Last man hanged

This dramatised documentary depicts the events leading up to the hanging of Ronald Ryan in Pentridge Gaol in 1967 - the last man hanged in Australia. Through the eyes of Keith Willey (Lewis Fitz-Gerald), the journalist who followed the case, we see Ryan as a complex man who was as much a victim as those he had violated. This documentary details how the State Premier, Sir Henry Bolte, facing an imminent election, decided to make an issue of the case and pushed through the hanging despite nationwide protest. What evolves is powerful and emotional statement about capital punishment.

Credits

director

Lewis Fitz-Gerald

producer

Bill Bennett

Duration

00:58:00:00

Production places

Australia

Production dates

1993

Collection metadata

ACMI Identifier

304184

Language

English

Audience classification

Exempt

Subject categories

Crime, Espionage, Justice, Police & Prisons → Trials in motion pictures

Documentary

Documentary → Documentary films - Australia

Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Capital punishment

History → Bolte, Henry, Sir, 1908-1990

People → Bolte, Henry, Sir, 1908-1990

People → Ryan, Ronald, 1925-1967

Short films

Short films → Short films - Australia

Sound/audio

Sound

Colour

Holdings

VHS; Access Print (Section 1)

MOV file ProRes4444; Digital Preservation Master - overscan

MPEG-4 Digital File; ACMI Digital Access Copy - overscan

Please note: this archive is an ongoing body of work. Sometimes the credit information (director, year etc) isn’t available so these fields may be left blank; we are progressively filling these in with further research.

Cite this work on Wikipedia

If you would like to cite this item, please use the following template: {{cite web |url=https://acmi.net.au/works/83008--last-man-hanged/ |title=Last man hanged |author=Australian Centre for the Moving Image |access-date=23 May 2022 |publisher=Australian Centre for the Moving Image}}

Australia, 1993

Please note