Tracking Shots
Close Ups on NZ Film History
On the Friendly Road
When On the Friendly Road was released in 1936, New Zealanders acclaimed this story of ordinary people who had fallen on hard times.
Based on the hit radio show of the Reverend Colin Scrimigeour (Uncle Scrim), On the Friendly Road was directed by Rudall Hayward in Auckland with a mainly amateur cast. It was Hayward's first sound feature.
Uncle Scrim's popularity was at its peak when the film opened and it did well. But Scrim and his calls for social justice were attacked by the newspaper Truth, and the film's popularity plummeted as his did.
