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.