It Isn't Done

{{Short description | Australian comedy film about a grazier's inheritance}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2021}} {{Infobox film | name = It Isn't Done | image = It_Isn't_Done.jpg | caption = | director = Ken G. Hall | producer = Ken G. Hall | writer = Frank Harvey <br /> Carl Dudley | based_on = original story by Cecil Kellaway | narrator = | starring = Cecil Kellaway <br /> Shirley Ann Richards | music = Hamilton Webber | cinematography = George Heath | editing = William Shepherd | studio = Cinesound Productions | distributor = British Empire Films (Aust)<br />MGM (UK) | released = {{Film date|1937|02||Australia|1938|||UK}} | budget = £15,000<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article206197749 |title=THEATRE and SCREEN |newspaper=The Age |issue=25529 |location=Victoria, Australia |date=10 February 1937 |access-date=14 April 2018 |page=16 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> or £21,000<ref name="cost">{{cite web|website=Australian National University|url=https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/bitstream/1885/109798/2/b10157529-pike_A_F.pdf |title=The History of an Australian Film Production Company: Cinesound, 1932-70|first=Andrew Franklin|last=Pike|page=245}}</ref> | runtime = 90 minutes (Australia)<br />77 mins (UK)<ref>{{cite journal |id={{ProQuest|1305796722}} |title=It Isn't Done |journal=Monthly Film Bulletin |location=London |volume=5 |issue=49 |date=1 January 1938 |page=68 }}</ref> | country = Australia | language = English }} '''''It Isn't Done''''' is a 1937 Australian comedy film about a grazier (Cecil Kellaway) who inherits a barony in England.<ref name="done">{{cite magazine|date=15 July 2025|access-date=15 July 2025|magazine=Filmink|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/forgotten-australian-films-it-isnt-done/|title=Forgotten Australian Films: It Isn't Done}}</ref>

==Synopsis== Hubert Blaydon, an Australian farmer, inherits a baronial estate and moves to England with his wife and daughter Patricia, a university student, to collect it. He finds it difficult to adapt to upper class customs and faces snobbishness from Lord Denvee and difficulties with his butler Jarms. Patricia falls for a writer, Peter Ashton, who is next in line for the title and the estate.

Hubert misses Australia. He eventually contrives evidence that Peter is the legal heir and bonds with Lord Denvee over the fact that both their sons died on the same day in World War I. Hubert and his wife return to Australia with Jarms while Patricia and Peter are married.

==Cast== *Cecil Kellaway as Hubert Blaydon *Shirley Ann Richards as Patricia Blaydon *John Longden as Peter Ashton *Frank Harvey as Lord Denvee *Harvey Adams as Jarms *Nellie Ferguson as Mrs Blaydon<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article17295130 |title=Stage and Screen Personalities. |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=12 January 1937 |access-date=13 August 2012 |page=8 Supplement: Women's Supplement |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref> *Campbell Copelin as Ronald Dudley *Bobby Hunt as Lady Denvee<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article17278723 |title=From Day to Day in Sydney. |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=23 October 1936 |access-date=13 August 2012 |page=5 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref> *Leslie Victor as Potter *Harold Meade as Lady Addersley *Rita Paucefort as Mrs Dudley *Douglas Channell as Harry Blaydon *Sylvia Kellaway as Elsie Blaydon *Hilda Dorrington as Mrs Ashton *Ronald Whelan as Perroni

==Production==

===Development=== The film was based on an original story by Cecil Kellaway which he had written in between acts while performing in ''White Horse Inn'' on stage. Hall liked the basic idea but said Kellaway was unable to put it down to paper.<ref name="papers">{{cite magazine|magazine=Cinema Papers|url=https://archivesonline.uow.edu.au/nodes/view/5010?|date=1 January 1974|title=Ken G. Hall|first=Phillip|last=Taylor|page=85}} interview done on 25 October 1972</ref>

Hall originally imported American writer Carl Dudley from Los Angeles to adapt it into a feature film script.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article38470418 |title=HOOTING at the TARS. |newspaper=The Courier-Mail |location=Brisbane |date=3 August 1936 |access-date=13 August 2012 |page=18 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref> Dudley intended to stay in Australia for 12 months.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article166553943 |title=HOLLYWOOD MEN PAY VISIT |newspaper=The Newcastle Sun |issue=5833 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=24 August 1936 |access-date=29 April 2023 |page=7 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

Hall had the script worked on by playwright and actor Frank Harvey, who had recently joined Cinesound as a dialogue director.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article17268659 |title=CINESOUND FILMS. |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=9 October 1936 |access-date=13 August 2012 |page=5 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref> Hall later said "Harvey and I got together and worked it [Kellaway's idea] into a script, retaining all his basic ideas, and the basic theme, because the original idea appealed to both of us. Harvey was very English, educated at Winchester where ‘Manners maketh the man’ was the motto, you know. Very English."<ref name="papers"/> Harvey went on to write all of Ken G. Hall's films for Cinesound. Hall says he had considerable input to the film as well.<ref>[http://aso.gov.au/titles/documentaries/1930s-golden-ken-hall/clip3/ Clip from ''The 1930s Golden Era of Australian Movies: A Tribute to Ken G Hall AO OBE''] at Australian Screen Online</ref> It has been argued the script may have been influenced by ''Clara Gibbings'' (1934) a film made by Harvey.<ref name="clara">{{cite magazine|magazine=Filmink|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/forgotten-australian-films-clara-gibbings/|title=Forgotten Australian Films: Clara Gibbings|date=5 October 2025|access-date=5 October 2025}}</ref>

"If anything, the English will get more knocks than the Australians", said Hall at the time. "But there will be hits at both sides-nothing malicious; just a good-humoured conflict of ideas."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article17292168 |title=NEW CINESOUND FILM. |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=14 October 1936 |access-date=13 August 2012 |page=12 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref> He later elaborated, "Gently rubbishing the British. Gently rubbishing Australians too. That’s why the film succeeded in both England and Australia. There was no dirt thrown at any time. It was a ‘sling off‘, as we say in the vernacular, but it was still pro-British in sentiment. Don’t forget that the Australian people were tremendously British-oriented round that time."<ref name="papers"/>

Cecil Kellaway later claimed the lead character was based on a real grazier from New South Wales: <blockquote>I've enjoyed portraying this role, because I know him so thoroughly. I've stayed on his property, I've studied his mannerisms. He is the jovial, lovable person who is symbolic of the democratic carefree spirit of a sunny land.... To me, he is typical of so many of our countrymen. In many of his scenes I have endeavoured to give something that hopes for a laugh and faintly suggests a tear. I sincerely hope I have succeeded.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article17348533 |title=A CHARACTER FROM REAL LIFE. |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=2 March 1937 |access-date=13 August 2012 |page=9 Supplement: Women's Supplement |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref></blockquote>

At one stage the film was called ''Something in Common''.<ref>{{cite web|website=Variety|url=https://archive.org/details/variety124-1936-10/page/n203?q=%22ken+g+hall%22|date=21 October 1936|title=Chatter}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article182415340 |title=STAGE REVIVAL |newspaper=The Telegraph |location=Queensland, Australia |date=3 October 1936 |access-date=17 May 2020 |page=10 (SECOND EDITION) |via=Trove }}</ref> The title was changed to ''It Isn't Done'' just before filming.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://archive.org/details/variety124-1936-11/page/n123/mode/1up?q=%22it+isn%27t+done%22+%22cecil+kellaway%22|title=Chatter|magazine=Variety|date=11 November 1936|page=11}}</ref>

===Casting=== The film marked the feature debut of Shirley Ann Richards who was a graduate of Cinesound's Talent School, run by Harvey and George Parker. Although she was not very experienced, she proved a natural and was enormously popular. She was signed to a long-term contract with Cinesound and went on to appear in several of their films.<ref>[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article37000543 "Sydney Girl Enters Filmland." ''The Courier-Mail (Brisbane)'' 29 Oct 1936: 22] accessed 29 November 2011</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article17287867 |title=AUSTRALIAN FILM. |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=13 November 1936 |access-date=13 August 2012 |page=6 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

==Shooting== thumb|350px|Australian premiere of the film at the Embassy Theatre, Sydney

Although mostly set in England, the film was entirely shot in Australia, at Cinesound's Bondi studios and Camden. Shooting started October 26, 1936.<ref name="Cinesound Players' Plans">{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article246974279 |title=Cinesound Players' Plans |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |volume=I |issue=216 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=28 November 1936 |access-date=29 April 2023 |page=12 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

Hall used rear projection equipment to show English backgrounds. The backgrounds were filmed for Cinesound by British International Pictures.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article17281664 |title=AUSTRALIAN FILM. |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=28 October 1936 |access-date=13 August 2012 |page=8 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

Sets were designed by Eric Thompson, who had returned to Australia after several years working in Hollywood.<ref name="pike">Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, ''Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production'', Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, 176-177</ref>

==Reception== Reviews were positive<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article17349870 |title=FILM REVIEWS. |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=8 March 1937 |access-date=13 August 2012 |page=4 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

The ''Motion Picture Herald'' wrote: <blockquote>With every new picture, Cinesound is showing a more assured knowledge of production technique. Bearing in mind the pathetically weak Australian pictures of the earlier days of Australian production, the audience that witnessed the preview of "It Isn't Done" found it hard to imagine that the picture they were looking at had been actually made in the Commonwealth. Here, indeed, is a film for which this country need make no apologies. In that respect it is epoch-making.<ref>{{cite magazine|date=27 March 1937|url=https://archive.org/details/motionpictureher1261unse/page/n403/mode/1up?q=%22it+isn%27t+done%22+%22cecil+kellaway%22|title=Is Isn't Done|magazine=Motion Picture Herald|page=46}}</ref></blockquote> ''Variety'' wrote: <blockquote>Pic carries no marquee names for abroad but, despite this, the entertainment value is solid.' And the names are okay for Australia and New Zealand. Film breaks away from the 'horse opera' group and portrays a simple,, yet in parts, highly touching story. It is a comedy — not the slapstock type of earlier efforts, but gentle fun. Ken Hall's direction is very smooth and the picture moves along at a nice tempo. Over here 'Done' should experience no difficulty in clicking up a good b.o. take. For England it is also a natural, and American audiences would find pleasure in it, too, if the market is opened to it. Film is not strong enough to stand alone in America, but on a dual it would be quite able to hold its own.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=It Isn't Done|magazine=Variety|page=17|url=https://archive.org/details/variety125-1937-03/page/n290/mode/1up?q=%22it+isn%27t+done%22+%22cecil+kellaway%22|date=31 March 1937}}</ref></blockquote> '''Filmink''' argued the film "is particularly interesting in its acknowledgement of the cruelties of the world and the sadness of life" and "has definite cultural interest in its depictions of how (some) Australians saw themselves and the British."<ref name="done"/>

===Box office=== The film was a big hit at the box office, being released in the US and UK.<ref>{{cite magazine | title="It Isn't Done" Hits Brisbane and Hobart Like a Cyclone: Cinesound Film's Pack Out Business |magazine=Everyones |volume=15 |issue=374 |date=24 February 1937 |page=4 | url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-577360236 | id=nla.obj-577360236 | access-date=2 May 2023 | via=Trove }}</ref>

''Everyone's'' called it "easily the finest film an Australian company has made."<ref>{{cite magazine | title=Reviews Of Recent Releases Candid Criticism and Bose – Office Comment |magazine=Everyones |volume=15 |issue=376 |date=10 March 1937 |page=14 | url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-577366493 | id=nla.obj-577366493 | access-date=2 May 2023 | via=Trove }}</ref>

==Legacy== A representative from RKO in Hollywood saw the film and offered Kellaway a long-term contract, which he accepted.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article17389037 |title=CECIL KELLAWAY. |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=5 June 1937 |access-date=13 August 2012 |page=14 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref> Kellaway did return to Australia for one more film, ''Mr. Chedworth Steps Out'',<ref name="ched">{{cite magazine|magazine=Filmink|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/forgotten-australian-films-mr-chedworth-steps-out/|date=13 August 2025|access-date=13 August 2025|title=Forgotten Australian Films: Mr Chedworth Steps Out}}</ref> but spent the rest of his career in America. ''Filmink'' argued "he never had a vehicle as perfectly constructed for him as ''It Isn’t Done''."<ref name="done"/>

After completing the film, John Longden returned to England after spending four years in Australia. He left Sydney in November, accompanied by Carl Dudley.<ref name="Cinesound Players' Plans"/> Dudley later helped Shirley Ann Richards when that actress moved to Los Angeles.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article247909965 |title=Sydney girl wins Metro film role |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |volume=III |issue=14 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=15 February 1942 |access-date=29 April 2023 |page=24 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

In the film, Shirley Ann Richards plays a woman whose brother was killed in World War I. Richards' brother in real life died in a Japanese POW camp during World War II.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article47503865 |title=Intimate Jottings. |newspaper=The Australian Women's Weekly | date=29 June 1946 |access-date=13 August 2012 |page=21 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== *[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0133026/ ''It Isn't Done''] in the Internet Movie Database *[http://aso.gov.au/titles/features/it-isnt-done/ ''It Isn't Done''] at Australian Screen Online *[http://www.ozmovies.com.au/movie/it-isnt-done ''It Isn't Done''] at Oz Movies {{Ken G. Hall}}

Category:1937 films Category:Films directed by Ken G. Hall Category:Australian comedy films Category:1937 comedy films Category:Australian black-and-white films Category:1937 Australian films Category:1937 English-language films Category:Cinesound Productions films Category:Films with screenplays by Frank Harvey (Australian screenwriter) Category:English-language comedy films