''Fatty Finn'' is a 1980 Australian film, directed by Maurice Murphy and starring

Ben Oxenbould Ben Oxenbould is an Australian actor and comedian. His brother Jamie Oxenbould is also an actor, as is Jamie's son, Ed Oxenbould. Early career He was educated at North Sydney Boys High School. In 1980, Oxenbould was cast as "Hubert 'Fatty' Fi ...

with

Rebecca Rigg Rebecca Rigg is an Australian actress. She is known for her roles in television and film. She started out as a child actor in ''Fatty Finn'' (1980), before also being featured in the films ''Hunting'' (1991), ''Spotswood'' (1992) and ''Ellie ...

. It is based on the 1930s cartoon-strip character, ''

Fatty Finn ''Fatty Finn'' was a popular long-run Australian comic strip series, created in 1923 by Syd Nicholls. It ran in syndication until the creator's death in 1977. History In 1923 Syd Nicholls, a senior artist at Sydney's ''Evening News'', was aske ...

'', created by Syd Nicholls and is loosely based on the 1927 silent film, ''

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 'Po ...

''.

Plot

Set in inner-city

Woolloomooloo Woolloomooloo ( ) is a harbourside, inner-city eastern suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Woolloomooloo is 1.5 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Sydney. It is in a low ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

in 1930, the neighbourhood nice guys are led by Fatty (real name Hubert Finn), an ambitious 10-year-old with an eye for making a quid. From shady frog jumping contests to a fixed goat race, Fatty uses his enterprise to raise enough money to buy a

crystal set A crystal radio receiver, also called a crystal set, is a simple radio receiver, popular in the early days of radio. It uses only the power of the received radio signal to produce sound, needing no external power. It is named for its most impo ...

(radio without a separate power supply) that's worth seventeen shillings & sixpence (17/6), more than his Dad is able to save up in a year. Bruiser Murphy the bully and his gang try to stop him. Fatty uses his brains against his enemies' brawn to eventually triumph.

Cast

as Hubert 'Fatty' Finn *

as Tilly * Jeremy Larsson as Headlights * Martin Lewis as Skeet * Hugo Grieve as Seasy * Sandy Leask as Lolly Legs * Greg Kelly as Bruiser Murphy * Christopher Norton as Snootle *

Bert Newton Albert Watson Newton (23 July 1938 – 30 October 2021) was an Australian media personality. He was a Logie Hall of Fame inductee, quadruple Gold Logie award-winning entertainer and radio, theatre and television personality and presenter. Newt ...

as John Finn *

Noni Hazlehurst Leonie Elva "Noni" Hazlehurst , (born 17 August 1953) is an Australian actress, director, writer, presenter and broadcaster who has appeared on television and radio, in dramas, mini-series and made for television films, as well also on stag ...

as Myrtle Finn *

Gerard Kennedy Gerard Michael Kennedy (born July 24, 1960) is a Canadian politician in Ontario, Canada. He served as Ontario's minister of Education from 2003 to 2006, when he resigned to make an unsuccessful bid for the leadership of the Liberal Party of C ...

as Tiger Murphy * Su Cruickshank as Mrs Murphy *

Lorraine Bayly Lorraine Daphne Bayly AM (born 16 January 1937) is an Australian actress of film, television and theatre, presenter, singer, dancer, pianist and theatre director and writer. She is perhaps best known to small screen audiences for her soap ...

as Maggie McGrath *

Bill Young Charles William Young (December 16, 1930 – October 18, 2013) was an American politician who served in the United States House of Representatives from 1971 until his death in 2013. A Republican from Florida, Young served as chairman of the Hou ...

as Officer Claffey *

Ross Higgins Ross or ROSS may refer to: People * Clan Ross, a Highland Scottish clan * Ross (name), including a list of people with the surname or given name Ross, as well as the meaning * Earl of Ross, a peerage of Scotland Places * RoSS, the Republic of Sout ...

as Radio Announcer *

Peter Rowley Peter Rowley (sometimes credited as Harrison Rowley during his early career) (born April 29, 1952) is a New Zealand comic actor and writer. He is best known for his television roles, where he has played in numerous popular television series as ...

as Chauffeur

Production

Screenwriter

Bob Ellis Robert James Ellis (10 May 1942 – 3 April 2016) was an Australian writer, journalist, filmmaker, and political commentator. He was a student at the University of Sydney at the same time as other notable Australians including Clive James, Germa ...

says it was his idea to make the film. He complained about interference from the film's producers, John Sexton and

Yoram Gross Yoram Jerzy Gross (18 October 192621 September 2015) was a Polish-born, Australian producer of children's and family entertainment. He was known for his adaptation of children's characters from books and films, and best known for the produc ...

, claiming Sexton in particular wanted a lot of changes, but changed his mind after

David Puttnam David Terence Puttnam, Baron Puttnam, CBE, HonFRSA, HonFRPS, MRIA (born 25 February 1941) is a British film producer, educator, environmentalist and former member of the House of Lords. His productions include ''Chariots of Fire'', which wo ...

praised Ellis' original draft. He later said of the film that "all the performances are dreadful, the conspicuous exception being Bert Newton's." Of the $350,000 budget, $120,000 came from the AFC. The movie was set in Woolloomooloo but the area had changed a lot since then so was shot in and around

Glebe Glebe (; also known as church furlong, rectory manor or parson's close(s))McGurk 1970, p. 17 is an area of land within an ecclesiastical parish used to support a parish priest. The land may be owned by the church, or its profits may be reserved ...

. Filming took place in January and February 1980.David Stratton, ''The Avocado Plantation: Boom and Bust in the Australian Film Industry'', Pan MacMillan, 1990 p343

Reception

Box office

''Fatty Finn'' grossed $1,064,000 at the box office in Australia, which is equivalent to $3,777,200 in 2009 dollars.

Awards

The film was nominated for seven

Australian Film Institute Awards The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards, known as the AACTA Awards, are presented annually by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). The awards recognise excellence in the film and television industry, ...

in 1981 winning in the categories of 'Best Achievement in Costume Design' and 'Best Original Music Score'.

References

External links

*
''Fatty Finn''
at Oz Movies *
Fatty Finn at the National Film and Sound Archive''Fatty Finn''
at Peter Malone {{AACTAAward BestMusicScore 1980-1999 1980 films Australian fantasy comedy films 1980s fantasy comedy films Films based on Australian comics Films set in the 1930s Live-action films based on comics Films set in Sydney 1980s English-language films Films directed by Maurice Murphy