A film tracing the Kelly Gang's descent into bushranging to the eventual stand-off with troopers at Glenrowan.
Contemporary reviews were not entirely positive. The film critic for the Sydney Morning Herald, for example, wrote that
'"When the Kellys Rode" is not a master-piece. The dramatic element in the story has been thinly worked out, and the acting falls below the standard which present-day audiences demand. The appeal of the film lies in its lack of pretension. The naive simplicity of the treatment gives a freshness of impression which many other Australian productions have lacked. One charming feature is the series of landscape views which Mr. Tasman Higgins has photographed in the Megalong Valley and along Cox's River.'
Source:
'Banned Film. "When the Kellys Rode." Simple Adventure Story'. Sydney Morning Herald 18 May 1934, p.11.
The Ned Kelly Films : A Cultural History of Kelly History
Bristol
Chicago
:
Intellect
,
2013
7520597
2013
multi chapter work
criticism
'One of Australia’s most notorious outlaws, Ned Kelly lived on the land from the time of his first arrest at age 14, until police captured him and his Kelly gang a decade later in 1880. Immortalized in a series of onscreen productions, he has since become one of the most resilient screen presences in the history of Australian cinema.
'Covering the nine feature films, three miniseries, and two TV movies that have been made about this controversial character, Stephen Gaunson illuminates a central irony: from novels to comics to the branding of the site where he was captured, most cultural representations of Kelly are decidedly lowbrow. But only the films have been condemned for not offering a more serious interpretation of this figure and his historical context. Asking what value we can place on such ‘bad’ historical cinema, Gaunson offers new insights about the textual characteristics of cinematic material and the conditions of film distribution, circulation, and reception.' (Publication summary)
The Ned Kelly Films : A Cultural History of Kelly History
Bristol
Chicago
:
Intellect
,
2013
7520597
2013
multi chapter work
criticism
'One of Australia’s most notorious outlaws, Ned Kelly lived on the land from the time of his first arrest at age 14, until police captured him and his Kelly gang a decade later in 1880. Immortalized in a series of onscreen productions, he has since become one of the most resilient screen presences in the history of Australian cinema.
'Covering the nine feature films, three miniseries, and two TV movies that have been made about this controversial character, Stephen Gaunson illuminates a central irony: from novels to comics to the branding of the site where he was captured, most cultural representations of Kelly are decidedly lowbrow. But only the films have been condemned for not offering a more serious interpretation of this figure and his historical context. Asking what value we can place on such ‘bad’ historical cinema, Gaunson offers new insights about the textual characteristics of cinematic material and the conditions of film distribution, circulation, and reception.' (Publication summary)
