Taranaki

Short Film (Full Length) – 1954 Travel Documentary

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Four decades before starring in The Last Samurai, New Zealand’s most symmetrical volcano stole the limelight in this NFU short. Extolling a mantra of progress and change, Taranaki presents New Plymouth as regional hub and suburban paradise, surrounded by bays and gladioli. Narrator Paul Ricketts touches on a conflict-soaked past by recalling his great grandmother’s nightly refuge in a central city stockade, during the 1860s Taranaki Wars. Back in 1954, a fishing license costs two pounds, and co-operatively-run dairy factories produce over half the nation’s cheese.

Key Cast & Crew

Oxley Hughan

Writer, Director

Paul Ricketts

Narrator

Brian Brake

Camera

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Visitors always say how well and healthy our kiddies look. We don’t notice it ourselves, although naturally we think our particular ones are perfect.
– Narrator Paul Ricketts

Produced by

The National Film Unit

Source

Archives New Zealand

Availability

For requests to re-use this title, contact Archives New Zealand.