The Life and Adventures of John Vane, the Notorious Australian Bushranger

The film starts with John Vane accepting a wager that he wouldn't bail up a Chinese man. Then Vane wins his bet by robbing a Chinese man, leading to headlines which say "Robbery Under Arms by John Vane" and Vane fleeing to the bush with his sweetheart. Later adventures include his capture and release of his sweetheart; the sticking up of the Keightley Homestead; the shooting of Michael Burke, which leads to Vane joining the Ben Hall gang; Vane's change of heart and surrender to Father McCarthy. He serves fifteen years in prison and after release retires comfortably.^[3]

The chapter headings were:^[4][5]

1. The beginning of a downward career
2. bailing up a Chinaman
3. His capture and release by his sweetheart
4. Michael Bourke horse stealing
5. The Reward for his Capture
6. Sticking up the Bank at Carcoar
7. Police Surprised by the Gang
8. "That's My Watch."
9. Sticking up at Bathurst
10. Police in Pursuit
11. The Bushranging Camp; the Warning
12. When Rogues Fall Out
13. Vane Joins Ben IHali for Raid on Keightley Homestead
14. The Bush; the Gang's Demand
15. Next Morning; the Demand Satisfied
16. The Quarrel; Vane's Remorse and Farewell to the Gang
17. Notice of Reward
18. A Mother's Devotion
19. Surprised, and Surrender of Vane to Father McCarthy
20. Vane in the Hands of the Police on his Way for Trial
21. Sentenced to 15 Years
22. Six Years Elapse: Released for Good Conduct; Thank God, "Free."
23. Thirty Years Elapse; Vane Surrounded by his Family; " Peace at Last."
24. " Often from Evil Cometh Good."

According to a contemporary report "the comic element is not forgotten, for the scene in which Vane is shown bailing up a Chinaman and discovers the booty hidden in the horse's tail, and the various intercits of the Celestial to avoid detection of the plant are not without their humorous side. Most attention however, is paid to the sensational."^[6]

• Jim Gerald
• Lance Vane
• Max Clifton
• Raymond Longford
• Miss Watts Phillips

John Vane was the last surviving member of Ben Hall's gang. His memoirs had been published posthumously in 1908.^[7][8]

It was the first dramatic film from Cosens Spencer, who established a production unit in June 1908 to make newsreels and scenic short films. This unit was headed by Ernest Higgins who shot John Vane.^[9] Raymond Longford reportedly features in a lead role.^[1]

The film was reportedly shot at Brookvale and Manly in Sydney.^[10] According to The Bulletin:

Brookvale, along the ocean past Manly, figures largely in Spencer’s film of "John Vane, Bushranger," pictured not so long ago, wherein the feminine "comic relief" is pantomimed by Miss Watts-Phillips, who "gives way" under the influence of a loaded revolver held at her head by the hero-villain, a thing most of us would be guilty of in the same circumstances.^[11]