From Ned Kelly (1906) to Captain Thunderbolt (1951) and beyond - "making do" and discovery

Film Studies 2026: Making do - From Metropolis to Thunderbolt | Screening in the streaming age |

[Draft of article for the December 2026 Film Studies SSAAANZ conference, Melbourne] 

Title: From Ned Kelly (1906) to Captain Thunderbolt (1951) and beyond - "making do" and discovery 

Abstract: "Making do" is often a core process developed by researchers in their pursuit of cinema-related studies. With much of the primary source material available in private hands and outside of national film and sound archives, the options available call for doggedness in uncovering the past and in discovery. The writer presents three instances of such a process involving the Australian release of Metropolis (1928), Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975), Captain Thunderbolt (1951) and The Story of the Kelly Gang (1906). Despite the constraints of bureaucracy and convoluted copyright, success, failure and halfway-there were encountered in a series of research projects covering the 1990s through to the mid; 2020s. "Making do" was a technique used in all instances to push forward against often insurmountable odds. However, the joy of discovery never lessens or removes the pain of defeat, wherein "making do" is not good enough.

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1. Whatever it takes 

"Making do" is a term which can often be associated with desperation, doggedness and determination on the part of a researcher facing challenges, insurmountable obstacles, bureaucratic obfuscation, indifference and, ultimately, dead-ends, in an effort to write an essay, finish a thesis, or simply find something interesting about something they are interested in. For example, during 2024-26 the present writer determined to secure a one-sheet first-run poster of the Australia classic cinema release Picnic at Hanging Rock. After four years of scanning online auction and sales sites, early in 2026 he secured one off eBay for a reasonable price. That is determination. You either break through and overcome all obstacles, or you just give up. 

So where does "making do" fit in this sort of striving universe? 

As a researcher and professional archivist with a career spanning some thirty years in the academic sector, and almost fifty years as a fan of the cinema, success, failure and "making do: is well known and accepted by the writer. Yet, in looking back, the successes outweigh the failures, or rather, the failures are just forgotten, not worthy of remembrance, apart from the experience gained. For "making do" is an almost everyday activity for every researcher, whether fan or friend, paid professional or personal. It is passion that often wins the day, overcoming all obstacles. There is also the psychological aspect of "making do", in ensuring that acceptance is high amongst the vocabulary and understanding as one sets out on a quest to do whatever. "Making do" is not something one ever strives for. Three examples are offered from the writer's encounters with films of note. 

The first is German - Fritz Lang's Metropolis from 1927; the second is Australian - 1951's "lost" Captain Thunderbolt.; and the last is also the first - the world's first feature, Australia's The Story of the Kelly Gang from 1906. In regard to the three, the research encounters vary over time. One dates back to the late 1990s (Metropolis); another to the COVID lockdown of 2022 (Captain Thunderbolt); and finally, the last to post-retirement years in 2025 (The Story of the Kelly Gang). Presented within this article is how persistence / perseverance, as against "making do", resulted in discoveries of national and international significance; of lost footage found; of relevant ephemera collected and its research value realised; of friendships made internationally; and of success through openness and collaboration, locally and abroad, as against failure forced upon the researcher by intolerable personal and institutional pettiness, prevarication, and lack of commitment to serving community for which they were created.

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"Never give up; never surrender" (Jason Nesmith, Galaxy Quest)

2. Subverting explanations 

But where does the "making do" come into it? Well, it is what you do when you meet a dead end, an obstacle. You look to "go around" in order to make it home.

Very early on, beginning in the 1990s, the writer was made aware of the limitations of the Canberra-based National Film and Sound Archives of Australia. Though containing an incredibly rich collection, access was problematic. The online catalogue was difficult to use then, and remains so four decades later. Some use was made of it, and there were some successes, such as obtaining a video copy of the Australian release version of Metropolis from 1928; and of help in developing a list of early Australian movie posters. But very quickly it was realised that in pursuing Metropolis, the writer would have to "make do" and look elsewhere for resources of merit. 

The elsewhere included the evolving internet, which came into its own during the first decade of the new millennium. Of immense import was the National Library of Australia's TROVE database, with its rich collection of digitised newspapers and even film magazines. The other resource, which was found to be incredibly useful, was online auction and sale sites such as eBay and Invaluable. Both offered information and images - the very bread and butter of archival research, especially where access to the originals was not available, unless of course one was successful in purchasing a desired item. The author was, for example, lucky in being able to secure an original 24 page, first release Metropolis promotional booklet from Germany for Aus$30, remembering that the first release poster is valued at US$1 million and the world's rarest and most valuable movie poster. That booklet contained a wealth of information on the film and assisted in its eventual reconstruction. 

One was not alone in "making do" around Metropolis, for like-minded individuals around the world were doing the same, such as in discovering items of relevance in long lost newspapers, or on foreign websites. In working on Metropolis, the writer engaged with fellow archivists and fans not only from within Australia, but also from Germany, France, Israel, New Zealand, and the United States. The research process became international. Rare "lost" footage was found by the writer in a New Zealand archive. Previously developed relationships with German archivists restoring the film from its 65% surviving footage in the early 1990s through to the present-day 98%+ versions now available on DVD and BluRay, enabled its inclusion in their work. This was "making do" in action, diving deeply and coming up trumps, such that the author was eventually able to site down and watch the almost completely restored, original director's cut of 1927 in 2010. Two decades earlier he only saw the second or third generation, low grade and grainy video edits, running for less than 80 minutes, as against the original two and half hours of the director Fritz Lang's cut. The Metropolis research ran over two decades, and was intense, with the author developing an extensive website to house findings. By 2010 he was therefore ready to move on to any other similar project which would happen to catch his eye. However, there was a brief reprise late in 2025 when a request was made to the NFSA for a desktop research digital copy of the 1958 Australian release of Metropolis. When a similar request had been made back in 1990 for a copy of the 1928 release, a video was received which contained a leader at the beginning designating the origin of the copy, and nothing actually on the footage. However, in 2025 the digital copy was very very different, and was, in fact, unusable/ Why? Because throughout the presentation the on screen image was swamped with watermarks and time stamps to a degree where the whole film was unwatchable. The two images below show the opening title screen of the film as received from the NFSA in November 2025, and the same screen from the high definition, colourised and restored version as available on DVD / BluRay. The differences are extreme. They are also disheartening.

Digital copy of 1958 Australian release of Metropolis (1927). Source: NFSA.

Metropolis (1927), restored, colourised version.

As a professional archivist of 40 years standing, the writer was appalled by the NFSA's treatment of the copy made available for research. It was unwatchable. One of the core principles of archives administration is respect for the original archival object, of whatever form, be it manuscript, object or audiovisual item. You do not desecrate, deform or otherwise alter an archival item. Archives exist to protect, preserve and promote such items so that the facts of history can be supported by contemporary archival objects. This also applies to copies that are made for preservation and research purposes. They should not be altered or edited in any way. The NFSA's treatment of the copy of Metropolis provided to the author broke all those rules. An archival organisation such as the NFSA is a guardian of its collections. It is not their owner, or creator, and therefore should not operate in the same manner as a film production company, especially when serving the research community and the general public. In this instance the writer as researcher could not "make do" with the item and was forced to ignore it. The research project immediately came to a halt. 

But getting back to 2010 ......

A decade passed in which not much cinema-related research was carried out, though collection of movie posters continued according to available finances. This changed, however, in 2022 when the subject of the lost Australian film Captain Thunderbolt came up. The challenge was there - to find Thunderbolt, a film listed by the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia as "lost". Locked down due to COVID, the writer once again "made do" and began looking far and wide for the film. In this task he was assisted by fellow Australian film studies professional Graham Shirley, and noted Australian film and sound archivist Ray Edmondson. At the end of the day the film was found in the national film archive in Prague, Czechoslovakia (Czech Republic) though that dogged determination and persistence that is part of "making do" and true discovery. By the end of 2023 the writer was able to publically announce the discovery, and look forward to seeing the film in its original form and continuing the research process. However, the sweetness of the discovery process quickly soured....

Due to a copyright claim over the film in its entirety, and the acceptance of that claim by the National Film and Sound Archive, it was determined by that institution that, upon receiving the film in Australia from the Czech Film Archive, it would not proceed with its restoration and public release. That decision remains in place as of the writing of this article (June 2026).

The writer was devastated by this decision, for the important discovery was, in a flash, buried. How did this come to be? Whilst the details are too complex to outline here, they come down to a failure by an Australian cultural heritage institution to appropriately serve the people of Australia in not only protecting and preserving its cultural heritage, but in, more importantly, making it available for viewing, research, teaching and learning by schools, universities, the general public and the world at large. As a result, and as noted above, the writer gave up. For "making do" was not enough. A dead-end was encountered and no amount of letter writing, pleading, or reasonable arguments could affect that. There was no collaborative support forthcoming from the NFSA for the discoverer of a "lost" film, as the the copyright claim took precedence over the significance of this Australian bushranger film, and no visible evidence was seen of any attempt to secure its public release and screening.

So what does one do when giving up is the only option? Well, most dedicated researchers would move on to something else. And that is exactly what the present writer did during 2024-2025 when the impenetrable impediments around Captain Thunderbolt arose. The circumstances were novel, and the challenge accepted. A friend mentioned that a relative was said to have appeared in The Story of the Kelly Gang - the world's first feature film, made in Melbourne during 1906. Twelve months later, the writer discovered unknown footage from the film that could hopefully be added to a second restoration. The first restoration, revealed through an impressive DVD box set released in 2007, was carried out with expertise by staff at the National Film and South Archive. It has come up with approximately 20 minutes of footage from the original release, which ran for some 90 minutes. This new discovery, would add an additional 10  minutes. 

How was this footage located? The answer - "making do" through utilisation of the social media platform YouTube! Importantly, subsequent collaboration with a former staffer of the NFSA, identified the oriigns of the material and raised the hope that it would eventually be incorporated in the ongoing restoration of The Story of the Kelly Gang.

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3. Making do 

The process of "making do" had given rise to three significant research outcomes, one of which was brought to fruition and made public; another of which would lead to a similar positive outcome; an a third which had tragically stalled. Such is the life of film - some never to be seen again after their initial release; other to live on and be recognised as classics of culture; and others to be held locked in a box perhaps never to see the light of day....

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4. Addenda

Additional thoughts and ideas..... 

• The philosophy of "making do"
• Learn to use the traditional methods and standard sources
• Look elsewhere, in unconventional places
• Work "undercover"
• Have a goal
• Focus
• Collaborate
• Evolve
• Adapt
• $$$ 

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Film Studies 2026: Making do - From Metropolis to Thunderbolt | Screening in the streaming age | 

Last updated: 11 June 2026

Michael Organ, Australia