The Story of the Kelly Gang

"The Story of the Kelly Gang" is a little recognized landmark in the history of filmmaking primarily for a single reason: its incomplete status. When initially released, Charles Tait's biographical film portraying the real life exploits of the notorious Kelly gang was seventy minutes in length, an impressive run time for a silent film at this point in history. The infamous features "A Trip to the Moon" and "The Great Train Robbery" were both considered feature length at only 10-15 minutes each, and having been released only a few years prior to this movie, one can only imagine how this film blew audiences away in 1906. Granted, it was not the first film to be considered "feature length" by our standards today (i.e. Over forty-five minutes in length), as this is a tribute that can be paid only to "The Corbett-Fitzsimmons Fight" of 1897, but it is certainly the first known film of such a length to present a narrative (the earlier film was basically a documentation of a full boxing match). Thus, it is rather disappointing that it is less of a landmark today than one might expect, again almost entirely because of being a mostly lost film (as of the time of this writing).

Actually being able to closely follow the narrative of this epic feature film from the remaining fragments is almost impossible, given the lack of continuity and minimal intertitle cards within these twenty minutes. It is hard to dispute, however, the exciting action throughout, with plenty of gunfire, hold ups, etc. That mark a typical western (even though this is technically not a western). Only bits and pieces survive that give the viewer a sense of what the film was originally like, the highlight perhaps being the final capture of Ned Kelly himself as the actor wears the bona fide armor of his real life character. Mainly worth a look for historians and film buffs now, as it is impossible to follow as a narrative but instead provides historical interest as the remnants of a lost landmark.

This afternoon at the Barbican, I attended the UK premiere of the digitally restored 'The Story of the Kelly Gang', with excellent piano accompaniment by John Sweeney, as part of the opening day's programme for the Silent Film & Live Music Series running through June. It's also part of the London Australian Film Festival, likewise at the Barbican ... so, I actually ended up attending two film festivals simultaneously! The restored film is a double-bill with 'The Life Story of John Lee: The Man They Could Not Hang'.

'The Story of the Kelly Gang' is generally believed to be (and most likely WAS) the first feature-length movie ever made, produced in 1906. Sadly, the past tense is appropriate here, as the film is now not known to survive except in fragments ... and some of those do indeed appear to be out-takes, as a previous IMDb'er has noted. Actually, I've also seen (in Australia) another reel of this film: not a projection of the movie's image onto a screen, but rather I've seen (and touched) a mouldering reel of nitrate footage from the movie itself, now deteriorated beyond hope of restoration.

As a part-time Australian (born in Scotland, expatriated Down Under as a 'child migrant'), I ought to feel proud that Australia produced the first feature movie. However, quite enough films pre-dating 1906 survive (from various nations) to make it clear that a substantial amount of film technique -- the close-up, the dissolve, the cross-cut -- had already evolved before this movie was made. Watching this restoration at the Barbican, it occurred to me that credit for the single biggest innovation in 'The Story of the Kelly Gang' belongs not to the photographer, director, editor or scenarist, but rather to that most unsung of film figures ... old Smokey, the projectionist. Prior to 'The Story of the Kelly Gang', films were so short that it was possible to store two or more separate movies on one projection reel. And, each reel being a separate story, the breaks between reels were natural breaks in the narrative. Many early cinemas had only one projector, with live entertainment provided during the longeur while the previous reel was rewound before the next reel could be shown. However, when 'The Story of the Kelly Gang' was exhibited in its original form in Australia (and later in other countries), the projectionist had to maintain two sets of apparatus at the same go, so as to achieve a seamless transition between reels. I wonder how soon film editors began using a reel marker (traditionally in the frame's upper right-hand corner) to indicate that a reel was about to end.

Despite being largely missing in action, the original 'Story of the Kelly Gang' is of incalculable historic importance. As for the digital version which I enjoyed today, accompanied by Mr Sweeney's impressive performance on the keyboard, I'll rate it a full 10 out of 10. Bonzer, cobbers!

While in Canberra on a school trip we went to visit screen sound Australia. While there we saw what is left of this film. Although it would not interest many people anymore, I can tell you now it was probably one of the best films of it's time. Using different film techniques of the time makes this film enjoyable to watch. This film defiantly tells the true story of Ned Kelly in a way that will never be done again.

Sadly there is only about 6 minutes left of this film and the only possible way to see it is to go to screen sound Australia but if you ever happen to be in Canberra, go there and see it, I can assure you, you won't regret it

Known as the oldest feature-length film in the world (it ran for around an hour at a time when most films were little more than a few minutes long), sadly little now remains of Ned Kelly and his Gang. I haven't been to Canberra as most of the other reviewers seem to have done, but I watched three clips (totalling around three minutes) on the internet (look it up on YouTube or Google Video if you're interested).

The section which shows Kelly's capture has deteriorated badly to the point where most of it is impossible to see, but the scene in which an unfortunate policeman pays a visit on Mrs Kelly is still intact. What is clear from this scene is that the acting is very much of the exaggerated gesture school of acting, and I can't help thinking that watching the entire film probably wouldn't be the most enjoyable way to spend an hour.

The Story of the Kelly Gang (1906) symbolizes both the birth of the Australian film industry and the emergence of an Australian identity. Even more significantly it heralds the emergence of the feature film format.

The world's first feature-length movie was directed by Charles Tait and filmed at the Tait family's Chartersville Estate in the Melbourne suburb of Heidelberg. Originally there were no inter-titles; narration was performed by an on-stage lecturer who also provided sound effects including gunfire and hoofbeats. It cost £1000 to make, but that money and more was recovered within its first week of screening. It premiered in Melbourne on Boxing Day 1906, and was later shown across Australia, in New Zealand and in Britain.

Only fragments of the original production of more than one hour are known to exist and are preserved at the National Film and Sound Archive, Canberra. While some of the footage is almost pristine, other segments are severely distorted. The sensitive nitrate stock on which the film was shot deteriorated quickly in storage, so as we watch Ned make his final stand against the police at Glenrowan in his legendary suit of armor, he bends and morphs in much the same manner as a modern-day digital effect.