''Ballad for One Gun'' is a 1963 Australian television film about

Ned Kelly Edward Kelly (December 1854 – 11 November 1880) was an Australian bushranger, outlaw, gang leader and convicted police-murderer. One of the last bushrangers, he is known for wearing a suit of bulletproof armour during his final shootout wi ...

broadcast on ABC. It was originally aired 17 July 1963 in Sydney and shown at later dates in other parts of Australia. It was written by

Phillip Grenville Mann Phillip Grenville Mann (24 December 1921 – 19 June 1990) was an Australian actor, playwright, stage director and manager, and writer. He won a series of prizes as a young writer. He served in the Royal Australian Navy. He worked for six years ...

. The director Ray Menmuir called it "“definitely a new approach and a new treatment of the whole Ned Kelly legend." Australian drama was relatively rare on television at the time, although there had been a TV play called ''

'' (1959) produced.

Plot

The story of Ned Kelly which made him out to be "a dangerous embryo dictator, murderously vindictive and swaggeringly brutal in his hour of power." John Bell played Kelly but his face was never shown, he was only heard behind a mask.

Cast

* John Bell as Ned Kelly * Walter Sullivan as Captain Standish *Neil Fitzpatrick as

Aaron Sherritt Aaron Sherritt (August 1854 – 26 June 1880) was an associate of the gang of outlaws led by Ned Kelly in Victoria, Australia. Personal life Aaron Sherritt was born in the Melbourne suburb of Prahran in August 1854, to Irish migrants John and ...

*Colin Gorman as

Joe Byrne Joseph Byrne (21 November 1856 – 28 June 1880) was an Australian bushranger of Irish descent. A friend of Ned Kelly, he was a member of the "Kelly Gang" who were declared outlaws after the murder of three policemen at Stringybark Creek. Des ...

Mark McManus Mark McManus (21 February 1935 – 6 June 1994) was a Scottish actor. He has played roles in British television series '' Sam,'' '' Bulman, The Brothers, Strangers,'' and ''Dramarama'' and starred in the feature film '' 2000 Weeks''. He was ...

as Dan Kelly *John Norman as

Steve Hart Stephen Hart (13 February 1859 – 28 June 1880) was an Australian bushranger, a member of the Kelly Gang. History Hart was born in Wangaratta to Irish immigrant parents Richard and Bridget Hart (née Young). He was their second son. His fa ...

* Bob McDarra as Curnow *

Gordon Glenwright Gordon Charles Glenwright (17 March 1918 – 25 May 1985) was an Australian actor, stage manager and playwright. He was familiar to audiences for his appearances on stage, television and film. He described himself as a "tradesman". Glenwright se ...

*Janice Copeland *

Janice Dinnen Janice Dinnen (10 December 1945 – 26 January 1974) was an Australian actor of stage, film, and theatre. She was a child actor and model, given a role in the Cinerama film ''South Seas Adventure''. Her parents had emigrated from England in 1940. ...

*Laurier Lange *

Reg Livermore Reginald Dawson Livermore (born 11 December 1938) is an Australian actor, singer, theatrical performer and former television presenter. Childhood From a young age, Livermore demonstrated an interest in the performing arts. Regular outings to ...

Georgie Sterling Georgie Sterling was an Australian actress, noted for her work in radio and television, especially in TV films and serials, although she also appeared in theatre. She started her career in the late 1950s and appeared in a TV movie version of H ...

Production

The play was by Phillip Grenville Mann, who had taken over from

Rex Rienits Rex Rienits (17 April 1909 – 1971) was an Australian writer of radio, films, plays and TV. He was a journalist before becoming one of the leading radio writers in Australia. He moved to England in 1949 and worked for a number of years there. He ...

as drama editor at the ABC. Mann was an Australian who had worked in the London for six years. He sold the play to the ABC and BBC, as well as to German television. Mann said "the play is not, and does not seek to be, an exact historical record." Raymond Menmuir made it after having been in Britain for two years. Menmuir said "It's certainly not a factual historical record. And Ned Kelly doesn't emerge as an old style hero. The play doesn't attempt to sit in judgement on the Kellys either. I suppose the basic thing is we look into Ned's motives and how he gets further into his career he loses sight of the original reasons for his grudge against the police. " It starred John Bell who called the play "definitely a new approach and a new treatment of the whole Ned Kelly legend... We play the Kelly gang rather like a band of young hoods but the crux of the play is in the change of motivations and attitudes". Bell said when he heard the script was by Mann, the actor thought it would be like ''The Patriots'', and was surprised when he read the script. "It's really way out," said Bell. Bell had just finished playing Hamlet at the Old Tote in Sydney and said there were similarities between that role and Kelly. "For instance they're both out for revenge and they both suffer from a tremendous sense of injustice." Janine Dinen and Neil Fitzpatrick, who were in the cast, had also been in Bell's production of ''Hamlet''. Bell said before the taping that, "I'll be wearing the usual Ned Kelly headpiece but it will be cut away to show most of my face. A lot of people are worried that I haven't started growing a beard but this is one historical drama were beards aren't needed. It'll be a big shock for the traditionalists." Sets were adapted from

Sidney Nolan Sir Sidney Robert Nolan (22 April 191728 November 1992) was one of Australia's leading artists of the 20th century. Working in a wide variety of mediums, his oeuvre is among the most diverse and prolific in all of modern art. He is best known ...

's paintings about Kelly. The advertising said "Ned Kelly - a betrayed Robin Hood or a thug meeting a well deserved fate."

Reception

The TV critic for ''Sydney Morning Herald'' thought there was an uneasy co-existence between the depiction of the Ned Kelly gang "as young hoodlums of today in a dream-setting" and "conventional and "Patriot" type inserts of the haughty, high-cravatted police official Captain Standish" and the "slapstick" bank holdup scene. He added that John Bell "played his role with fine command and energy, but had all too little chance to develop his subject or do it justice" and felt the play had "little to say either about Kelly or his story" and "often moved sluggishly and unconvincingly." The ''Bulletin'' called it "ludicrous... a loud misfire". The Sunday Sydney Morning Herald called it "a beautifully written superbly produced piece of confusion... Technically it was a magnificent achievement...

ith The Ith () is a ridge in Germany's Central Uplands which is up to 439 m high. It lies about 40 km southwest of Hanover and, at 22 kilometres, is the longest line of crags in North Germany. Geography Location The Ith is immediatel ...

the brilliance of some of those American workshop dramas screened by the ABC last year. But technical brilliant is not enough. A play must still say something. And frankly I am still baffled by what author Mann had to say... It was a tricky offbeat experiment that partly came off."

Awards

Mark McManus won a Best Television Performance award for his performance.

References

External links

* *
''Ballad for One Gun''
at

National Archives of Australia The National Archives of Australia (NAA), formerly known as the Commonwealth Archives Office and Australian Archives, is an Australian Government agency that serves as the national archives of the nation. It collects, preserves and encourages ...

{{Ned Kelly 1963 television plays 1960s Australian television plays Australian Broadcasting Corporation original programming English-language television shows Black-and-white Australian television shows Cultural depictions of Ned Kelly