Utterly charming kids’ movie, which ranks with The Sentimental Bloke and For the Term of His Natural Life as one of the finest Australian silent films (and still one of the best movies for children we’ve ever made). It’s the Fatty Finn story, the plot involving Fatty’s determination to win a goat race. He tries to put his goat in isolation, but his enemy lets it out, and there’s a 15 minute sequence without Fatty where we follow the goat on a path of destruction in a rich person’s a house. The climax is an exciting goat race.
Plenty of memorable moments: a cricket match (the titles refer to McCartney and Gregory); the rich kid who the gang call a sissy but actually turns out to be a good fighter; the goat being parachuted out of a plane (it’s silly, sure, but I couldn’t help laughing); the bookies working the final race; Fatty kissing the tall girl; the look of Woolloomoolloo of the time (friendly cops, street cricket games, shop keepers, the rich at Potts Point); the final race.
The kid actors are terrific – a worthy tribute to Tal Ordell, a major theatre and radio actor and writer who only directed one feature. His own son plays Fatty; he died as a pilot in World War Two. Beautifully shot by Arthur Higgins.
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