It was a pet, not an animal. It had a name, you don’t eat things with names, this is horrific!
Hello to all of the classic people that are returning. I am glad you are back. I want to welcome any new visitors. As a technical note, references and citations are listed for each show on the site at classicmovierev.com. Today on the Classic Movie Reviews Podcast, we are taking on Local Hero (1983).
I wanted to go with something a little offbeat today. I found today’s movie, and it’s a bit of a gem. It has one of Hollywood’s greatest actors plays a billionaire and hopeless stargazer, a lovesick businessman, a scheming hotel owner, a mermaid, and perhaps a magic rabbit. I think this movie is not known by enough people and it should be. It’s a hilarious and quirky movie.
Local Hero (1983) is rated 7.3[1] on iMDB.com. On rottentomatoes.com, it has an incredible 100 percent on the Tomatometer and 87 percent audience approval[2]. So, the secret is out on this movie.
The great film critic Roger Ebert said in his April 15, 1983, 4-star review:
“Here is a small film to treasure, a loving, funny, understated portrait of a small Scottish town and its encounter with a giant oil company. The town is tucked away in a sparkling little bay, and is so small that everybody is well aware of everybody else’s foibles. The oil company is run by an eccentric billionaire (Burt Lancaster) who would really rather have a comet named after him than own all the oil in the world. And what could have been a standard plot about conglomerates and ecology, etc., turns instead into a wicked study of human nature.”
Later he continues with:
“What makes this material really work is the low-key approach of the writer-director, Bill Forsyth, who also made the charming “Gregory’s Girl” and has the patience to let his characters gradually reveal themselves to the camera. He never hurries, and as a result, “Local Hero” never drags: Nothing is more absorbing than human personalities, developed with love and humor. Some of the payoffs in this film are sly and subtle, and others generate big laughs.
Forsyth’s big scenes are his little ones, including a heartfelt, whiskey-soaked talk between the American and the innkeeper, and a scene where the visitors walk on the beach and talk about the meaning of life. By the time Burt Lancaster reappears at the end of the film, to personally handle the negotiations with old Ben, “Local Hero” could hardly have anything but a happy ending. But it’s a fairly close call.[3]”
New York Times film critic Janet Maslin said of the film in a February 17, 1983 review:
“GENUINE fairy tales are rare; so is film-making that is thoroughly original in an unobtrusive way. Bill Forsyth’s quirky disarming ”Local Hero” is both, and it’s also proof that Mr. Forsyth’s other feature film released here, ”Gregory’s Girl,” was more than a happy accident. The Glasgow-born Mr. Forsyth has put Scottish comedy on the map, for whatever that’s worth. He has also developed a dryly whimsical style, very close to a deadpan at times, that allows the strangest events or personages to glide by almost unnoticed. ”Local Hero” contains a mermaid, an enchanted village, and a possibly magical rabbit. No undue fuss is made about any one of them.
Once MacIntyre arrives in Scotland, odd things start to happen – nothing dramatic, nothing you can put your finger on, but undeniably strange. He and a traveling companion, a young Scottish employee of Knox named Danny Oldsen (Peter Capaldi), are en route to Ferness when their car hits a rabbit in a heavy fog. They stop the car in the middle of the road and sleep inside. The next morning, the fog is gone, the rabbit is sitting in the back seat, and the travelers are ready to proceed. But something indefinable has changed. It’s as though they have entered into a dream.
Certainly, the postcard-perfect town of Ferness has its delightfully dreamlike qualities. Every time Mac and Danny venture out of their inn, the same motorcyclist barrels by and nearly runs them down. The inn itself is managed by Gordon Urquhart (Denis Lawson), who also functions as the accountant next door, and who has a different personality to suit each job. (The accountant is unctuous, the innkeeper vaguely rude.) There is an omnipresent baby whose parents are never identified; a black African minister named Macpherson with an all-white congregation; a lone punk-rock groupie with a red-blue-and-green teased hairdo; and two beautiful women who probably function as muses, named Stella and Marina (Jennifer Black and Jenny Seagrove). Marina swims with exceptional grace. She has, as Danny notices but doesn’t mention when he kisses her knee one afternoon, webbed feet.”
She finished with:
”Local Hero” is a funny movie, but it’s more apt to induce chuckles than knee-slapping. Like ”Gregory’s Girl,” it demonstrates Mr. Forsyth’s uncanny ability for making an audience sense that something magical is going on, even if that something isn’t easily explained.[4]”
It all sounds so mysterious. Be sure to stick around for the end when I discuss magic rabbits and mermaids.
Actors – Local Hero (1983)
Returning
Burt Lancaster is amazing as billionaire Felix Happer who doesn’t feel good about himself. He would prefer to discover a comet than run his oil company. This great actor was first covered in the Birdman of Alcatraz (1962)
New
Peter Riegert plays a self-important businessman Mac. Riegert was born in 1947 in New York City. Riegert’s first film was Animal House (1978), and perhaps he set the bar too high. He has been in a lot of movies, but only a few others stand out. These include Local Hero (1983), Crossing Delancey (1988), Oscar (1991), The Mask (1994), and Traffic (2000).
Fulton Mackay was beach owner Old Ben. Mackay was born in 1922 in Scotland. He was a successful European actor, and his films include Gumshoe (1971), Nothing But the Night (1973), Local Hero (1983), Defense of the Realm (1986), and Doing Time (1979). He died in England.
Peter Capaldi was the local helper Oldsen. Capaldi was born in 1958 in Scotland. He first attended drama school and then went to the Glasgow School of Art. After Capaldi finished school, he made a big hit in Local Hero (1983). He was Doctor Who from 2008-2017. He also played a World Health Organization (WHO) doctor in World War Z (2013). Good joke.
Jenny Seagrove played the very mysterious Marina. She was born in 1957 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. At the age of 9, she began attending boarding school, where she started acting. She eventually began studying acting at the Bristol Old Vic. She has been in 40 movies, including Local Hero (1983). I am not very unfamiliar with her other film save for The Guardian (1990). She is still acting.
Story – Local Hero (1983)
Yuppie businessman Mac MacIntyre (Peter Riegert) is driving his Porsche through Huston traffic.
A commercial for Knox Oil shows how the company Mac works is continuously searching for oil. In the boardroom, billionaire company owner Felix Happer (Burt Lancaster) sleeps through the presentation. The other board members continue in whispered tones as they plan the acquisition of a terminal in Scotland. They plan on paying sixty million. They are clear that since this is not a Third-World acquisition, they will need a trained negotiator on-site.
Mac is given the task by his supervisor, although he wants to negotiate via phone instead of making the travel. Mac has been selected for the job because he has Scottish ancestry. At lunch, Mac says he is not Scottish and that his family changed their name to a more American sounding one when they got off the boat from Hungry.
Later Happer is in his office with his psychologist Moritz (Norman Chancer). Moritz’s program is to shame and degrade his client by verbally abusing him. Happer only wants to find a comet and have it named after himself. Happer finally throws Moritz out of his office.
Happer asks to see Mac before he leaves for the trip. Mac rides the elevator and climbs the stairway to Happer’s office. Happer says that the founder of the company Knox was a Scotsman, but Happer’s father bought the company in 1912. Then Happer starts talking about constellations. Happer activates a planetarium projector to show Mac the Constellation Virgo. Happer wants a report anytime day or night.
Mac begins calling females in an attempt to get a companion for the evening. He has no real connections with anyone.
Mac flies first class and is met by his local contact Oldsen (Peter Capaldi), who is awkward and trying not to let people know who they are.
Their first stop is a laboratory run by Dr. Geddes (Rikki Fulton). There is a scale model of the bay and the area around it that Knox Oil wants to buy. One of the scientists’ Marina (Jenny Seagrove) reveals a bathing suit and dives in to replace a sensor. Geddes mentions that she has five degrees in oceanography and can program as well. Oldsen is smitten by Marina.
Marina is sent to lunch because she doesn’t know about the deal, and the scientist shows how the bay can be transformed into an oil belching hell hole.
Mac and Oldsen travel north and talk about Marina. Oldsen hits a rabbit and stops to take a look. They put the stunned rabbit in the car. I will come back to this rabbit in the summary. There travel is stopped by fog. Oldsen parks the vehicle in the road, and they sleep for the night.
In the morning, it is clear. Mac and Oldsen see a massive lake in front of them. Oldsen feeds the rabbit, and a fighter jet screeches over. Passing through a fog bank was how they arrived at the magical Scottish town in Brigadoon (1954).
They soon arrive at a sleepy seaside town of Ferness. The hotel owner Gordon (Denis Lawson) and his wife Stella (Jennifer Black), are not sure about letting the two men inside, but Mac mentions that they have an injured rabbit with them.
Gordon lets them in so they can make their own breakfast. Gordon goes back upstairs and makes love with Stella. Mac interrupts them wanting to charge his electric briefcase. They leave the hotel to meet the certified account they are to deal with, and it is hotel owner Gordon. They want Gordon to help with the purchases. Mac wants a collective deal, and Gordon says he will begin working on the acquisition. Mac and Oldsen will have to spend a few days in the town.
They go for a long walk on the beach, and it is a beautiful place. Mac and Oldsen head to a pub so Mac can call work back in Huston. He is told he will have to use the red phonebooth across the street, which looks like a red Tardis with more windows. The locals all give him coins for the call. Mac has no patients on the call. It’s all business. After the call, Mac notices the sky for the first time.
Moritz is back in Happer’s office and proposes physical abuse as a therapy. Happer throws him out and orders his secretary to cancel all future appointments.
Mac lies in his room at night with his bunny and listens to Gordon and Stella, making love in the room above. The next day, Mac and Oldsen walk the beach in suits carrying briefcases. Fighter jets fly over and drop bombs on a range. There is an old man who lives in a shack on the beach.
Mac and Oldsen head to the church to talk to the preacher. On the way, Oldsen asks Mac if he thinks Gordon and Stella do “it” every night.
Unknown to the two men, the entire town is meeting in the church. Gordon tells the group that he will do the negotiations for the whole village. Sort of out of place, Reverend Macpherson (Gyearbuor Asante) is of African descent. Before the Reverend says a prayer, the spotter warns that the Knox men are coming. The Reverend heads them off. The townspeople head out the back, and Oldsen sees them all run out.
At dinner, Mac asks about the old man that lives at the beach. Gordon tells him that Ben (Fulton Mackay) lives there year-round. Gordon asks how they are enjoying their casserole de lapin. Oldsen realizes that lapin means rabbit. They have a bit of a dustup about the cooking of the rabbit. Stella comes out and apologizes. When she comments on his eyelash, it is awkward for a moment.
The people of the village get excited about the money that they will be getting. The next day at lunchtime, Gordon and Stella meet for a quickie. Mac and Oldsen throw stones into the water. Later Mac talks to the fishermen about their work. They all say they pitch in for whatever job needs to be done. They all go quiet when he asks who the father of the baby, that is sitting in a stroller is, as if they all pitched in to get the job done.
Oldsen goes to the beach and sees Marina in a wet suit and tank. He spies on her from the rocks. She spots him instantly and calls him down. They talk about oceanography for a bit.
Mac goes to the store to buy toiletries.
Marina thinks Oldsen and Mac are there about her laboratory proposal that she sent to Knox Oil earlier. Marina swims away.
Mac sees Stella and Gordon dancing in the dining room.
That evening Gordon talks to some people about the deal. Mac comes in, and they all go quiet. Gordon takes Mac for a walk and discusses the deal. They go to see Ben on the beach. Mac asks Ben about comets and the sky. Mac sees a meteor shower and is amazed.
Oldsen is still at the beach waiting on Marina to come back. He sees the same meteor shower. Later, Oldsen practices holding his breath in the tub.
In the morning, Oldsen goes to the beach, and Mac gets a call from Happer. They discuss astronomy and not oil. Later Happer receives a call from Moritz, and he gets abused. Happer finally hangs up.
Mac goes to the beach and collects seashells.
Oldsen is sitting on the rocks when Marina comes out of the water. They look at some gray seals.
At the store, the clerk gets a call from a Russian fishing boat. She sends word to Gordon. A skiff comes in with two people speaking Russian. Everyone in the town is happy to see Victor (Christopher Rozycki).
Mac sits on the rocks looking at the water and has lost his watch.
Oldsen and Marina sit on the rocks and talk. He starts kissing her leg and feet and sees that she has webbed toes.
Gordon and Victor go over the Russian’s investments and Mac’s shell collection.
That night the entire town meets for a traditional dance or Ceilidh[5]. A punk rocker chick accosts Oldsen. Gordon and Mac work on the deal in the kitchen. Victor sings a Texas song. Gordon wants to haggle on the price. Gordon plays the accordion for the waltz. Stella takes Mac to dance the waltz. Ben comes in and loads up on food.
Victor tries to cheer up Mac about the place being sold. Oldsen walks the water’s edge. Suddenly Marina pops up dressed for the dance. He tells her that they are not going to take up her plan. She says she doesn’t see that happening. Oldsen sees Northern Lights and is amazed.
Mac sees the light as well and runs to call Happer to describe the views. Happer’s call is interrupted when Moritz shows up and is posting insulting phrases on the outside of Happer’s office window. Happer tells his secretary that there is a maniac outside the building. She should call the police and have them shoot to kill. Happer leaves for Scotland.
Mac and Gordon finish out the night drinking and talking. Finally, Mac asks Gordon to switch lives with him. The drunken Gordon asks about Stella. Mac says he is in love with Stella and wants Gordon to leave her with him. Gordon says, okay.
The next day Mac and Victor bond some more. Gordon comes out and tells that Ben owns four miles of the beach. Mac gets word that Happer is coming to see him.
Gordon, Mac, and Victor head down to offer Ben 100,000 pounds for his beach. Ben’s last name is Knox. His family has had the beach for 400 years. They were given the beach for helping a lord kill his brother. Ben refuses their first offer.
Later they raise the offer to half a million pounds. Mac offers Ben other beaches around the world. Mac raises the offer to ¾ of a million. Ben picks up a handful of sand and asks if Mac will give him a pound for each grain of sand. Mac refuses. Been says he only had about 10,000 grains in his hand.
They take Ben to the hotel and fill him up with food and booze. Oldsen works as the cook and waiter. The entire town watches to see what Ben has decided. Gordon and Mac follow Ben to his home. The whole village comes down the beach towards Ben’s shack.
A strange light is seen it the sky, and it turns out to be a helicopter bring Happer. Gordon gets Happer a room. As Happer walks, he eyes the sky.
In the morning, Happer talks about buying the beach from Ben Knox. Mac tells Happer that Ben is interested in the stars and to accept any offer up to half a bucket of sand. Happer goes in alone to talk to Ben. After a time, they send for food and whiskey. More arrive outside as the meeting goes on.
Finally, Happer comes out. Ben has told Happer about some unplotted sky objects. Happer now wants a research facility built on the beach. Oldsen pitches the oceanographic laboratory. Happer sends Mac away in the helicopter. Olsen is in, and Mac is out.
Mac squares up with Gordon. Gordon wants Mac to say goodbye to Stella, but he won’t.
Oldsen goes to the beach and tells Marina that there is going to be a research facility like she wanted. He runs into the water and she does a twist as she dives. I swear that she had a mermaid’s tail. Watching it over and over, this illusion is created by how she is holding her feet together.
Ben and Happer walk down the beach, collecting flotsam and jetsam.
Stella is hanging out laundry as Mac’s helicopter flies away.
Mac goes back to his apartment in Huston. He only has stuff but no people in his life. Mac takes the shells from his coat pocket. He posts some pictures on his board, both of which have Stella in them. He looks out over the city.
Back in the village of Ferness, the phone is shown ringing.
According to iMDB.com, this last bit about the phone ringing was added to the film. The director, Bill Forsyth, had the film ending with Mac alone in his apartment in Huston. Warner Brothers wanted something happier, so the ring phone was added. I don’t think it is really happier because there is no one there to answer the call[6].
I’ll be right back with conclusions and the World-Famous Short Summary following a word from our sponsors.
Summary – Local Hero (1983)
I have loved this movie since I first watched it in the early 1980s. But why? While researching for this episode, I realized Mac was on “The Hero’s Journey.” This idea of “The Hero’s Journey” was explained in Joseph Campbell’s 1949 book, The Hero with a Thousand Faces. To put this movie in context, I will examine the 12 elements of the journey for Mac.
First, the protagonist is living a normal life in the real world. This is shown with Mac, blithely driving his Porsche in Texas. The second step has the Hero being called to take a journey or perform a task. This occurs when Mac is ordered to Scotland because of his Scottish ancestry. The third element is when the Hero refuses the assignment. Mac does this by complaining that he is not Scottish and more of a telex man.
Next, the Hero meets his mentor, who is often a supernatural being. In this movie, it is Happer. His divine status is symbolized by Mac’s ascent in the direct elevator and the climbing of the stairs to Happer’s office at the top of a skyscraper.
To continue the journey, the Hero meets one or more helpers. In this case, his helper is the awkward but intelligent Oldsen. With his helper, the Hero must cross the threshold. In this movie, the threshold is approached when Mac and Oldsen drive through the fog. They hit the rabbit, which is really the guardian of the gate. They spend the night in the car, parked on the road. In the morning, the rabbit is still in the backseat of the car where they placed it the night before.
The morning is clear and sunny. The car is parked just above a large lake. Crossing the threshold is symbolic death, but, in this case, could it be actual death. Did the pair die in real life, with one finding paradise and the other returning to hell?
Once in the town of Ferness, Mac must find allies and enemies. Is his main point of contact Gordon helping or taking advantage? Who else in the village can be trusted? The motorcycle that almost runs down Mac every time he steps into the street is a constant reminder of the perils of the journey. The phonebooth is a link to the supernatural in the form of Happer.
The threshold guardian is sacrificed and ritually consumed, although Mac and Oldsen didn’t know. This act brings Mac closer to Stella, who takes over the role of guiding Mac as Oldsen soon leaves on his own Hero’s journey.
Next, Mac is faced with his inner fears, Ben, a man that can’t be tempted. Facing your greatest fear often takes place in a cave, like when Luke faced himself in The Empire Strikes Back (1984). Ben’s shack on the beach has no doors and must be entered via a window.
Mac continues his ordeal, which bounces between negotiating with Ben and his growing affection for Stella. Here is where things get odd. Mac is not allowed to complete the journey as he understands it. The mentor Happer steps in and changes the outcome.
Oldsen, by pitching Marina, the mermaid’s idea to Happer, gets the reward of access to Happer as the deity. The goddess has rewarded Oldsen. Mac is sent back to Texas and is blamed by Happer for almost messing things up.
Mac must next take the road back to his old life. However, he now wants to stay with Stella. Her love would be a gift from a goddess. He reverts to businessman Mac and leaves without saying goodbye to Stella.
I totally missed this point for many years; Marina a named created from the Latin root for sea and Stella from the Latin root for star equals sea and sky. In the movie, it was decided that the institute would study the sea and the sky.
Mac, back in Texas, is resurrected into his old life. It is now hollow and meaningless. He takes the final step realizing he can love and be loved.
Now, I am not saying this Hero’s Journey was intentionally created even though the tile of the movie has Hero in it. In fact, writer and director Bill Forsyth said in the YouTube documentary Movie Connections Local Hero that the movie is based on Scottish reality and Scottish myths.
Marina could be a Scottish Selkie. They are seals that can transform themselves into human form. In some versions of the story, the Selkies lure humans into the water, and the humans never return[7]. In the scene where Oldsen tells Marina about the marine and sky institute, he walks into the water and it seems we see a mermaid tail.
World-Famous Short Summary – two guys, go on a trip where they meet a magic rabbit and a mermaid
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Beware the moors
[1] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085859/
[2] https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/local_hero
[3] https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/local-hero-1983
[4] https://www.nytimes.com/1983/02/17/movies/film-local-hero-houston-to-scotland-odyssey.html
[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C3%A8ilidh
[6] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085859/trivia
[7] https://www.scotland.org/features/scottish-myths-folklore-and-legends
