''When the Kellys Were Out'' is an Australian feature-length film directed by Harry Southwell about

Ned Kelly Edward Kelly (December 1854 – 11 November 1880) was an Australian bushranger, outlaw, gang leader and convicted police-murderer. One of the last bushrangers, he is known for wearing a suit of bulletproof armour during his final shootout wi ...

. Only part of the film survives today.

Plot

Constable Fitzpatrick arrives at the Kelly house, to accuse Dan Kelly of cattle duffing. He is met by Kate Kelly, Dan's sister, and is taken by her beauty. Mrs Kelly tries to prevent the arrest and Ned arrives. A quarrel ensues in which Fitzpatrick is attacked, and Ned flees. He joins with Steve Hary, Joe Byrne and Dan Kelly and escapes to a hide out. Ned hears that his mother has been arrested and forms a hatred for the police. He and his gang hold up Younghusband Station and just escape the police. Then there are the Wombat murders, from which only one person survives. The gang hold up the bank at Jerilderie and Kate Kelly rides to warn her brothers. Ned and his gang then kill Aaron Sheritt and there is a siege at the battle of Glenrowen Hotel in which Ned is captured and the rest of his band killed.

Cast

Godfrey Cass Godfrey Cass (1867 – 14 May 1951) was an Australian actor in the silent era. Between 1906 and 1935 he acted in nineteen film roles. He played Ned Kelly three times, and also had roles in a number of other bushranger movies including '' A Ta ...

* Rose Rooney as Kate Kelly * Harry Southwell as

Aaron Sherritt Aaron Sherritt (August 1854 – 26 June 1880) was an associate of the gang of outlaws led by Ned Kelly in Victoria, Australia. Personal life Aaron Sherritt was born in the Melbourne suburb of Prahran in August 1854, to Irish migrants John and ...

* Charles Villiers as Dan Kelly * William Ellison as Steve Hart * Allan Douglas as Joe Byrne * Fred Twitcham as Constable McIntyre * Syd Everett as Sergeant Steele * Mervyn Barrington as Sergeant Kennedy * W Ryan as Fitzpatrick * Don McAlpine as Scanlan * D Sweeney as Lonergan * Rita Aslin as Mrs Kelly * Dunstan Webb as Superintendent Nicolson * Beatrice Hamilton as Mrs Byrne * David Edelsten as the judge

Production

The film was shot in Sydney and on location in the Burragong Valley. Shooting was completed by late 1922.Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, ''Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production'', Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, 118.

Reception

The movie was banned in October 1922 by New South Wales censors but was released in Melbourne the following year. It proved popular with audiences, despite historical errors and poor reviews. In late 1923 it was still banned in New South Wales. There was an attempt to overturn the ban in 1925, but it was rejected. The film was released in England in a shortened version, entitled ''The True Story of the Kelly Gang''.

Pat Hanna George Patrick "Pat" Hanna (born 18 March 1888 in Whitianga, New Zealand – 24 October 1973 in Ampthill, Bedfordshire, England) was a New Zealand-born film producer, he was a soldier of the First World War who entertained post-war audience ...

called it the best movie ever made in Australia.

References

External links

*
''When the Kellys Were Out''
at National Film and Sound Archive {{Ned Kelly 1923 films 1923 Western (genre) films Australian black-and-white films Bushranger films Cultural depictions of Ned Kelly Silent Australian Western (genre) films Films directed by Harry Southwell 1920s English-language films