The Kid Stakes (1927) is one of the real gems of Australian silent-era cinema. Growing out of Syd Nicholls’ popular Fatty Finn weekly newspaper comic strip, the easy-going charac- ters and likeable story had wide appeal to all ages, and with a charm that continues to en- tertain to this day. It appears to be the first significant children’s feature film produced in Australia. During the 1920s children’s cinema was limited to shorts and imported films. Ordell elicits fabulous performances from all the actors. He cast his six-year-old son Robin – known as ‘Pop’ – in the lead role of Fatty Finn, and assembled a wonderful selection of 5 -10-year-old kids to play members of his, and rival Bruiser Murphy’s, gangs. One of these, Ray Salmon (who played Jimmy Kelly), in a newspaper interview at the time of the film’s first revival screenings in 1952, shared a handwritten letter from Tal Ordell which served as his ‘contract’ for the film, dated 11 November 1926:

“Your salary will be 7/6 per day on every day you perform before the camera, and fares to and from your home. If you will bring your fox terrier along I will also pay you for his ser- vices. You must be on time. Bring the following old clothes with you: 1 old coat, 1 pair pants, 1 coloured shirt, 1 pair of boots, 1 cap, 1 hat, 1 waistcoat, 1 towel and piece of soap. Also your lunch.”

The film was mainly shot in the streets of Sydney’s inner-city suburb of Woolloomooloo, the mansions of Potts Point, Centennial Park and a paddock at Mascot (the emerging Syd- ney airport). With goat racing actually being illegal in NSW, the goat race scenes were filmed in Rockhampton in central Queensland. Tal Ordell himself appears in these scenes as the radio commentator.

Renowned cinematographer Arthur Higgins’ poetic contribution to The Kid Stakes cannot be overstated. While following the exploits of Fatty Finn and his gang, he manages to also capture the flavour of working-class Woolloomooloo, with its tightly-packed terrace hous- es, back alleys, billboards, wharves and busy people. This low-lying dockside suburb facing a long, narrow bay sits separated from Sydney city by the raised parklands of The Domain, with Kings Cross and the mansions of Potts Point on its other side. Connecting these two worlds (at the time no roads joined the suburbs) are the steep stairs, down which poshly- dressed young Algie descends in search of friends, and later Fatty and the gang climb to retrieve Hector the goat from the mansion garden he has been devouring. It is fascinating to compare Sydney as it was in 1927 with as it is now.