Came a Hot Friday

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Ian Mune directs. Alun Bollinger behind the camera. Ken Zemke cuts. Produced in New Zealand. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 141 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
• 2Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.
• 3Directed by Ian Mune, shot by Alun Bollinger. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 4Editor Ken Zemke shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 5Peter Bland and Phillip Gordon and Michael Lawrence carry the top of the cast.
• 6IMDB entry: tt0088876 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 7Only 5 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Cinematography

Alun Bollinger

Editing

Ken Zemke

Runtime

101 min · 1h 41m

Status

Released

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

PG

IMDB

Came a Hot Friday (1985) ↗

Also by

Ian Mune

• 
  The Whole of the Moon

  1996 · ★ 7.5
• 
  The End of the Golden Weather

  1991 · ★ 7.5
• 
  Soldier Soldier

  1991 · ★ 6.9
• 
  What Becomes of the Broken Hearted?

  1999 · ★ 6.6
• 
  The Grasscutter

  1990 · ★ 6.0
• 
  Bridge to Nowhere

  1986 · ★ 4.2

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  Came a Hot Friday - Trailer

  Trailer · Official

Community reviews

What people are saying

• SierraKiloBravo2020-06-12
  ★ 4/10

  Click here for a video version of this review: https://youtu.be/U7w_jcSD3iE The early 80s was a time where the New Zealand film industry began to really bud and grow. One of the classics to come out of that time was Came a Hot Friday. Much like Goodbye Pork Pie that came before it, this is a screwball comedy full of larger than life characters and general silliness. So what exactly is the story here? Set in post-war rural New Zealand, this film traces the efforts of two con men as they run a betting scam in a small town already rife with illegal gambling, corruption, and eccentricity. There really isn't a lot of story here and the movie is a bit of a shambles, but in a way, that's what gives it its charm. Its poorly acted and edited, but you 100% get a real sense of 1980s New Zealand, even though the movie is set in 1949. It's hard to say whether or not I recommend this. From a strictly story and quality point of view, its a bit of a disaster looking at it through modern eyes. As a slice of what we in New Zealand call "Kiwiana" though, its a treasure trove. It was a delight to see the legendary Billy T. James in this as, no less, and Maori Mexican bandito, and along with him, there were a few other familiar, albeit, much younger, faces from the NZ film and television alumni. I came across this in full on YouTube, and apart from that, I'm not sure where on earth you would be able to find a copy these days. It's not a great movie, but does have a ton of nostalgia value.

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• NE

  New Zealand National Film Unit

• SH

  Shaker Run Productions

Key crew

• ProducerLarry Parr
• EditorKen Zemke

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• new zealand

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical1985-10-06PG