"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.
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.