Naked Bunyip, The (1970)

Graeme Blundell plays a not quite with-it researcher in this two-and-a-half-hour colour documentary on Australian attitudes to sex and censorship.

His rather erratic approach to the subject leads him to notorious nightclubs in Sydney’s Kings Cross, including Les Girls and the Pink Pussycat and sees him mixing with prostitutes, homosexuals (male and female), strippers, and unmarried mothers, as well as ordinary blokes in the local pub. He even spends a little time in Melbourne’s Pentridge Prison.

Among the people he meets are Edna Everage (in her first film appearance, courtesy of Barry Humphries), Malcolm Muggeridge, Aussie pop star Russell Morris and entrepreneur Harry M Miller. The film also includes comments from experts including Professor E C Wood (professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at Monash University), Dr Stanley Gold (psychiatrist), Dr James R Ball (of the Parkville Psychiatric Clinic), Dr Bertram Wainer (a specialist in abortion law reform), Dr J J Billings (Catholic Family Planning Centre) and assorted clergymen, solicitors etc.

When the Aussie censor proved heavy-handed, director John B Murray refused to cut the negative and simply blacked out the censored scenes. While the resulting interruptions were annoying, they also underlined the point that the breaks in continuity were externally imposed.

Graeme
Graeme Blundell
Edna Everage
Barry Humphries
Malcolm Muggeridge
Himself
Russell Morris
Himself
Harry M Miller
Himself

Director
John B Murray

Video