Billy T: Te Movie

Following the big-screen success of Topp Twins documentary Untouchable Girls came another chronicle of a Kiwi entertainment legend: sometime Taranaki bandito, giggling newsreader and crooner Billy T James. The film uses remastered footage and an impressive cast of interviews to capture his path from cabaret singer to fame, fan clubs and eventual financial and bodily collapse. Te Movie director Ian Mune originally cast James in the classic Came a Hot Friday, as the Māori-Mexican Tainuia Kid; Te Movie co-producer Tom Parkinson played a hand in making Billy T a TV star.

We all thought we knew him — but we didn't.

– Laurie Dee

Key Cast & Crew

Ian Mune

Director, Writer

Tom Parkinson

Producer

Robert Boyd-Bell

Producer

Phil Gifford

Writer

Paul Casserly

Subject

Peter Rowley

Subject