This is yet another of Patrick McGoohan's fine performances. As Dr. Syn, McGoohan is a gentle but wise Vicar. Yet when he transforms into the Scarecrow he acts and sounds like the roughest dock-dweller you would ever want to avoid. It's a role that showcases McGoohan's remarkable range.
The story is sort of a what-if. In this case, what if the people of Britain had the same strong spirit of freedom that Americans possessed in their revolutionary past. The Scarecrow and his gang are "smugglers", i.e. free-market traders who avoid heavy excise taxes by the state. McGoohan, who is a Libertarian in real life, must have approved of the script.
Today, with sleepy populations in both the USA and Britain accepting a tax rate close to 50%, strong state control, speech-laws (aka "hate" laws) and tariffs on imported goods, it makes me wonder where all the revolutionary Scarecrow's have disappeared.
The story is sort of a what-if. In this case, what if the people of Britain had the same strong spirit of freedom that Americans possessed in their revolutionary past. The Scarecrow and his gang are "smugglers", i.e. free-market traders who avoid heavy excise taxes by the state. McGoohan, who is a Libertarian in real life, must have approved of the script.
Today, with sleepy populations in both the USA and Britain accepting a tax rate close to 50%, strong state control, speech-laws (aka "hate" laws) and tariffs on imported goods, it makes me wonder where all the revolutionary Scarecrow's have disappeared.
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