Hei Tiki (1935)
February 2, 1935Release Date
Hei Tiki (1935)
February 2, 1935Release Date
Plot.
Where to Watch.
Cast & Crew.
Alexander Markey
Writer / Director / Producer
Zoe Varney
Associate Producer
Oscar Potoker
Music
Howard Bridgman
Cinematography
Details.
Release DateFebruary 2, 1935
StatusReleased
Running Time1h 14m
Filming LocationsNew Zealand
Genres
Last updated:
This Movie Is About.
Wiki.
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.
Markey directed and produced the film, also writing the screenplay and the "native melodies". His girlfriend Zoe Varney was credited as associate producer. Alfred Hill, the original composer, and Ted Coubray, the original cameraman, were both fired and not credited; Coubray also lost his camera to Markey. The film also used unpaid Māori extras, and taonga, their cherished tribal artefacts, were lent by the cast; Markey took the artefacts when he returned to America, leaving unpaid bills behind him. Local investors had invested £10,000 in the film.
The film was shot in Waihi. The film was released in America with sound added; a symphonic score by Oscar Potoker was added using the RCA Photophone System and "voice-over" narration, which avoided the problems of synchronisation.
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.