AustLit

Established in June 1932 by Ken G. Hall and Stuart Doyle, Cinesound Productions Pty Ltd was a subsidiary company to Greater Union Theatres. Doyle was then Managing Director of Greater Union, with Hall his personal assistant. Hall, who was subsequently appointed Managing Director of Cinesound, remained at the helm until 1956 (at which time he became involved in establishing one of Australia's first television stations). Hall also undertook the responsibilities of director and producer for many of the company's productions, including 18 feature films.

Using the Hollywood film company model, Cinesound was involved in numerous facets of the motion picture industry, including film processing, production, distribution and exhibition. The company continued to produce feature films up until the Second World War. Fearing that such productions were too great a financial risk, Hall concentrated on producing the Cinesound Review, a newsreel that they had been generating to exhibit alongside their feature films. After the war, British producer and exhibitor J. Arthur Rank bought a controlling interest in Greater Union. Rank subsequently used the theatre chain to exhibit British films, while at the same time discouraging local feature production. Not only did Cinesound never regain its position as a major local film producer, but Australian film production became almost non-existent for nearly two decades.

Cinesound's first feature film production was the enormously successful On Our Selection (1932). Later films included The Squatter's Daughter (1933), Strike Me Lucky (1934, with Roy Rene), Grandad Rudd (1935), The Broken Melody (1937), Dad and Dave Come to Town (1938), two George Wallace films Let George Do It (1938) and Gone to the Dogs (1939), Tall Timbers (1940), Dad Rudd M.P. (1940) and Hall's last film for Cinesound Smithy (1946, about Sir Charles Kingsford-Smith). Cinesound's Kokoda Front Line (1940), won an Oscar for Best Documentary.