My favourite is the archivist in the film "Chinatown", the stereotypical
short tempered bespectacled, socially inadequate, and couture challenged
individual (actually this does rather sound like me) who clearly resented
being disturbed by Jack Nicholson's private eye character wanting to look at
some records in his cramped and dingy basement repository. Newspapers or
civil registration records I think.
Nicholson responded by subsequently ripping out and removing the page in
which he was interested, without alerting the archivist by covering up his
action by a fit of coughing.
A lesson in customer service and searchroom design.
David Hay
-----Original Message-----
From: Chris Woods [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 15 June 2001 18:01
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Public perceptions again
My personal favourite is the archivist in the 60s film 'Quatermass and the
Pit'. Our hero and heroine are searching for information about the
devilish associations for the district in which an alien spacecraft has
been dug up in the underground. They go to see an archivist (can't
remember where he is supposed to work) in the basement of an institution.
The gentleman in question is old, doddery, very dusty and we are led to
believe by the raised eyebrows and amused/perplexed exchange of glances
between the hero and heroine that he is obviously barking mad! This is
evidenced to them by his apparent fascination with the ancient latin text
in front of him.
The most obvious anachronism in this depiction, it seems to me, is the fact
the gentleman can in fact read Latin!
Chris Woods
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