Curious about how Aucklanders enjoyed summer days at the beach in the 1920s?
Watch the 1928 silent film A Takapuna Scandal, which features shamelessly punning intertitles and frantic slapstick chase scenes at the Takapuna seaside – looking very different to how it is today!
Early New Zealand filmmaker Rudall Hayward made 23 of these “community comedies” between 1928 and 1929, which were extremely popular short films that allowed local audiences to see their own communities on screen. Hayward’s most widely known feature film is Rewi’s Last Stand (1940), a sound remake of his earlier silent version made in 1925.
A Takapuna Scandal is part of the Historical Hayward playlist on TV and Radio, along with many other films and documentaries made by Rudall and his wife Ramai between 1928 and 1974.
Explore more of New Zealand’s broadcast history by visiting TV and Radio. The collection includes a wealth of news and current affairs programming, Māori television content, plus many local and international documentaries and feature films.
Above images: Scenes from Rudall Hayward’s A Takapuna Scandal (1928).
About TV and Radio
Visit TV and Radio and log in with your University of Auckland username to:
- Access over 100,000 hours of archived television and radio, dating from 1965 to the present day. Try a keyword search (like “kapa haka“), or browse by date, channel, programme title or genre.
- View and download local TV from the last 14 days and request for episodes to be permanently added to the collection.
- Connect to live streams of many local and international TV channels (e.g., BBC World News, Al Jazeera, Parliament TV).
Rose Beasley, Digital Collections Specialist