| Manny's Orphans | |
| Director: | Sean S. Cunningham |
| Starring: | Jim Baker Malachy McCourt |
| Music: | Harry Manfredini |
| Producer: | Sean S. Cunningham Steve Miner |
| Cinematography: | Barry Abrams |
| Editing: | Steve Miner |
| Studio: | Sean S. Cunningham Films |
| Distributor: | Vestron Video (VHS) |
| Runtime: | 92 minutes |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
Manny's Orphans (also known as Kick!) is a 1978 American family comedy film directed by Sean S. Cunningham. The film was also distributed under the title Kick!.[1]
Manny (Jim Baker) coaches soccer for the fashionable Creighton Hall school, but is relieved of duty because he is "not a good match" for the school. He finds a job at a Catholic home for orphans, where he forms a new soccer team, with the help of one very good player, Pepe, who turns out to be a girl. Pepe is the sister of one of the orphans, who comes to the all-boy orphanage posing as a boy, because her former foster home was an abusive environment.
Along the way, Manny has incurred a gambling debt, his creditors begin to lean on him, and the boys find out. They set up a soccer game and stake the outcome against Manny's debt. If they win, then the debt shall be forgiven.
Of the film, writer Victor Miller said: "Steve Miner came up with the idea for it and I wrote the screenplay and we did it, another low-budget film [along with ''[[Here Come the Tigers]]], and shot it around Bridgeport, Connecticut."[1]
Director Cunningham said: "We had this notion of a bunch of orphans in a halfway house, they put together a soccer team and the underdog wins. So we raised the money to do what became known as Manny's Orphans. It was a lot of fun to make, and again I loved working with the kids. I really thought it was going to be a breakthrough film for me."[1] Cunningham also maintains that the reaction was "lukewarm", and although United Artists optioned it as a pilot for a TV series, they did not buy it.[1]