It is one of the best-loved Scottish films of all time – a warm-hearted comedy about two worlds colliding which turned an ordinary red phone box into an unlikely global icon.
In the 30 years since Local Hero was released, thousands of movie-lovers have flocked to the village of Pennan and its rising stars have become household names.
For Denis Lawson, currently filming his second series of Old Tricks, it remains the high point in an impressive career, which has spanned everything from Star Wars to Holby City.
The Crieff-born actor was fresh from his first leading role in a west end musical when the part of Gordon Urquhart, the wily pub-owner in Local Hero, came his way.
As a Scot in London, more accustomed to being asked “can you lose the accent?”, he couldn’t believe his luck.
“It was very unusual, especially at that time, to be offered a role like Gordon Urquhart, who was not a walking Scottish cliche,” he told the Press and Journal.
“Here was a proper contemporary Scot, who was allowed to be funny and smart and all that stuff, and of course there was the running gag with him and his wife doing it all the time – all of that just sold itself to me.” The finished film was well received by the critics on its release in February 1983, but in the three decades since it has slow-burned its way to classic status, earning a place in every movie buff’s DVD collection.
Strangers stop Mr Lawson, 65, in the street and ask “are you Gordon Urquhart?”, and he is not surprised that Local Hero holds such a special place in film-lovers’ hearts.
“It’s a wonderful script,” he said.
“I don’t know if people stop and think about how well written it is.
“We would shoot a scene, like the one in the hotel when I’ve cooked the rabbit, and once it was all done and we were moving on to the next one I’d think ‘how sad, I’ll never get to play that scene again’. That really doesn’t happen very often.”
Producer David Puttnam – now Lord Puttnam – reckons one of the reasons for Local Hero’s enduring success is that the experience of making it was so enjoyable.
“It was as if we’d all gone on holiday and someone had remembered to bring a camera,” he has said.
Denis Lawson also looks back fondly on “a wonderful time with a great bunch of actors”, many of whom are still friends today.
“It was the most fun I have ever had on a film – then or since,” he said.
Look carefully next time you watch the ceilidh scene in Local Hero and you may spot a youthful Baden Gibson in the background.
The Pennan harbourmaster, now 62, was one of the locals who landed roles as extras – in his case playing a drunken reveller.
He well remembers the public meeting in the pub when David Puttnam explained what the film-makers were planning – and the arrival of the cast and crew – complete with cameras, lights, catering vans, make-up artists and all the other trappings of a major movie set – in the spring of 1982.
Mr Gibson, whose family have been fishermen, boat-builders and millers at Pennan since the 17th century, said the village had never seen anything like it.
“There had been a few people filming things for TV over the years, but nothing on this scale,” he said.
“We had fine weather – dry with light winds – the whole time, so they were able to leave all their cameras and big heavy equipment outside. I think they were amazed that there was no damage and nothing was stolen.
“It was a great time and they were awful good to us. There was money for the harbour and we had committees for the pensioners and the children and the church, they all got money too. Not huge amounts, but still it was welcome.”
He and the other villagers got their first glimpse of the finished film at a special screening – and were thrilled with the results.
They had no idea that the pub would soon be overrun with fans, or that 30 years on tourists would still be driving down the steep brae to have their photographs taken at the famous red phone box.
Mr Gibson’s favourite film will always be Whisky Galore but, for the way it portrays his village and the memories it invokes, Local Hero comes a close second. “Pennan was here long before Local Hero, but Local Hero put Pennan on the map,” he said.