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Clip description
A representative (Anne Haddy) from Security and Intelligence in Canberra visits the Inspector (John Gray) to enquire about Hicks’s strange reports.
Curator’s notes
This clip shows the 1960s as a time of change regarding gender equality. The older male police inspector assumes Dr Smith, the Intelligence agent from Canberra, will be a man. The comedic value and awkwardness of the moment is simply and clearly conveyed.
Anne Haddy’s no-nonsense performance allows her character to quickly take charge of the scene. Smith is unfazed by the inspector’s bumbling sexism ('I hadn’t expected Security to be represented by a young lady, especially … such an attractive one’) but puts him in his place when he tries to suggest she may be speaking other than the truth. Unfortunately, her outlandish outfit – complete with a hat more suited to a Melbourne Cup viewing party than an intelligence agency – detracts somewhat from her authoritative demeanour.
