Ned Kelly’s last stand at Glenrowan

Extract from The Story of the Kelly Gang: 1906 Centennial Restoration (1906 and 2006). 709579, National Film and Sound Archive. This video has no sound

On Boxing Day 1906 The Story of the Kelly Gang opened at the Athenaeum Theatre in Melbourne. It was the first multi-reel, feature-length film ever produced in the world.

The film caused controversy by presenting the Kelly gang sympathetically. The Victorian Government tried to censor it but the public flocked to screenings around Australia and then internationally.

This is a digital restoration of surviving fragments of the film. The original film had a run time of between 60–70 minutes, but the National Film and Sound Archive has been able to recover and restore only around 17 minutes due to considerable deterioration of the film.

Activities

1. What does this short film clip show? Summarise what you see.

2. Does the film appear to have a main purpose or message? If so, what do you think it is?

3. Who made the film clip and when was it made? Use this information to try to work out why the film was made. Does this change what you think about the purpose of the film?