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Clip description
Hagan (Rod Mullinar) offers corrupt detective Calhoun (Tony Barry) a large sum of money to eliminate Sam Barlow.
Curator’s notes
Michael Edols’ moody photography and David Marsh’s hard-boiled dialogue give a contemporary film noir feel to The Surfer. This scene vividly examines the power play between crooked cop Calhoun and crime kingpin Hagan. Hagan’s thinly veiled threat to expose Calhoun gives the detective little option but to accept the cash and do the dirty work.
The Surfer was filmed a year before the Fitzgerald Inquiry (1987–89) exposed widespread corruption in Queensland’s police force. The photograph Hagan burns at the beginning of this scene is a compromising picture of a high-ranking government minister.
