Local Hero (1983)

The Plot of Local Hero: Felix Happer, the boss of a Houston based oil company sends Mac Macintyre, one of his junior executives to the Scottish village of Ferness to negotiate its purchase, because it is intended that the bay in which the village is situated will be used for the location of an oil port, with a refinery set just over the hill. Mac is met by the company rep in the UK Danny Oldsen and together they travel to Ferness, where they take up residence  in the local hotel which is run, among other things, by Gordon Urquhart. Mac gradually relaxes in the benevolent atmosphere of the village. Gordon gets the authority from the rest of the village to negotiate with the Americans,  and as time passes they become accustomed to the possibility of being rich. Danny falls for a young woman who believes that the bay is to be the location of a research station for the environment. The whole plan is derailed when they discover that the beach is owned, due to royal charter by Ben Knox who lives in a hut on its edge, constructed from bits of a wrecked boat.  It will take a visit from the boss to sort everything out.

Content: No sex or nudity, but almost continuous drinking, mostly of whiskey of various brands, and occasionally brandy and wine in the case of the main players, the villagers mostly drinking beer. There are, after all, a lot of scenes in the bar of the hotel. The whole scheme is unfolded at a marine test tank, where a model of the village is lifted out and replaced by a jetty and model tankers and a refinery on the model hilltop. Danny romances Marina who, although she never sheds her wetsuit, allows him to kiss her foot. Mac often phones Happer from the quayside phone box. A Russian ship captain, Victor, becomes part of the assembly, singing in Karaoke. Happer arrives by helicopter, which lands on the beach.

A View: I had seen this film in the cinema, and living for years close to the Moray Firth, the location of Pennan, which stood in for Ferness, was aware of the charm of the whole area. Several of the coastal villages claimed to be the location of the phone box. I am also a Dire Straits fan so liked the music. In just the same way that Mac gradually ceases to be an oil executive and becomes one of the villagers, so we as the viewers are seduced by the peaceful environment. It has been much liked by almost everybody, and although it never made much money, it is worth a view even today if you can find it.

Fun Fact: The phone box was a fake erected in Pennan, the real one being concealed by a shed.