The Story of the Kelly Gang
Just as Galeen and Wegener's Der Golem (1915) can be seen as a testament to early German film artistry, The Story of the Kelly Gang (1906) symbolizes both the birth of the Australian film industry and the emergence of an Australian cinema identity. Even more significantly, it heralds the emergence of the feature film format. However, only fragments of the original production of more than one hour are known to exist, preserved at the National Film and Sound Archive, Canberra; Efforts at reconstruction have made the film available to modern audiences.
From the archive
An attempt to create a coherent narrative out of all surviving fragments of Australia's first feature length film. Sections from the final reel are heavily decomposed. Running at just over 20 minutes, this is possibly the longest available version. What the posters said: "A thrilling moving picture from start to finish" "The Most Sensational, The Most Thrilling and Interesting LIVING PICTURES EVER TAKEN." Written and Directed by Charles Tait 1868-1933 Released: December 1906 (Australia) January 1908 (Britain) 1910 (USA)
Why this is free to watch
The Story of the Kelly Gang (1906) is hosted by the Internet Archive as a public-domain or openly licensed work, which means its copyright has expired, lapsed, or was released by the rights holder. No signup, no payment and no advertising interrupts playback. Nitrate streams the file directly from the Archive and hosts no video itself.
- Director
- Charles Tait
- Starring
- Elizabeth Tait, John Tait
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