Luchino Visconti was a real Italian filmmaker and John Cleese's description of his body of work is entirely accurate.
At the beginning of the Argument Sketch, the receptionist checks the roster to see who might be able to help with the 5-minute argument. The two possibilities are Mr. DeBakey and Mr. Barnard. These are the names of two pioneering cardiac surgeons very much in the news at the time (early 1970s), Dr. Michael De Bakey and Dr. Christiaan Barnard.