Local Hero (1983) with Peter Riegert
Saturday, 10:00 pm, Newcomb
Director: Bill Forsyth
Writer: Bill Forsyth
Cinematographer: Chris Menges
Cast: Burt Lancaster, Peter Riegert, Fulton Mackay
Running Time: 111 min
Local Hero took many viewers by surprise 25 years ago, as had writer/director Bill Forsyth’s earlier effort, Gregory’s Girl. Now it is firmly entrenched on many favorite-film lists. Its warmth, quirky humor, impressive Scottish scenery, and witty score by Mark Knopfler (of Dire Straits) have won this little film a firm and loyal following.
Houston-based Knox Oil and Gas wants to get in on the Scottish oil boom. To close the deal to buy the town of Ferness, whose harbor makes it the ideal location for a refinery, the company sends “Mac” MacIntyre (Peter Riegert). MacIntyre is assumed, incorrectly, to be of Scottish descent and thus uniquely capable of winning over “his people.” He is, in fact, of Hungarian ancestry and has no knowledge of, or interest in, Scotland.
Eccentric Knox CEO Felix Happer (Burt Lancaster) seeks refuge from both business and therapy in astronomical observations, charging Mac with the additional task of reporting frequently on the condition of the Scottish sky, usually from a public pay phone). Innkeeper Gordon Urquhart is also the solicitor and financial advisor for the village, and thus Mac’s counterpart in the negotiations. Mac is in for some surprises. For one, his regular sky watching has the same effect on him as on Happer, and this hard-driving businessman starts to relax and reevaluate his life. Further, he discovers that the villagers are not traditionalists determined to hold on to the old life of Ferness; they want money. All involved seem to want the Knox refinery and think little about the environmental impact.
One holdout appears to be the appropriately named Marina (Jenny Seagrove), a Knox marine biologist who has submitted a different plan for Ferness Bay: a marine research center.
Watch the phone booth at the end. It has become such an icon of the film that supposedly the village in Aberdeenshire, where most exteriors were filmed, had to install a phone booth for Local Hero tourists.
