The Kid Stakes is a 1927 Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n silent black and white comedy film written and directed by Tal Ordell.

The screenplay is based on characters created by Syd Nicholls

Syd Nicholls

Sydney 'Syd' Wentworth Nicholls was an Australian cartoonist and commercial artist, best known for the long-running comic strip Fatty Finn.-Biography:...

 in his comic strip, Fatty Finn

Fatty Finn

Fatty Finn is a 1980 Australian film, directed by Maurice Murphy and starring Ben Oxenbould with Rebecca Rigg. It is based on the 1930s cartoon-strip character, Fatty Finn, created by Syd Nicholls and is loosely based on the 1927 silent fim, The Kid Stakes.-Plot:Set in inner-city Woolloomooloo in...

. The majority of the shooting locations for The Kid Stakes were in Woolloomooloo

Woolloomooloo, New South Wales

Woolloomooloo is a harbourside, inner-city eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Woolloomooloo is located 1.5 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Sydney. The suburb is located in a low-lying, former...

 and Potts Point

Potts Point, New South Wales

Potts Point is a small, densely-populated suburb of inner-city Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Potts Point is located 3 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district and is part of the local government area of the City of Sydney....

 in Sydney

Sydney

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

. The film's finale, the goat race, however was filmed in Rockhampton

Rockhampton, Queensland

Rockhampton is a city and local government area in Queensland, Australia. The city lies on the Fitzroy River, approximately from the river mouth, and some north of the state capital, Brisbane....

 in Queensland

Queensland

Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...

, because goat racing was illegal in New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

. The role of Fatty Finn was played by Tal Ordell's six-year-old son Robin, known as 'Pop' Ordell.

The film premiered at the Wintergarden Theatre in Brisbane on 9 June 1927.The now defunct weekly magazine, Pix, in its review states "Kid Stakes brings back the Sydney of the 1920s. They were all on parade; the ragged urchins, the brawling and the free-fisted characters of the waterfront."

It was the last silent feature film to be made in Australia.

Robin Ordell went on to become a star of Sydney radio in the 1930s. He then joined the Royal Australian Air Force

Royal Australian Air Force

The Royal Australian Air Force is the air force branch of the Australian Defence Force. The RAAF was formed in March 1921. It continues the traditions of the Australian Flying Corps , which was formed on 22 October 1912. The RAAF has taken part in many of the 20th century's major conflicts...

 and won a Distinguished Flying Cross

Distinguished Flying Cross

The Distinguished Flying Cross may refer to:*Distinguished Flying Cross , including Commonwealth countries*Distinguished Flying Cross...

 (DFC). He was killed over Holland in 1945 at about the age of 24.

The Kid Stakes was remade as Fatty Finn in 1980.

Plot summary

Fatty Finn (Robin 'Pop' Ordell) is the six-year-old leader of a gang of kids in Woolloomooloo. They enter Fatty's pet goat Hector in the annual goat derby, but his rival Bruiser Murphy (Frank Boyd) lets the goat loose before the race. After a series of adventures, Fatty finds the runaway goat and persuades a friendly aviator to fly him to the race-track in time for the main event.

Cast

• Robin 'Pop' Ordell as Fatty Finn
• Charles Roberts as Tiny King
• Eileen Alexander as Madeline Twirt
• Ray Salmon as Jimmy Kelly
• Leonard Durell as Constable Claffey
• Frank Boyd as Bruiser Murphy
• Billy Ireland as Seasy
• Eileen Alexander as Madeline Twirt
• Jimmy Taylor as Horatio John Wart
• Tad Ordell as Radio race-caller
• Syd Nicholls
  Syd Nicholls
  Sydney 'Syd' Wentworth Nicholls was an Australian cartoonist and commercial artist, best known for the long-running comic strip Fatty Finn.-Biography:...
  
  as self

External links

• The Kid Stakes at the Australian screen