97 Films & TV Shows Set In New Zealand
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Beyond Reasonable Doubt
๐ณ๐ฟ New Zealand The 1970sA docu-drama covering one of the most famous cases in New Zealand history, the murder of Harvey and Jeanette Crewe in 1970.
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Squeeze
๐ณ๐ฟ New ZealandRichard Turner made Squeeze to break the "conspiracy of silence" about homosexuality. A pioneering early portrait of Auckland's LGBT scene, Squeeze centres on the relationship between a young man (Paul Eady) and the confident executive (Robert Shannon) who romances him, then mentions he has a fiancรฉe. The film was discussed in Parliament after Patricia Bartlett campaigned against the possibility it might get NZ Film Commission funding (it didn't). Kevin Thomas in The LA Times praised Squeeze's integrity and the "steadfast compassion with which it views its hero".
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Sleeping Dogs
๐ณ๐ฟ New ZealandWhat happens when you're hunted...and there's no place to run! โ Recluse Smith is drawn into a revolutionary struggle between guerrillas and right-wingers in New Zealand. Implicated in a murder and framed as a revolutionary conspirator, Smith tries to maintain an attitude of non-violence while caught between warring factions.
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Rangi's Catch
๐ณ๐ฟ New ZealandFour children on a remote sheep station in New Zealand hear of the escape of two convicts, and realise that the crooks are responsible for burgling their house.
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To Love a Maori
๐ณ๐ฟ New ZealandTO LOVE A MAORI tells the story of Tama and Riki, two young men who leave their country marae for Auckland and the racial discrimination they face once they arrive in the city.
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Quick Before It Melts
๐ณ๐ฟ New Zealand ๐ฆ๐ถ AntarcticaMan Conquers the Last & Funniest Frontier...The Frigid Zone!!! โ A magazine reporter and his photographer, on assignment in the Antarctic, attempt to fly in girls to make their chilly lives more enjoyable. Director Delbert Mann's 1964 comedy stars Robert Morse, George Maharis, Anjanette Comer, James Gregory, Michael Constantine, Howard St. John, Norman Fell, Janine Gray, Bernard Fox, Yvonne Craig, Doodles Weaver and Marjorie Bennett.
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Runaway
๐ณ๐ฟ New Zealand The 1960sToo Scared to Turn Back...A nightmare chase across the scenic splendour of New Zealand โ A nightmare chase across the scenic splendor of a wild continent. David Manning, a young accountant, is unable to live within his income. He spends his spare time in Auckland with the young set - and his friends Sandra, Dorothy and Athol all like the outdoor life in the daytime and the bright lights at night. David finds himself in financial difficulties and leaves his job.
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In Search of the Castaways
Scotland ๐ฆ๐บ Australia ๐ณ๐ฟ New Zealand The 1850s The 1880sA Thousand Thrills, And Hayley Mills! โ Two teenagers, Mary (Hayley Mills) and Robert (Keith Hamshere) are lead by Professor Paganel (Maurice Chevalier) on a search expedition for the children's shipwrecked sea captain father. This Disney film was based upon Jules Verne's 1868 adventure novel Captain Grant's Children.
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Two Loves
๐ณ๐ฟ New ZealandSo busy with her children...SHE DIDN'T HAVE TIME TO GET MARRIED! โ An American spinster who takes a job teaching Maori students in New Zealand finds unexpected romance with two men.
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Tarawa Beachhead
๐ฐ๐ฎ Kiribati ๐ณ๐ฟ New Zealand ๐ธ๐ง Solomon Islands The 1940sDirector Paul Wendkos' 1958 WWII drama stars Kerwin Mathews, Julie Adams, Ray Danton, Karen Sharpe and Onslow Stevens.
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Until They Sail
๐ณ๐ฟ New Zealand The 1940sThey couldn't have the love they wanted, so they took the love they could get! โ Four sisters in New Zealand fall for four U.S. soldiers en route to the Pacific theater in WWII.
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The Sea Chase
๐ณ๐ฟ New Zealand ๐จ๐ฑ ChileJOHN WAYNE - a skipper sworn never to be taken! LANA TURNER - the fuse of his floating time-bomb! โ As the Second World War breaks out, German freighter captain Karl Ehrlich is about to leave Sydney, Australia with his vessel, the Ergenstrasse. Ehrlich, an anti-Nazi but proud German, hopes to outrun or out-maneuver the British warship pursuing him. Aboard his vessel is Elsa Keller, a woman Ehrlich has been ordered to return to Germany safely along with whatever secrets she carries. When Ehrlich's fiercely Nazi chief officer Kirchner commits an atrocity, the British pursuit becomes deadly.
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The Seekers
๐ณ๐ฟ New Zealand The 1820sA western set in New Zealand during the 1820s following a group of British pioneers seeking a new life Down Under.
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Green Dolphin Street
๐ณ๐ฟ New Zealand The 1850s The 1840sA Fiery Girl Who Dares The Dangers Of The Sea And A Savage Land... Fighting For The Love Of A Bold Adventurer! โ Sophie loved Edmund, but he left town when her parents forced her to marry wealthy Octavius. Years later, Edmund returns with his son, William. Sophie's daughter, Marguerite, and William fall in love. Marguerite's sister, Marianne, also loves William. Timothy, a lowly carpenter, secretly loves Marianne. He kills a man in a fight, and Edmund helps him flee to New Zealand. William deserts inadvertently from the navy, and also flees in disgrace to New Zealand, where he and Timothy start a profitable business. One night, drunk, William writes Octavius, demanding his daughter's hand; but, being drunk, he asks for the wrong sister.
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Rewi's Last Stand
๐ณ๐ฟ New Zealand The 1860sIf men can die, the women and children can die also. โ Star-crossed lovers, Robert and Ariana, are caught up in the New Zealand wars of the 1860s. Ariana is claimed by the Maniapoto people as one of their own and, despite Robert's chivalrous defence, is taken by them and must help them prepare for war. Robert likewise must do his patriotic duty and enlists to fight on the other side. He volunteers to ride despatch, thinking it may give him an opportunity to see Ariana again, which it does, but their joy is short-lived; Maniapoto women fight beside their men, and furthermore she is a Rangitira (noble) and will not let her people down. The climax is the siege of Oraku Pa where 300 Maori hold off 2000 troops for three days. The Maniapoto are defeated, but Ariana, although wounded, survives to be reunited with Robert.
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Capt. Grant's Family
Scotland England ๐ณ๐ฑ Netherlands ๐ณ๐ฟ New Zealand ๐ฆ๐ท Argentina ๐ฆ๐บ Australia Atlantic Ocean Pacific Ocean The 1860sThe son and daughter of a lost-at-sea captain recruit help to find him on the basis of an incomplete note found in a bottle, and encounter adventures in Patagonia, Australia, and New Zealand... Based on Jules Verne novel.
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Hei Tiki
๐ณ๐ฟ New ZealandA Weird Maori Drama โ Hei Tiki, also known as Primitive Passions and Hei Tiki: A Saga of the Maoris, is a 1935 American mock-documentary film made in New Zealand by the eccentric Alexander Markey and released (with sound added) in America. The film gained notoriety in America for having scenes of nudity cut in various states. It is one of four films (with The Devil's Pit, Down on the Farm, and On the Friendly Road) which claim to be the first "New Zealand talkie", although the claim is dubious in this case as the sound was added in America.
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Under The Southern Cross
๐ณ๐ฟ New ZealandNeither tribal custom, danger nor the sacred ban of 'tapu' could overcome the strength of his love. โ Under the Southern Cross also known as The Devil's Pit or Taranga, is a 1929 American drama film set in New Zealand, directed by Lew Collins for Universal Studios, who also wrote the screenplay. Originally titled Taranga by the original director Alexander Markey, but was completed by Collins and released as Under the Southern Cross in 1929, then with the introduction of sound was given a soundtrack and retitled The Devilโs Pit in 1930. The film was shot on White Island, which has an active volcano. It is one of four films (with Down on the Farm, Hei Tiki and On the Friendly Road) which lay claim to be the first "New Zealand talkie", although dubious as the sound was added to the 1930 release in the United States. Only fragments of out-takes are left. The film probably has no connection with the 1927 British film of the same name, directed by Gustav Pauli.
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Under the Southern Cross
๐ณ๐ฟ New ZealandThe rural love story of young English migrant David Bryne and Hazel Carlisle, who manages a Hawke's Bay sheep farm with her brother.
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Hinemoa
๐ณ๐ฟ New ZealandThe film told the Mฤori legend of Hinemoa and Tutanekai. It is the first dramatic feature film produced in New Zealand.
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Royal Visit of the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York to New Zealand
๐ณ๐ฟ New Zealand The 1900sThe Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York travelled to New Zealand in 1901 to thank New Zealanders for their contribution to the Boer War. Only a short fragment remains of a much longer film.
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The Departure of the Second Contingent for the Boer War
๐ณ๐ฟ New Zealand The 1900sNew Zealand's oldest surviving film shows a troop of horsemen from the Boer War Second Contingent in camp at one of the open days held before their departure at Newtown Park, Wellington, likely 13 January 1900. (https://ngataonga.org.nz/)