Forget the Last Samurai - Taranaki's first real "on location" movie was filmed more than 70 years before.

It was a typical 1920s storyline - an innocent school teacher is kidnapped by a dastardly journalist, a cowboy chase ensues, before the hero saves the day.

Lights, camera, action: filming of a daughter of New Plymouth. Image: from the Puke Ariki pictorial collection. Photographer: Caleb Wyatt.

But this wasn't some flick straight from the sets of Hollywood. This was New Plymouth's first ever movie, using local scenes and local actors as the stars.

A Daughter of New Plymouth was the town's first ever "home made" movie. It was made in a mere two weeks in 1929 when Rudall Hayward, New Zealand's foremost producer of the time, came to town. A Daughter featured local talent as the stars.

Rudall Hayward was a man of many talents - he was the cameraman, director and developer of the film. It's said he travelled around the country with the same script - adapting the title to the town he was in - Suzy of Fielding doesn't have quite the same ring to it - but apparently the script was identical to that of A Daughter of New Plymouth.

The story line was pretty basic: a heroine is kidnapped by a villain and, with the help  of a comic policeman, saved by a hero. The script relied heavily on corny jokes and lots of "crowd" shots - Rudell was onto a good thing - he included as many locals as possible - 600 school children, a crowd scene, "12 stunning New Plymouth girls" the fire brigade, stunt doubles and Tommy Thompson's team of cowboys.

Rudall Hayward gives directions from the balcony of a hotel. Image: from the Puke Ariki pictorial collection. Photographer: Caleb Wyatt.  

The star of the show was Ruby Gibson, an office girl at CC Wards, the baddie: Charlie Blake and the handsome hero: local man George Oyenden. Hundreds of people were turned away when the 27 minute long movie made its debut to a packed Opera House on 29 January 1929. The movie had them screaming with hilarity and perched on the edge of their seats in suspense. New Plymouth people loved to see themselves on screen and the Opera House was packed for all the screenings before Rudell moved on to another town to repeat it all again.

It would be many years before another film was made in Taranaki - Vigil and Came a Hot Friday went on screen in New Zealand in 1984.
 
Unfortunately all copies of a Daughter of New Plymouth movie are lost and all that remain are some stills taken during filming, held in the New Zealand Film Archives. A script of a similar film Daughter of Invercargill also  remains and can be read here.