The Blonde And Her Companion

Back in the 1950s, the FBI used "a curvaceous blue-eyed blonde, wearing a form-fitting sweater" to help train its agents to improve their powers of observation. The lesson was that if they spent too much time looking at her, they might miss other important details, such as her companion, "public enemy No. 11."

Reminds me of the "woman in the red dress" featured in the agent-training-program scene in The Matrix. I wonder if the Wachowskis had heard of the "blonde and her companion" test.

San Bernardino County Sun - Dec 4, 1955



     Posted By: Alex - Sat Nov 26, 2022
     Category: Police and Other Law Enforcement | 1950s | Eyes and Vision





Comments
I think it was Game Show Network which created a bunch of very quirky, and very short-lived, game shows some years ago. They were fun, but there's only two stunts I remember: 1) a woman (maybe early 20s) was shown a line-up of bare male derrieres. She'd win if she picked out her dad's. 2) Without telling a contestant what was going on, a sexy young thing opened her trench coat and flashed him for half a minute. From what was said, and from what other things they did on the show, I'm reasonably confident she was naked. The trick was there were prizes (camera, watch, etc.) hanging off the lining of the trench coat (sort of like the classic cartoon of a guy in an alley holding one side of his trench coat open to show the rows of watches he has for sale). The contestant won everything he could name (other than body parts). I don't remember exactly, but I don't think he won very much, except maybe a tense scene later with his wife/girlfriend.

I'll never forget the story of "No-Nose Calvelli" as told in an episode of Banacek. During prohibition, he was driving escort for a beer truck. While stopped at a traffic light, a naked woman jumped into his car. He was so distracted, he didn't see the beer truck getting hijacked. Was his boss mad? Before this happened, "No-Nose Calvelli" didn't have a nickname.
Posted by Phideaux on 11/26/22 at 03:47 AM
If a woman can successfully pick her dad's derriere in a row of naked men's tushies, that woman needs to see a psychologist for seeing her dad's derriere up close and personal too many times. I would be as wary as if she was able to pick her dad's meat and potatoes in a row of men's weenies.
Posted by Yudith on 11/26/22 at 06:12 AM
Seems to me Laurence Fishburne was born for the role of Morpheus in The Matrix.
Posted by Virtual in Carnate on 11/26/22 at 12:56 PM
Interesting that the FBI agent in charge of the class was named McCabe. Andrew McCabe was the assistant director of the FBI who was fired by Jeff Sessions in a politically charged case.
Posted by ges on 11/26/22 at 10:21 PM
The woman in the red dress was the woman that fingered Dillinger in Chicago.
Posted by F.U.D in Stockholm on 11/27/22 at 01:04 AM
@Yudith: depends. If he happens to have a funny birthmark that she'd seen, and laughed at, before, not so much.
Posted by Richard Bos on 11/27/22 at 03:58 AM
Reminds me of those perception tests where you’re told to focus on one of several individuals in a video walking around for around 30 seconds. Afterwards, you’re asked if you noticed the person in the gorilla suit who was also in the scene; most people say no.
Posted by Brian on 12/05/22 at 07:54 AM
@Yudith -- I don't think it was quite that bad or had that connotation. There was a range of skin color (all Caucasian, but ranging from pasty white to Mediterranean), skinny to flabby, etc.. Just knowing his body type would have let her narrow it down.
Posted by Phideaux on 12/05/22 at 01:22 PM
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