Editing The Story of the Kelly Gang (section)

==Release and reception==
[[File:Melbourne Athenaeum 2020.jpg|thumb|The film's Melbourne premiere took place at the [[Athenaeum, Melbourne|Athenaeum]].]]
The film was given a week of trial screenings in "Kelly Country" (north-eastern Victoria) in late 1906. This proved enormously successful and the movie recouped its budget for these screenings alone.<ref name = "S&A"/>

Its Melbourne debut was made at the [[Athenaeum, Melbourne|Athenaeum Hall]] on 26 December 1906. It ran for five weeks to full houses, local papers noting the extraordinary popularity of the film. Although the country screenings had been silent, when the film was screened in Melbourne it was accompanied by live sound effects, including blank cartridges as gunshots and coconut shells beaten together to simulate hoofbeats. At later screenings a lecturer would also narrate the action.<ref name = "S&A"/> These additions were well received by the theatre critic for ''[[Melbourne Punch]]'', who stated that they greatly enhance the film's realism. He went on to say:<ref>[http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/175790643 "The Playgoer"]. ''Melbourne Punch'' (Melbourne). 3 January 1907. p. 28. Retrieved 13 April 2017.</ref>
{{blockquote|All the notable features of the story of the Kellys are reproduced, and with the dialogue make up a sensational and realistic series dealing with the murders, robberies and misdeeds which are not the air-created fancies of a penny-dreadful writer, but actual facts which are well within the memory of our citizens.}}

Comparing the film to other artistic depictions of the Kelly saga, one [[Adelaide]] critic wrote that it conveys "a far more vivid impression of the actual life and deeds of the Kellys than letterpress and stagecraft combined."<ref>[http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/5122782 "The Kelly Gang"]. ''The Advertiser'' (Adelaide). 29 December 1906. p. 8. Retrieved 13 April 2017.</ref>

Many groups at the time, including some politicians and the police, interpreted the film as a glorification of criminality. Scenes depicting the gang's chivalrous conduct towards women received criticism, with ''[[The Bulletin (Australian periodical)|The Bulletin]]'' stating that such a portrayal "justifies all Ned Kelly’s viciousness and villainies".<ref>[http://www.acr.net.au/~davidandjane/outlaw_20000416.pdf David Lowe, ''AN OUTLAW INDUSTRY Bushrangers on the big screen: 1906-1993'', March 1995]</ref> The film was banned in "Kelly Country"—regional centres such as [[Benalla]] and [[Wangaratta]]—in April 1907,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article139760973 |title=NOTES AND NOTICES |newspaper=[[The Australasian (Melbourne)|The Australasian]] |location=Melbourne |date=27 April 1907 |access-date=13 August 2015 |page=37 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> and in 1912 [[bushranger ban|bushranger films were banned across New South Wales and Victoria]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article11671365 |title=HARMFUL PICTURE SHOWS: KELLY GANG FILM BANNED |newspaper=[[The Argus (Melbourne)|The Argus]]  |location=Melbourne |date=29 April 1912 |access-date=13 August 2015 |page=6 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

Despite the bans, the film toured Australia for over 20 years and was also shown in New Zealand, Ireland and Britain. When [[Queen's Theatre, Dublin|Queen's Royal Theatre]] was rebuilt in [[Dublin]] in 1909, it opened with a program headed by ''The Story of the Kelly Gang''.<ref>Condon, Denis (2008). "Politics and the Cinematograph: The Boer War and the Funeral of Thomas Ashe". ''Field Day'' (Issue 4).</ref> The backers and exhibitors made "a fortune" from the film, perhaps in excess of £25,000.<ref name=Reade />