Stephen Vagg audio commentaries

Stephen Vagg does an audio commentary for the "meat pie Western" "The Kangaroo Kid" (1950) starring Jock Mahoney and Veda An Borg directed by Leslie Selander. It's public domain and should be easy to source to watch as Stephen talks about the film... and others in the genre.

Stephen looks at the British release of "Dad and Dave Come to Town", known as "The Rudd Family Come to Town". This runs at 74 minutes, about 15 minutes shorter than the Australian release. One of the most popular Australian films of the 1930s it was produced and directed by Ken G Hall and stars Bert Bailey, Shirley Ann Richards and a young Peter Finch in his first feature.

Stephen commentates on the 1937 feature 'Tall Timbers", directed by Ken G. Hall and starring Frank Leighton and Shirley Ann Richards (who later had a Hollywood career under the name "Ann Richards"). It is an action melodrama set in the timber industry, featuring an excellent support cast including Frank Harvey (who wrote the script) and Campbell Copelin. Based on an original story by Captain Frank Hurley. The version of the film commented on goes for 74 minutes.

Stephen does a commentary for "Long John Silver", a 1954 film shot in Australia starring Robert Newton in the title role. The movie - which is easily available, being in the public domain - was an unofficial sequel to Robert Louis Stevenson's "Treasure Island" which Disney had filmed in 1950 starring Newton as Silver under the direction of Byron Haskin. Haskin and Newton were enticed to make this film, which was the only feature shot in Australia in 1954. The support cast includes three Taylors - Grant Taylor, his son Kit (who plays Jim Hawkins), and Rod Taylor (related to neither). Stephen also talks about the TV series which was shot subsequently,  "The Adventures of Long John Silver", which ran for 26 episodes.

A free audio commentary for the 1954 Australian adventure film "King of  the Coral Sea", starring Chips Rafferty, Rod Taylor, and Charles  Tingwell. (A copy of the film is available on Kanopy - you might be able to borrow it via a library.) Shot on location on Thursday Island, this was one of the few  Australian films made in the 1950s, and among the most commercially  successful The story revolves Ted King (Rafferty), the captain of a  pearling lugger who discovers a dead body in  Torres Strait. This leads  to him uncovering a people smuggling racket, threatening the lives of  King's daughter Rusty (newcomer Ilma Adey), his American offsider Jake  (Taylor), and Peter (Tingwell), the playboy owner of King's company who  falls in love with Rusty. Directed by noted documentary maker Lee  Robinson and produced by Rafferty, this was the first feature film of  Rod Taylor. The commentary is by Stephen Vagg, author of the biography "Rod Taylor: An Aussie in Hollywood".