''Midnite Spares'' is a 1983

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

action film The action film is a film genre that predominantly features chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work. The specifics of what constitutes an action film has been in scholarly debate since the 1980s. While some scholars such as D ...

starring Gia Carides, James Laurie,

Max Cullen Maxwell Phillip Cullen (born 29 April 1940) is an Australian stage and screen actor. He has appeared in many Australian films and television series but is best known for his role in the film '' Spider and Rose'' and the television series '' The ...

Graeme Blundell Graeme Blundell (born 7 August 1945) is an Australian actor, director, producer, writer, playwright, lyricist and biographer. Early life Blundell was born on 7 April 1945 in Melbourne; he grew up in the suburb of Clifton Hill. He was educated ...

, Bruce Spence, David Argue and Jonathan Coleman.

Plot

Steve Hall (James Laurie) is a young sprintcar driver from

Toowoomba Toowoomba ( ), nicknamed 'The Garden City' and 'T-Bar', is a city on the border of South East Queensland and Darling Downs regions of Queensland, Australia. It is located west of Queensland's capital, Brisbane. The urban population of Toowoom ...

who has returned home to

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

to team up with his dad Ted and his business partner Tomas (Max Cullen) in their towing and panel beating business "T&T Towing", as well as to team up with his dad who is also a Sprintcar driver at the local speedway. He arrives to find his dad has mysteriously disappeared and Tomas is being pressured to be part of an illegal "chop shop" ring. After continuing to resist joining the ring, Tomas is set up and painfully discovers (having his arm broken by a tyre iron) the group of car thieves involved in "midnite spares" (the stealing and chopping of cars to send interstate) were responsible for Ted's untimely death. The thieves are headed by bent

Police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...

Detective Howard ( Tony Barry) and dodgy businessmen Vincent ( John Clayton) and Sidebottom (

). Steve and Tomas' tow truck drivers Wimpy (Bruce Spence), Rabbit (David Argue), and their friends pursue the criminals and attempt to capture them, following Tomas' advice to Steve "Don't get angry son, get even." Steve also meets and falls in love with Ruth Mintos (Gia Carides) and the pair have to convince her old fashioned mother Maria (Tessa Mallos) as well as her Uncle Harry (

Terry Camilleri Terrance Camilleri (born 7 November 1949) is a Maltese-born Australian actor who has performed actively in both the United Kingdom and United States. He is best recognised for portraying Emperor Napoleon I in the blockbuster comedy film '' Bi ...

) that they want to be together and get married. Steve also tries to prove his prowess at the wheel of a sprintcar at Sydney's Parramatta City Raceway against Sydney and Australia's leading drivers including Garry Rush, George Tatnell, Rob Worthington (who also doubled as Steve when racing), Terry Becker, Bob Blacklaw and Steve Brazier.

Cast

* James Laurie as Steve Hall *

as Tomas * David Argue as Rabbit * Bruce Spence as Wimpy * Gia Carides as Ruth Mintos * Jonathan Coleman as Wayne Grubb * John Clayton as Vincent *

as Harry Diaz *

as Sidebottom * John Godden as Chris the Rat * Amanda Dole as Janelle Clapton * Ray Marshall as Detective Panton * Tessa Mallos as Maria Mintos

Production

During shooting, camera operator David Brostoff was killed in an accident at the Parramatta City Raceway.David Stratton, ''The Avocado Plantation: Boom and Bust in the Australian Film Industry'', Pan MacMillan, 1990 p275-276

References

External links

*
''Midnite Spares''
at Oz Movies 1983 films Australian auto racing films 1980s English-language films Films directed by Quentin Masters 1980s Australian films {{1980s-Australia-film-stub