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Help! - The People all leaving the church scene

posted 14 years ago by rkw2705
6 replies | jump to latest

In this scene Danny notices all the townsfolk leaving the chuch.
This is after Mac and him had a talk with the priest.

He notices them leave but does not tell Mac.
Was this because he thought that if Mac knew the town was onto them about the proposed deal then Mac would really play hard ball with the negotiations?

Did Danny feel sympthathy for the town?
This scene just confused me a little bit and I would love to hear others thoughts on this?

Cheers,

Rod

[–] Mickyfinn 14 years ago

It really is just a 'sight gag', but yes, Danny doesn't say anything.

But he didn't know there was a meeting or what it was about. Perhaps he couldn't put two and two together and it just seemed odd to him.

You'd think he say something like "what's going on there", but that would ruin the gag.

You just have to be resigned-
You're crashing by design

[–] Scaramanga 12 years ago

I just put that down to the naivety of Danny - he has no idea what is going on, and isn't confident enough to point anything out to Mac, whom he is clearly in awe of during the early stages of the film... after all, Mac has spent most of his time boasting to Danny about his big house, his Porsche and how he is a flash businessman who prefers to do things by Telex.

It's also a pretty funny sight gag :)

[–] SoaringhighPV 14 years ago

I think it was just to get the humour of the situation, not any ulterior motive. But yes, Danny surely has more of an affinity with the village folk than with the Knox caper.
One of my favourite lines comes from the church scene when the guy in the church passes on to the whole assembled village Rev. MacPherson's wry comment that "News does tend to travel fast around here". The rumblings of assent in the crowd are wonderful.

[–] Blu765 13 years ago

I think on one level, it was just a sighyt gaga, but in a small part it was probably due to Danny having a bit of sympaty for the townfolk (enough to let them "do their thing" while Mac tries to negotiate).

[–] MeMichelfAndI 12 years ago

The first time I saw this, I thought neither of them saw the crowd, and it was hilarious. When I realized that Danny sees them, it's even funnier!
I think it's mostly just played for laughs--the whole town in on it and trying to pull a fast one on the Yank. And Danny doesn't say anything because he's flummoxed by what he sees, and he's so guileless and flustered,like he is through so much of the movie.
Yes, love the "Preacher says news travels fast!" line too. And like the Russian, the African is another example of an outsider drawn into the orbit of Furness, as Mac will soon be.

[–] vimhawk 12 years ago

That is one funny moment, and Peter Capaldi pulls off a fantastic look when he notices them all leaving. Amazing that the same actor became famous years later for his astonishing creation of Malcolm Tucker in "The Thick of It".