Rewi's Last Stand

Rewi's Last Stand is the title of two feature films directed by pioneering New Zealand filmmaker Rudall Hayward: a 1925 silent movie, and 1940 remake with sound. They are historical dramas, based on the last stand of Rewi Maniapoto at the Battle of Ōrākau.[1]

The camera used to film Rewi's Last Stand
The camera used to film Rewi's Last Stand

Rewi's Last Stand
Directed byRudall Hayward
Written byRudall Hayward
Starring
  • Charles Alexis
  • Nola Casselli
  • Wightman McCombe
Release date
  • 1925 (1925)
CountryNew Zealand
LanguageEnglish

Hayward believed that New Zealand's history offered material as dramatic as any Hollywood western. He set out to make films involving conflicts between Māori and Pākehā "while there were still people alive" who remembered the period accurately.[2]

1940 Remake
Rewi's Last Stand
Directed byRudall Hayward
Written byRudall Hayward
Starring
  • Ramai Te Miha
  • Leo Pilcher
  • Stanley Knight
Distributed byFrontier Films Ltd
Release date
  • 1940 (1940)
Running time
64 min
CountryNew Zealand
LanguageEnglish

In 1940 Rudall Hayward remade his second feature on a more ambitious scale, this time with sound. He cast his future wife Ramai Hayward in the romantic lead.

The 1940 remake was released in a shortened version in the United Kingdom, as The Last Stand. The shortened version is the only one surviving.[3]

References
  1. The Battle of Orakau at New Zealand History
  2. L. R. Shelton. 'Hayward, Rudall Charles Victor - Biography', from the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, updated 1-Sep-10 accessed 22 November 2012
  3. THE LAST STAND at ARCHIVING PRACTICE, FILM, NZ HISTORY accessed 5 August 2016


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