The Set

1970, 1080hd

Johnny's comments:

The 1970 independent drama The Set was pretty much a lost movie but there was recently a remastering of the movie which I finally checked out. It's a drama about a bunch of 20-somethings who decide to make a go of it in the big city (Sydney). Paul (Sean Myers) meets Tony (Rod Mullinar) after he saves his cousin from drowning. They decide to go to the city where Paul is feted by a renowned designer and taken under her wing. He also falls for Tony, who's a huge ladies man who has a string of flings that he manages to disappoint on a regular basis (probably the one funny ongoing joke in the movie) including Paul's aunty Peg (Hazel Phillips), who's having her own marriage problems and is surveying the field while her husband rejects her. Tony is shitty towards him but after Paul attempts to kill himself, Tony relents and they begin a relationship which is only going to end badly. The movie is an early attempt at a gay relationship which isn't too bad but because this is the late 60s, it totally cops out and has Paul get back with an old girlfriend. The movie meanders a lot, usually between scenes but also during long scenes better suited to soap operas. The movie also meanders between characters, never really focusing on one for long periods of time. It's a movie that tries to break the cultural norms but ends in the safest way possible with the aforementioned Paul plus Peg crawls back to her boring, safe husband after some flings including one with her daughter's boyfriend Tony. It's an interesting movie as something a little different for an Australian movie and it's seems to have better than most but it's soap opera plot doesn't help and it's constant meandering seems to make the movie longer than it is. Even more interesting is that it's written by Roger Ward, a well-known cult actor who's still going around.

The HD remaster of The Set released by underrated distributor Bounty is a lot better than expected considering it's an almost lost 50 year-old movie. It was released about 18 months ago but I never got around to it and then Bounty deleted everything off their Vimeo site last year but have been slowly putting their collection back up, so I finally decided to grab it lest it be deleted yet again. Of the cast, Rod Mullinar is still kicking around and has had a pretty solid career onscreen particularly in the 70s and 80s but is probably better known as the king of voiceover actors in Australia. Australians will know his voice, particularly if you follow the AFL or listen/watch anything Hamish And Andy do. Hazel Phillips, one the oldest in the cast, is still alive and at 90 was in the Queensland-filmed Hollywood production Love And Monsters. Most of the rest of the cast didn't do a lot more after this.

Ann Aczel, Hazel Phillips and Julie Rodgers film clip (sample below)

Aczel

Phillips

Rodgers