Editing The Story of the Kelly Gang (section)

==Production==
Shooting of the film reportedly involved a budget variously estimated between £400 (Gibson) and £1,000 (Tait) and took six months.<ref name="register"/><ref name = "Pike and Cooper"/> While it is now commonly accepted that the Taits' experienced older brother [[Charles Tait (film director)|Charles]] directed the film, only ten years after it was made, pioneer Australian director [[W. J. Lincoln]] claimed it was actually "directed by Mr Sam Crews [sic], who... worked without a scenario, and pieced the story together as he went along."<ref name="winner">{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article154552668 |title=PICTURE PROFILES IN THE OLDEN DAYS. |newspaper=[[Winner (Melbourne)|Winner]] |location=Melbourne |date=9 February 1916 |access-date=26 October 2014 |page=11 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> Lincoln also claimed that "the principal characters were played by the promoters and their relatives, who certainly made no pretensions to any great histrionic talent."<ref name="winner"/>

Viola Tait's memoirs, published in the early 1970s, identifies Charles as being chosen as director because of his theatrical experience. Her account confirmed that many of the extended Tait family and their friends appeared in scenes.<ref name=Tait>Viola Tait (1971) ''A Family of Brothers. The Taits and J.C.Williamson; a Theatre History.'' Chapter 4. Heinemann Australia. {{ISBN|0-85561-011-5}}. Viola was sister in law to Charles, John and Nevin Tait.</ref>

Much of the film was shot at [[Charterisville]], a property leased by Lizzie Tait's family as a dairy farm and [[artists' colony]] near [[Heidelberg, Victoria|Heidelberg]], now a suburb of Melbourne.<ref name=Tait/> Other scenes in the film may have been shot in the suburbs of [[St Kilda, Victoria|St Kilda]] (indoor scenes), and possibly [[Eltham, Victoria|Eltham]],<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=OUR FILM INDUSTRY: [?]d Kelly started it all - The Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW : 1931 - 1954) - 9 Nov 1946|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article248362636|access-date=2020-10-04|newspaper=Daily Telegraph|date=9 November 1946 |language=en}}</ref> [[Greensborough, Victoria|Greensborough]], [[Mitcham, Victoria|Mitcham]], and [[Rosanna, Victoria|Rosanna]].<ref name=Reade>Eric Reade (1975) ''The Australian Screen.'' P. 28-30, Lansdowne Press, Melbourne. {{ISBN|0-7018-0319-3}}.</ref> The Victoria Railways Department assisted by providing a train.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article56696387 |title=THE STORY OF THE KELLY GANG. |newspaper=[[The Register (Adelaide)|The Register]] |location=Adelaide |date=24 December 1906 |access-date=7 September 2013 |page=7 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

Costumes were possibly borrowed from [[E. I. Cole]]'s Bohemian Company, and members of the troupe may have also performed in the film. According to Viola Tait, [[Sir Rupert Clarke, 2nd Baronet|Sir Rupert Clarke]] loaned the suit of Kelly armour his family then owned for use in the film.{{citation needed|date=July 2019}}<ref name=":0" />

''The Story of the Kelly Gang'' was made by a consortium of two partnerships involved in theatre—entrepreneurs [[John Tait (entrepreneur)|John Tait]] and [[Nevin Tait]], and pioneering film exhibitors [[Millard Johnson (producer)|Millard Johnson]] and [[William Gibson (producer)|William Gibson]]. The Tait family owned the [[Melbourne Athenaeum| Melbourne Athenaeum Hall]] and part of their concert program often included short films. Melbourne film exhibitors Johnson and Gibson also had technical experience, including developing film stock. Credit for writing the film scenario is generally given to brothers Frank, [[John Tait (entrepreneur)|John]] and sometimes [[Charles Tait (film director)|Charles Tait]]. At a time when films were usually shorts of five to ten minutes duration, their inspiration for making a film of at least sixty minutes in length, and intended as a stand-alone feature, was undoubtedly based on the proven success of stage versions of the Kelly story.<ref>{{cite journal
| url = http://sensesofcinema.com/2001/feature-articles/oz_western/#b5
| title = More Australian than Aristotelian: The Australian Bushranger Film, 1904-1914.
| journal = Senses of Cinema
| issn = 1443-4059
| issue = December 2001
| last = Routt
| first = William D.
| date = 4 April 2010
| publisher = Senses of Cinema Inc
}} Retrieved 13 August 2015</ref>

Film historians Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper have noted that at the time, the filmmakers were unaware of the historical importance of the film they were making, and only much later "poured forth their memories." Unfortunately, "with the passage of time and the desire to make a good story of it" they "created a maze of contradictory information."<ref name = "Pike and Cooper"/>

For example, in later years, William Gibson claimed that while touring through New Zealand showing the bio-pic ''Living London'', he noticed the large audiences attracted to [[Charles MacMahon (theatre)|Charles McMahon]]'s stage play ''The Kelly Gang''. Film historian Eric Reade claimed the Taits themselves owned the stage rights to a Kelly play,<ref>Eric Reade (1979) ''History and Heartburn: The Saga of Australian Film.'' p. 5. Harper & Row, Sydney. {{ISBN|0-06-312033X}}</ref> while actors Sam Crewes and John Forde later also claimed to have thought of the idea of a making a film of the Kelly Gang's exploits, inspired by the success of stage plays.{{citation needed|date=July 2019}}

''The Story of the Kelly Gang'' was not the first bushranger film. Two shorts were produced in 1904: ''The Bushranger'' and [[Joseph Perry (cinematographer)|Joseph Perry]]'s ''[[Bushranging in North Queensland]]'', made by the [[Salvation Army]]'s [[Limelight Department]] in Melbourne, one of the world's first film studios.<ref>Routt, William D. (December 2001). [https://www.sensesofcinema.com/2001/feature-articles/oz_western/ "More Australian than Aristotelian: The Australian Bushranger Film, 1904-1914"], ''Senses of Cinema''. 18.</ref>