Ben Hall and His Gang explained
Ben Hall and his Gang is a 1911 Australian film about the bushranger Ben Hall, played by John Gavin, who also directed. It is considered a lost film.
The movie was part of the Australian "bushranger film" cycle from 1910-1912.[5] [6]
Plot
According to The Sun "This bushranging drama teems with sensational episodes, beginning with the blighted hopes ofBen Hall, which loads to his buohranging career. The chief incidents illustrated Include the sticking up of the Keightley home stead, the Eugowra Mail Robbery, and the romantic meeting with Susannah Glynn, who shares in some of Ben Hall's most thrilling escapes from the police."
Specific chapters included:
- Ben Hall's home.
- My Child! My Child! You Have No Mother
- Ben Gambling to Forget his Sorrows.
- Ben Hall arrested.
- His First Crime.
- Ben Hall's sensational escape from Bathurst Gaol.
- Sticking up three police disguised as shearers.
- Ben Hall's first robbery under arms.
- Sticking up the Eugowra Mail.
- Black Bob shot.
- The Trooper's leap for life.
- Hall meeting his false friend.
- The Wages of Sin.[7] [8]
Cast
- John Gavin as Ben Hall
- Alf Scarlett
- Mr. Mainsbridge, wife and daughter
- Charlie Lay
- John (“Fatty”) Harris
Production
Gavin had made two successful bushranger biopic movies in assocation with H.A. Forsyth, Thunderbolt and Moonlite. However on 24 December 1910 (before Moonlite had been released) Gavin announced he had Forsyth had parted ways and he would be making a new film, a version of the Ben Hall story, through his own company.[9] He eventually formed a new partnership with the producing team of Stanley Crick and Herbert Finlay. Crick and Finlay were based out of offices at 75 York St Sydney.[10]
On 9 January Gavin announced that the film was almost completed, and he was preparing a new bushranger biopic, about Frank Gardiner.[11]
Reception
The film performed well at the box office.[12] [13]
Gavin went on to make three more films for Crick and Finlay (Frank Gardiner, the King of the Road (1911), Keane of Kalgoorlie (1911), The Assigned Servant (1911)), and one for their new company, the Australian Photo-Play Company (The Mark of the Lash (1911)).[14]
Notes and References
- News: QUOTA FAVORED . . 5259 . New South Wales, Australia . 15 September 1927 . 2 December 2023 . 14 (FINAL EXTRA) . National Library of Australia.
- News: Advertising . Refere] . 1264 . New South Wales, Australia . 25 January 1911 . 1 July 2024 . 16 . National Library of Australia.
- News: Advertising. . . 1 February 1911 . 24 February 2012 . 2 . National Library of Australia.
- News: SUMMARY. . . NSW . 4 March 1911 . 24 February 2012 . 4 . National Library of Australia.
- Filmink. Stephen. Vagg. 50 Meat Pie Westerns. 24 July 2019. 1 July 2024.
- Web site: Senses of Cinema. More Australian than Aristotelian: The Australian Bushranger Film, 1904-1914. William D. Routt. December 2001.
- http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article45147794 "AMUSEMENTS." Barrier Miner (Broken Hill) 16 Mar 1911: 3
- News: Advertising. . . Broken Hill, NSW . 14 March 1911 . 24 February 2012 . 3 . National Library of Australia.
- News: Advertising . The Sun . 152 . New South Wales, Australia . 24 December 1910 . 1 July 2024 . 3 (FINAL SPORTING) . National Library of Australia.
- News: GENERAL GOSSIP. . The Referee. Sydney . 15 February 1911 . 15 February 2016 . 16 . National Library of Australia.
- News: STAGE SONG and SHOW . The Sun . 165 . New South Wales, Australia . 9 January 1911 . 1 July 2024 . 3 (CRICKET EDITION) . National Library of Australia.
- News: THIELE'S PICTURES. . . Sydney . 19 February 1911 . 15 February 2016 . 11 . National Library of Australia.
- News: Film Theatres and Players. . . NSW . 16 May 1928 . 15 February 2016 . 24 . National Library of Australia.
- Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production, Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, 12.
