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Ben Hall and His Gang

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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.

Ben Hall and his Gang
Referee 4 January 1911
Directed byJohn Gavin
Written byAgnes Gavin[1]
Produced byHerbert Finlay[2]
Stanley Crick
StarringJohn Gavin
Agnes Gavin
CinematographyHerbert Finlay
Production
companies
Crick and Finlay
Distributed byJ.G. Films[3]
Release date
  • 30 January 1911 (1911-01-30)
[4]
Running time
3,600 feet[5]
CountryAustralia
LanguagesSilent
English intertitles

The movie was part of the Australian "bushranger film" cycle from 1910-1912.[6][7]

Plot

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According to The Sun "This bushranging drama teems with sensational episodes, beginning with the blighted hopes of Ben 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."[8]

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.[9][10]

Cast

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  • John Gavin as Ben Hall
  • Alf Scarlett
  • Mr. Mainsbridge, wife and daughter
  • Charlie Lay
  • John (“Fatty”) Harris[11]

Production

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Gavin had made two successful bushranger biopic movies in association 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.[12] 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.[13][11]

On 9 January Gavin announced that the film was almost completed, and he was preparing a new bushranger biopic, about Frank Gardiner.[8]

Reception

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The film performed well at the box office.[14][15]

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)).[16][11]

References

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  1. ^ "Advertising". The Referee. Sydney. 18 January 1911. p. 16. Retrieved 3 October 2013 – via National Library of Australia.
  2. ^ "QUOTA FAVORED". The Sun. No. 5259. New South Wales, Australia. 15 September 1927. p. 14 (FINAL EXTRA). Retrieved 2 December 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. ^ "Advertising". Refere]. No. 1264. New South Wales, Australia. 25 January 1911. p. 16. Retrieved 1 July 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. ^ "Advertising". The Sydney Morning Herald. 1 February 1911. p. 2. Retrieved 24 February 2012 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. ^ "SUMMARY". The Dubbo Liberal and Macquarie Advocate. NSW. 4 March 1911. p. 4. Retrieved 24 February 2012 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. ^ Vagg, Stephen (24 July 2019). "50 Meat Pie Westerns". Filmink. Retrieved 1 July 2024.
  7. ^ December 2001, William D. Routt. "More Australian than Aristotelian: The Australian Bushranger Film, 1904-1914". Senses of Cinema.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  8. ^ a b "STAGE SONG and SHOW". The Sun. No. 165. New South Wales, Australia. 9 January 1911. p. 3 (CRICKET EDITION). Retrieved 1 July 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  9. ^ "AMUSEMENTS." Barrier Miner (Broken Hill) 16 Mar 1911: 3. Retrieved 26 November 2011
  10. ^ "Advertising". The Barrier Miner. Broken Hill, NSW. 14 March 1911. p. 3. Retrieved 24 February 2012 – via National Library of Australia.
  11. ^ a b c "When the Australian-Produced Picture Made Big Money.", Everyones., Sydney: Everyones Ltd, 9 May 1923, nla.obj-562121240, retrieved 1 July 2024 – via Trove
  12. ^ "Advertising". The Sun. No. 152. New South Wales, Australia. 24 December 1910. p. 3 (FINAL SPORTING). Retrieved 1 July 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  13. ^ "GENERAL GOSSIP". The Referee. Sydney. 15 February 1911. p. 16. Retrieved 15 February 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  14. ^ "THIELE'S PICTURES". The Truth. Sydney. 19 February 1911. p. 11. Retrieved 15 February 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  15. ^ "Film Theatres and Players". The Sydney Mail. NSW. 16 May 1928. p. 24. Retrieved 15 February 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  16. ^ Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production, Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, 12.
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