creation of the idea of a popular Australian audience that can be defined in relation to a particular set of national symbols. Addressing Hall's film as well as the promotional material and public debate surrounding it, the article demonstrates that conceptualizations of an Australian national audience have been influenced by the genres and narratives of popular culture, historical circumstance and American cultural productio