Dec 20, 2018
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| The Houston Cast and Crew |
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| Peter Riegert is the Texas oil executive dispatched to purchase a Scottish fishing village his company wants to turn into a refinery, and Jennifer Black portrays the wife of the local innkeeper, the canny village spokesman, in “Local Hero” which was partially shot in Houston
The 1980s were a film heavy decade for Houston. Feature films, TV movies and national commercials all shot in abundance, supported by a growing base of technicians and artists working alongside Hollywood and international crews.
The movie “Local Hero,” shot in Houston in 1981 and released domestically in 1983, offered an amazing pedigree of talent, including producer David Putnam, fresh from winning an Academy Award for “Chariots of Fire,” and Scottish writer/director Bill Forsythe.
Starring veteran actor Burt Lancaster as oil magnate Felix Happer, the head of the film’s fictional Knox Oil and Gas, and Peter Riegert as an acquisitions executive, “Local Hero” divides its time between Houston and Scotland. Happer wants to buy an entire North Atlantic coastal community to build a refinery.
Members of the English cast included Denis Lawson (also known as X-wing pilot Wedge in the original “Star Wars” trilogy), future “Dr. Who” actor Peter Capaldi in his second-ever role and Jenny Seagrove as a marine biologist with webbed toes.
At its spine, “Local Hero” posits that Houston breeds uptight fast-paced living while Scotland supports eccentric characters who move at their own velocity.
Cinematographer Chris Menges (Oscar winner for subsequent films “The Killing Fields” and “The Mission”) provides a unique view that includes cityscapes and night skies. Mark Knopfler, in his first movie credit, composed and performed the music.
Too fast on I-45
The opening scene has Riegert sitting in his Porsche during rush hour traffic on Interstate 45 N. with downtown in the background. The background purposely shows the skyline bracketed by Pennzoil Place and the Texas Commerce Tower, for reasons that will become apparent.
“It was a Friday afternoon around 5 and there were about 10 cars surrounding Riegert being driven by production staff,” says Craig Busch, a Houstonian working as a production assistant at the time who now is a location manager with three decades of experience. “I was in the car behind him. There was a camera car. The idea was to be caught in stalled traffic.”
“But for some reason the flow was really fast for rush hour, we were going over 35-miles-per-hour,” says Busch.
The assistant director told all the drivers, on walkie-talkie, to drive slower. “But then the police escort behind us told us not to slow down or they would arrest us,” recalls Busch.
Bob Strauss took on-set photographs during the production. One day Lancaster called him. “He needed a photo for Architectural Digest. I went to the hotel he was staying at and took some shots. We were friends after that,” remembers Strauss.
More than cowboys
“Local Hero” is rated the number 10 movie for 1983 on the website imdb.com. That’s after films like “A Christmas Story,” Trading Places,” and “Terms of Endearment,” that year’s best picture winner (also shot in Houston), but way ahead of the two Bond films (“Never Say Never Again,” “Octopussy”) released that same year.
In 1981, there was no Houston Film Commission, which didn’t exist formally until 1987. The Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau handled film liaisons.
Location manager Dennis Bishop spent six months securing the settings eventually used in “Local Hero.” Bishop, after a storied career as a producer, currently heads the KD Conservatory Motion Picture Program in Dallas.
“When David Putnam sent me the script, they were emulating the television series ‘Dallas.’ Everybody wore cowboy hats,” says Bishop. “I wanted to show them a more realistic version of the characters.
“We would scout these offices, and one entire floor was a reception area with a woman behind a desk and a winding staircase going up to the next floor and with very high ceilings.”
While Bishop, along with Putnam and associate producer Iain Smith, initially started the search in Dallas, they then found themselves in Houston on a location comparison mixed with a fact-finding mission. “We found companies where the executives had fine art, like Picassos, hanging in their offices,” says Bishop.
Willie Nelson vs. Burt Lancaster
Forsythe wanted Willie Nelson to play Happer, while Putnam wanted Lancaster,” recalls Bishop. “Nelson lost the role by being late for the first meeting and condescending when he did arrive.”
Happer’s office suite was edited together from three different locales. At the time the film was shot, the Texas Commerce Tower (now called the JPMorgan Chase Tower) was finishing construction, and the crew transformed the 60th floor, also known as the observation lobby, into portions of Happer’s office.
While the Texas Commerce Tower had select angles of Happer’s office, the nearby Pennzoil Place offered the kind of multifloor executive suite the filmmakers wanted. Designed by architect Philip Johnson and consisting of dual 500-foot trapezoidal towers, Pennzoil Plaza was named “Building of the Decade” by the New York Times in 1975.
“The only cost for shooting at Pennzoil Place was a free screening for the employees,” says Bishop.
The actual company was Zapata Oil, and the office used was that of George H.W. Bush, then serving his first term as vice president of the United States. “The door in his office didn’t have knobs on the inside. The only way to open it was a button on the desk,” says Bishop.
The third version of Happer’s office was built at a studio in Scotland. One scene has Happer’s therapist posting a profane message on the slanted windows outside. Large format pictures were taken of the Houston skyline and used to create a background view of the city. “They shipped the props to Scotland and re-created the office exactly,” says Bishop. The resulting editing renders a seamless version of the office space.
Happer has a curious bent for astronomy and keeps in constant communication with Riegert in Scotland. The only phone in town is a red telephone kiosk, the kind so commonly found in the U.K. When Happer finds out the village offers premium views of the aurora borealis, he becomes infatuated with the idea of establishing a research center and observatory.
The penultimate shot in “Local Hero” has Riegert returning to his home (the Willowick Condominiums at Willowick and San Felipe). The camera follows Riegert out to his balcony at night. You can see downtown in the distance, then Riegert turns to the right and reveals Greenway Plaza closer in the distance coming into focus.
After a quick fade to black, we cut to the Scottish town and the red phone kiosk near the pier. As the phone rings the film ends.
In reality, the phone booth was a prop and removed after the filming. “Local Hero” has become such a memorable film in Scotland that people take driving tours to the locations.
In 2000, the town of Pennan installed an outside red phone kiosk that was dedicated by Knopfler.
Michael Bergeron is a Houston-based writer.
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