Came a Hot Friday

Came a Hot Friday stars one of New Zealands all time best comic talents, Billy T James. The movie is from the 1980's but set in 1949 New Zealand.

Synopsis

Luck runs out for two bumbling confidence men when they arrive in a sleepy New Zealand country town in 1949. Their horse-racing scam is uncovered. But at the same time there's arson at the local billiard saloon. And the Tainuia Kid is watching it all.

CAME A HOT FRIDAY is a rollicking comic adventure set in 1949 against a background of horseracing, gambling, fast cars and loose women.

Two conmen, the silver tongued Wesley Pennington, and his sidekick Cyril Kidman, have been successfully cheating bookmakers at racetracks all over New Zealand. But when they stop at a town called Tainuia Junction their luck runs out.

At Tainuia they are at first delighted to be able to cheat the local bookmaker, Norm Cray, out of a very large sum of money, with the help of a local stooge, Don Jackson. But when they go to spend their money at the local dance and gambling "casino", things start going awry.

The unfortunate Wes suffers a series of heavy defects with the women and at the crown and anchor talbe, before risking all their illgotten gains, and cheverotlet car, on one last heroic throw of the dice.

But before the dice stops rolling Wes and Cyril find themselves at war with Norm Cray, the police and the casino boss, Sel Bishop. The conmen's secret weapon is their alliance with the Tainuia kid - a Zoro nut and the wildest comic ever to ride the ranges. But even with the kid on their side, the forces of evil are not easily overcome and in the end the final winner comes as a shock to them all.

For more detailed information about this movie or any other New Zealand film please go to the New Zealand Film Commission