The Set

A great period piece from the late Sixties. Depicting life amongst the arty 'set' in Sydney in 1969, it was one of the first Australian feature films to include homosexuality as a main theme. The film features celebrated Sydney drag queen "Candy" (Ken Johnson). Ex- Mavis Bramston Show star, Hazel Philips. The camp Theatre director character played by Michael Charnley is based on Robert Helpman. The film has a number of fun, campy moments, which helps make it a gem in Australian gay film history . The Australian tabloid press sensationalised the scandalous 'nude' scene by Hazel Philips in the swimming pool, rather than any depiction of homosexual relationships. Reporters broke the story in early 1969, during filming, about a year before theatrical release. Hazel Philips was quoted as saying that if Vanessa Redgrave was game enough to appear nude in a film, she'd like to try it too. The Soundtrack includes some groovy sixties lounge music by Sven Libaek . There apparently was a vinyl disc made of it. The Australian National Film & Sound archive hold a copy of the film.

I saw The Set on Easter Tuesday 1969 as a 14 year old with a couple of school friends. We went to the Star Theaterette in Melbourne Australia. It was the hottest film on at the time. After a 4-6 week season at The Trak cinema, The Set moved to The Star (a theaterette playing "adult" movies.... necessary after the introduction of TV took away the theatre's livelihood in running continuous sessions of newsreels & cartoons).....and that is where we watched, with wide eyes, the fast set of Sydney society vomit across the screen! My love for camp exploitation films was made!! The promise of nudity was what attracted us, especially that of of afternoon TV guru ,Hazel Phillips...but a combination of inept acting, bad writing, sleazy plot lines, protracted nude scenes, gay and straight love scenarios and most importantly promises of big city "adventures" waiting for us when we grew up that seared an irreplaceable place in our minds.

I can't be the only one...PLEASE~release this seminal Aussie introduction into camp/bad/inept/sexploitation/gay/soap opera cinema!!

I wonder what "The Set" looks like now? I remember it vaguely and would be curious to see it again. It was pretty awful back in the seventies and strangely even a bit dated way back then. It was meant to be shocking. It was heavily promoted as having every sexual deviation imaginable, of course that was a time before the world finally worked out that being gay was just another life style choice. To be fair some of the actors are sexy and the movie as a whole was really no worse than a lot of other movies. The Set is a movie worthy of preservation. I wonder if we will ever see it again. I hope it has not been lost. Poor Sean M was an attractive actor and perhaps never lived this down, a bit unfair as he was not that bad. The script was a shocker.

From sydney australia. An early, interesting story of paul, sales clerk, who wants to learn design. He gets a lucky break, and meets designers who help him along with his career. And meets tony, who is already a success. Mixed emotions about this one. While the story by roger ward treats the gays and their relationships (mostly) with respect, most of the gays are really bisexual, who also sleep with women. Although some of the women are not sexually satisfied. Maybe that was to get it past the aussie censors. A fun performance by a drag queen. Played by the brother of the professor on gilligan's island, no less. And even a (terrible) wanna be opera singer, a la florence jenkins style. When we google her, we'll see that the real jenkins died in 1944. The sexy, suave but troubled tony wears the same unbuttoned shirt for most of the film, when he wears a shirt at all. Loud, fun, campy jazz, with lots of sax by the "flanagans." the guys have a tumultuous relationship, trying to combine work and a love life. I guess the alcohol may have interfered. Some nudity here and there, but nothing major. Early roles for the leads, mullinar and myers, and the director frank brittain. Writer ward is probably best known as captain fifi in mad max! "the set" is currently playing on the tubi streaming channel... fun stuff! Check out the wikipedia pages for roger ward and for "the set"... apparently, the film was made forty years before the book was allowed to be published!

'The Set' was made two years before Australian television led the world in its depiction of sex in the classic soap 'Number 96'. Clunky and clumsy though much of the film is, there is a freshness and immediacy about some of its scenes that is very taking. Hazel Phillips is the standout in a generally unexciting cast: she alone has the style and elegance to convince us that this is a genuinely 'groovy' set of people challenging the still stifling mores of Australia as it enters the 1970s. Although the film is regarded today, if at all, as an oddity, Hazel Phillips and a few of the other actors present a fascinatingly savvy commentary on a transitional period between prudery and permissiveness.