Ned Kelly (1970)

Director:

Tony Richardson

Writers:

Ian Jones (writer)
Tony Richardson (writer)

Release Date:

19 October 1970 (Denmark)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Biography | Crime | History

Plot:

Unable to support his family in the Australian outback, a man turns to stealing horses in order to make money...

Plot Keywords:

Ned Kelly | Irish | Hero | See You In Hell | Bank Robbery

Cast

Mick Jagger	...	Ned Kelly
Clarissa Kaye-Mason	...	Mrs. Kelly (as Clarissa Kaye)
Mark McManus	...	Joe Byrne
Ken Goodlet	...	Supt. Nicholson
Frank Thring	...	Judge Barry
Bruce Barry	...	George King
Tony Bazell	...	Mr. Scott
Allen Bickford	...	Dan Kelly
Robert Bruning	...	Sgt. Steele
Alexander Cann	...	McInnes
David Copping	...	Curnow
Diane Craig	...	Maggie Kelly
Gerry Duggan	...	Father O'Hea
Geoff Gilmour	...	Steve Hart
Anne Harvey	...	Mrs. Devine

Also Known As:

Ned Kelly, Outlaw

Runtime:

Germany:99 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:15 (video rating) | UK:AA (original rating) | Iceland:16 | West Germany:16 (nf) | Singapore:NC-16 | Finland:K-16 | USA:GP | USA:PG (rating renamed)

Filming Locations:

Braidwood, New South Wales, Australia

Company:

Woodfall Film Productions

Trivia:

Mick Jagger (Ned Kelly) wrote the song "Brown Sugar" while filming this movie.

Quotes:

Mrs. Kelly: [as Ned is about to be taken to the rafter] Mind you die like a Kelly, son!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in 30 Days in Hell: The Making of 'The Devil's Rejects' (2005) (V)

Soundtrack:

Ned Kelly

Good, bad or ugly, Mick Jagger will always be Mick Jagger

This film has always received a thorough trashing, in Australia at least, & having seen it, I believe unfairly. As a genre film it's pretty solid - boy gets out of jail, still gets hassled by The Man, gets pushed back into crime trying to help his dear old momma, & goes out in a blaze of glory (sort of - he was captured & hanged after the glorious showdown).

Unfortunately, the boy happens to be Ned Kelly, Australia's most ambiguous hero. Debating what sort of a man Kelly really was is irrelevant now - the legend is far more important. An Irish renegade standing up to the imperialist forces, or a glorified criminal, blah, blah, blah. He may have been a horse-thief, he may have been a thug, he may have loved fluffy kittens - we'll never know for sure.

This film hardly attempts to get at any sort of historical truth - it's about rebellious youth breaking free from the stuffy establishment, hence the casting of Jagger. He's actually quite good, but his celebrity overshadows his performance. He might have worked, just not playing such a famous Australian icon. That elevates it to a type of ironic blasphemy.

Pity, really - it's not a bad film at all. Well shot, directed & acted, it does convey a sense of being back in the 19th century, & still manages to have that rebellious 60's/70's charm.

A much better (& far more brutal) Australian bushranger film is 'Mad Dog Morgan', starring Dennis Hopper, & his Irish accent is just a bit more convincing than Jagger's.