Starlight Hotel

During the Great Depression, Kate (Greer Robson) is a 13-year-old girl living on New Zealand's South Island. When her mother dies and her father is offered a job in Wellington on North Island, Kate is sent to live with an aunt. The girl runs away to find her father, hopping onto a boxcar and befriending a fellow fugitive, Patrick (Peter Phelps), an emotionally battle-scarred WWI veteran fleeing the authorities after injuring a repo man. Pretending to be father and daughter, Patrick and Kate use each other for cover as they make their way across New Zealand, sleeping under the stars and championing the rights of destitute farmers and homeless squatters whose fortunes have been wiped out by economic hardship.

5.9

93 min

Cast

Greer Robson

as Kate

Peter Phelps

as Patrick

Alice Fraser

as Aunt

Patrick Smyth

as Uncle

Bruce Phillips

as Kate's Father

Vanessa Young

as Schoolgirl #1

Teresa Bonney

as Schoolgirl #2

Duncan Anderson

as Railway Foreman

Russell Gibson

as Railway Worker

Marshall Napier

as Det. Wallace

Norman Forsey

as Farmer

Craig Halkett

as Farmer's Son

Louise Petherbridge

as Chairwoman

Laura Robertson

as Panel Member

John Watson

as School Teacher

Lee Matheson

as Constable #2

Director

Sam Pillsbury