Described as New Zealand's first "Hollywood" production, the 85-minute silent film pre-dates Peter Jackson's efforts by more than 70 years and features one of this country's first ever screen sirens.
The Bush Cinderella is "a diverting tale of romance and intrigue" and includes a fight on a cargo ship, for which pioneer New Zealand film maker Rudall Hayward enlisted the help of the Defence Department.
It also cashed in on the publicity surrounding Dale Austen, who had just returned from working with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in Hollywood.
The 17-year-old convent girl from Dunedin had been crowned Miss New Zealand the previous year and received a prize package which included a trip to Hollywood.
Despite success there, Austen was the first person to turn down movie mogul Louis B Mayer when she declined his offer of a five year contract.
Film Archives project developer Diane Pivac took a copy of The Bush Cinderella to a silent film festival in Podenone, Italy, two years ago. In its first screening outside New Zealand, it got a "huge reception", Ms Pivac said.
The Bush Cinderella was a really important milestone in New Zealand's film history.
Hayward was an equivalent of Peter Jackson back then, she said.
The entire production budget for The Bush Cinderella was £700.
Hayward was producer, director and cameraman and co-wrote the screenplay with his uncle. He processed the footage in a couple of rooms at the back of a shop in Hobson St, Auckland.
The Bush Cinderella was billed as New Zealand's first big modern drama and had its world premiere at the Strand Theatre, Auckland in 1928.
Hayward also made My Lady of the Cave (1922), Rewi's Last Stand (1925) and The Te Kooti Trail (1927). The Bush Cinderella was Hayward's fourth, and last, silent feature.
In 1964, actor Tom McDermott made his 35mm copy of the film available to the National Film Library for assessment for the national collection. Restoration of the original nitrate film was completed in 2000, the centenary of Hayward's birth.
The Bush Cinderella screens at the New Zealand Film Archive at 7pm on Wednesday. The screening will be accompanied by pianist Susan Alexander with a specially composed score by Dorothy Buchanan.
