Local Hero: Making a Scottish Classic celebrates the 40th anniversary of Bill Forsyth’s much-loved film, offering a scene-by-scene breakdown with commentary from cast and crew. Here, author Jonathan Melville selects five of his favourite scenes, including some newly-unearthed secrets from the production. 

 Local Hero: Making a Scottish Classic
By Jonathan Melville
Published by Polaris Publishing 

Mac says “No” to Gordon 

Sometimes it takes multiple viewings of a film to spot things you’d previously missed. Watching the scene that takes place in the hotel dining room soon after Mac (Peter Riegert) realises Ben (Fulton Mackay) owns the beach and tries to negotiate with him, Mac asks Gordon (Denis Lawson) to turn down the music. ‘Don’t you like this?’ asks Gordon, to which Mac replies ‘No’, going on to say the word a few more times. Discussing the scene with Denis Lawson, he confirmed that it was improvised to reflect the earlier scene of Mac asking Gideon (Peter Mowat) to add a dollar sign to his boat, the old man repeatedly saying ‘No’ to him. By the time we’ve reached the dining room scene Mac is now the old man and as much a part of the town as Gideon.  

Whose Baby? 

Bill Forsyth may have spent months of his life trying to perfect the Local Hero script, but one of the most memorable scenes was improvised on the day by star Peter Riegert. Originally Mac was meant to finish a conversation with Happer (Burt Lancaster) in the phone box and exit it, only for Roddy the barman (Tam Dean Burn) to tell him it was about to get another coat of paint. On the day Riegert spotted that a baby was in the pram beside the other actors and suggested to Forsyth that he ask the other characters ‘Whose baby?’ The look of confusion on the actors’ faces is because none of them had any lines, making the moment work perfectly. 

Danny meets Gideon (or The Scene you Haven’t Seen) 

This one’s a bit of a cheat as it’s a scene that’s not actually in Local Hero, but it was in Bill Forsyth’s script and it was filmed, so it sort-of counts. If you’ve watched the film then you’ll know that it’s hinted that Marina (Jenny Seagrove) might be a mermaid, though the actress herself won’t confirm or deny this. During my research I discovered that a scene had been shot between Danny and Gideon in which the latter tells a tale of mermaids being either homemakers or homebreakers, a story based on something that happened to Bill Forsyth years before on a Highland beach. For me it gives even more credence to the theory that Marina is indeed more than meets the eye, but it’s likely Forsyth removed it to ensure the film felt more grounded.  

The Ceilidh 

Technically this is more than just a scene, but I couldn’t resist dwelling on the full ceilidh sequence that lasts 16 minutes in the film. As well as being one of the few times that virtually the entire cast is gathered together at the same time (the church interior being the other), it’s one that’s packed with lovely little moments that allow both the film’s stars and those with smaller roles to shine. As Gordon tries to nudge Mac into agreeing a price for the village, Mac is slowly getting drunk, leading to the moments when he offers to swap places with Gordon and be “a good Gordon, Gordon.” In between this there’s Andrew (Ray Jeffries) doing his Jimmy Stewart impression, Victor (Christopher Rozycki) singing his song on stage, Peter (Charlie Kearney) wondering “what the poor people are doing tonight” and Pauline (Caroline Guthrie) chasing Danny around the room. There’s also Mac dancing with Stella (Jennifer Black) and Ben stealing pork pies. Perfection. 

The final scene 

Like much of Local Hero, the final moments of the film aren’t exactly what Bill Forsyth had in mind when he finished the script and began the shoot. Originally, after leaving Scotland, Mac returns to his Houston apartment, takes out his shells and photos, and phones his mechanic to discuss his Porsche, before standing outside on the balcony and watching the city. After studio executives watched the film they decided the ending was too depressing and pushed Forsyth to shoot something happier, perhaps with Mac jumping out of the helicopter and staying in Ferness with his new friends. Unwilling to compromise too much but aware he had to do something, Forsyth decided to use a short piece of footage he’d already shot, placing it at the end of the film and adding the sound of a ringing phone. Is it Mac phoning Ferness? Is it a wrong number? No matter your view, the executives were happy and Forsyth was able to release his film in 1983. The rest is cinema history. 

Local Hero: Making a Scottish Classic by Jonathan Melville is published by Polaris Publishing, priced £16.99.