Hubby gets a Hobby

This short film, ‘Hubby Gets a Hobby’, was directed by Keith Greenwood and presented by KenRa Films (Kenneth Rankine). The black-and-white, silent film pokes fun at the amateur film community (which Rankine was a part of) with a story of a husband taking up amateur cinematography as a hobby, much to his wife’s displeasure. The film’s comedic narrative comes from the husband’s obsessive focus on cameras and film equipment as his wife objects to his new hobby (demonstrating now-outdated gender stereotypes). By the end of the film, he is vindicated by capturing footage of a building fire, which is used in a newsreel, and eventually his wife is seen taking up a camera as well.

The film is notable for its footage of early models of consumer cameras, including 16mm hand-wound Bell and Howell and Kodak cameras. It also includes footage of the Victorian Amateur Cine Society filming a production about Captain Cook outside Cook’s Cottage in Fitzroy Gardens. According to an opening sequence title cards, the film was awarded a prize by the Victorian Amateur Cine Society in 1947.

Kenneth Carruthers Rankine (1890 - 1968) was a keen amateur cinematographer and filmmaker. This collection of his home movies has been donated to ACMI by Kenneth’s granddaughter. The collection represents a wonderful slice of life in Australia; with contents including scenes of everyday life, major family occasions, holidays around Victoria and views of Melbourne.