The Kid Stakes

The Kid Stakes is a 1927 Australian silent black and white comedy film written and directed by Tal Ordell.

The screenplay is based on characters created by Syd Nicholls in his comic strip, Fatty Finn.

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 as self
 * David Nettheim as Baby in Pram

Production
The majority of the shooting locations for The Kid Stakes were in Woolloomooloo and Potts Point in Sydney.

The film's finale, the goat race, however was filmed in Rockhampton, Queensland, because goat racing was illegal in New South Wales.

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

Reception
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."

Ordell sold the remake rights to England and had discussions to make a talking version in 1930. However this did not eventuate and Ordell never directed another feature.

Robin Ordell went on to become a star of Sydney radio in the 1930s. He then joined the Royal Australian Air Force and won a Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC). He was killed over the Netherlands in 1945 at about the age of 24.

The movie was thought lost until rediscovered in 1952. It was re-released two years later.

The Kid Stakes was remade as Fatty Finn in 1980.