The story of the Kelly gang

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Movie
German title The story of the Kelly gang
Original title The Story of the Kelly Gang
Country of production Australia
original language English
Publishing year 1906
length about 70 minutes
Rod
Director Charles Tait
script Charles Tait
production WA Gibson ,
Millard Johnson ,
John Tait ,
Nevin Tait
music Eric Chapus
camera Millard Johnson
Orrie Perry
Reg Perry
occupation
The Story of the Kelly Gang (fragment).
Scene from the movie

The Story of the Kelly Gang is a 1906 Australian western about the character of the legendary Australian outlaw Ned Kelly . With its original running time of around 70 minutes, it is considered the world's first feature-length film. Today only a few minutes of the film exist.

production

The film was priced at an estimated $ 2,250. The length of the film roll was originally 1219.2 meters. The interior scenes were shot in St Kilda , a suburb of Melbourne . Other locations were Elthan, Greensborough, Heidelberg, Melbourne, Mitcham and Rosanna, all in the state of Victoria in Australia . The producers wanted the film to be as realistic as possible, but when choosing police uniforms they resorted to specimens that are unusual in the Australian bush. This was justified by the fact that this was the only way to tell the policemen and the gangsters apart in times of black and white film . One of the suits used in the film is said to have originally belonged to Joe Byrnes, one of the film's historical idols.

Demonstrations

The film was first shown on December 26, 1906 at Melbourne City Hall. The film repeatedly sparked discussions among politicians and the police, who saw in it a glorification of criminals. That is why it was banned in Benalla and Wangaratta in 1907 and in Victoria in 1912. It has been shown in Australia for over 20 years, as well as in New Zealand and the UK. The donors and exhibitors made "a fortune with the film".

restoration

Only about 17 minutes of the film have been saved to date and have been restored by the National Film and Sound Archive . The images saved in the film include a scene in which the police shoot parrots in the bush and another one that shows the capture of Ned Kelly. In addition, a program booklet could be obtained. It contains newspaper reports of the gang's capture as well as a summary of the film, divided into six scenes. The latter part provided the reader with additional information, which later also helped historians interpret the content of the film.

The preserved and restored material for this first feature film in history was in the list of 2007 world cultural heritage of UNESCO added.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Sally Jackson, Graham Shirley: Restoration of The Story of the Kelly Gang (1906). ( Memento of July 21, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) October 2006.
  2. ^ The Story of the Kelly Gang (1906). In: Memory of the World - Register. UNESCO , 2007, accessed July 5, 2013 .