Kid Stakes, The

1927, 78 Minutes

Fatty Finn, the scruffy leader of a gang of kids in 1920s era Sydney, is brought to life from the pages of Syd Nicholls’ popular comics.

Fatty and his goat Hector challenge rival Bruiser Murphy and his goat Stonker to compete in a billycart race - 'The Kid Stakes'. But Bruiser tries to nobble Hector, letting him loose in the grounds of a mansion where he eats a large portion of the prize garden. Fatty and his gang sign an oath in blood to bust Hector out, but they still have to get to the track for the start of the contest. Fatty grips the reins for the race of his life.

Beautifully filmed around the inner-city streets of Woolloomooloo, the mansions of Potts Point, Centennial Park, the emerging Sydney airport and Rockhampton in central Queensland for the goat race scenes, The Kid Stakes is one of the real gems of Australian silent era cinema, with wide appeal to all ages and a charm that continues to this day.

Distributed by the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia. © 2015 National Film and Sound Archive of Australia.