Taranaki (1954) Short Film

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 diary factories produce over half the nation's cheese.
Credits:
Narrator - Paul Ricketts
Editor - Ron Bowie
Camera - Brian Brake / Bert Bridgman
Director, Writer - Oxley Hughan