Brigadoon (1954)

You won't be disappointed!

Sorry, this movie sucks

Best movie ever!

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

The story is one that is very fanciful and enjoyable. Two incongruous friends, Tommy and Jeff (Gene Kelly and Van Johnson) are hunting in Scotland when they come upon a town not on any map. Brigadoon is a lovely village but it soon becomes obvious it's a town out of time. Actually, it's a magical town that is stuck in the 18th century and it appears and then disappears every 100 years--which is a serious problem as Tommy has fallen in love with one of the residents (Cyd Charisse).I liked this film quite a bit, though it did have two flaws. The sound stage was too often an obvious sound stage--with obviously painted mountains as a backdrop. Also, I think it might have benefited if they'd made Jeff less of a completely cynical jerk. It was odd seeing a nice-guy actor like Van Johnson playing a nasty little alcoholic and they part could have been better without the crabby aspects of the character. However, the music is lovely, the story sweet and there is still a lot to admire in this film.I happened to watch the 1966 made for TV version of "Brigadoon" a week ago--and I enjoyed it enough that I sought out the original theatrical version from 1954. Both, naturally, are very similar though there are a few differences. First, because Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse were in this Hollywood production, naturally there would be more dancing than singing. Second, oddly, the story of how Brigadoon came to be was changed for the 1954 version. I have no idea why. And, finally, the 1954 version was made to look like a typical Hollywood production that was, as I mentioned above, made in a sound stage--and the 1966 version had a few actual outdoor scenes and much of the rest looked like it was on a theater stage. Both are very watchable, though I prefer the 1954 film. If you would like to see the 1966 version (starring Robert Goulet), it is available to watch free at archive.org.

Many musicals take place in exotic locales, but few as exotic as Brigadoon--a quaint village frozen in time, unknown to the outside world. A good place to set a fantastic story about love and its power.Brigadoon has not always been a favorite of mine. But on further watching, I have come to enjoy this dream-like tale about a man, a woman, and a village.First of all, there are the sets--with the hillsides of heather so fanatically tended by Vincente Minelli's crew--and the set design itself. Add to that the costuming, the Lerner & Loewe songs, great orchestration, and the balletic beauty of Cyd Charisse partnered by Gene Kelly.I don't think this film should be dismissed due to its fantastical premise (that a town like Brigadoon exists). Otherwise, we must dismiss Peter Pan, Groundhog Day, Carousel, Heaven Can Wait, Camelot, and any number of other films which ask us to suspend disbelief in the name of love or beauty. Such films fan the fires of the imagination and use their premises to isolate issues or concepts, like the power of love. Or the importance of living each day like it's your last. Or preserving the childlike part of your personality.This is a beautifully rendered film and it reaches out to all the true romantics and asks what would you give up for a quiet, simpler life and a pure, passionate love?

Out of MGM, Brigadoon is a CinemaScope production filmed in Ansco Color. It's directed by Vincente Minnelli and adapted to screenplay by Alan Jay Lerner from the Broadway play of the same name. It stars Gene Kelly, Van Johnson and Cyd Charise. Musical numbers are by Lerner and Frederick Loewe, with orchestration by Conrad Salinger, and cinematography is by Joseph Ruttenberg. Plot has Kelly and Johnson as two Americans on a hunting trip in Scotland, who after becoming lost in the woods happen upon a village called Brigadoon. A strange place that's not on any map of Scotland……… Kicked by the critics and receiving moderate funds at the box office, Brigadoon is evidently one of the lesser lights from the musicals branch of MGM. Genuine complaints about no outdoor location work and scrimping on the songs from the play hold up under scrutiny. As does the charge that it is in fact a bit lifeless in direction and acting performances. But it's far from the dreary flop it has often been painted as. As colourful entertainment the film has enough about it to not waste the viewers time. The central idea is lovely, a mystical place inhabited by ebullient Scots that pops up once every hundred years, existing as a social comment that other parts of the world have gotten themselves into one big noise laden hurry, while a sweet finale provides the notion that love can indeed conquer all. The songs and routines, too, are enjoyable, notably Kelly doing deft harmony for "Almost Like Being In Love", the foot tapping delight of Celtic strong "The Wedding Dance" (danced by Jimmy Thompson & Virginia Bosler) and the heartily sang "The Chase" (various men during the pursuit of rebel Hugh Laing). While Ruttenberg's Scope/Color photography is most pleasing, putting vim and vigour into the very standard painted sets that form the back drops to the story.However, it's impossible not to yearn for more from Minnelli and MGM. Producing it all on the sound stage means it lacks air, vitality, and they must have known this would be the case because the film was originally going to be filmed on location in Scotland. The nasty weather and eventual cost cutting exercises meant the production would ultimately be surrounded by false countryside and billowing mist machines. A shame, because if ever a story called for vibrant snatches of Mother Natures Earth to realise the whimsy, then this is it. The cast are also a mixed bag, with Charise and Kelly going thru the motions and a host of iffy accents puncturing the air. Johnson is an odd casting choice, but I'm in the minority that doesn't mind his performance. He's the sarcastic cynic to Kelly's dreamy optimist, with Johnson content to rightly play in Kelly's shadow. His scenes back in the bar in New York are good value. Kelly and Minnelli were not singing from the same page, this would be common knowledge further down the line, as would the revelation that Minnelli was never a fan of the play anyway! It does show, but in spite of the obvious flaws there's enough warmth and hummable whimsy to lift it comfortably above average in the pantheon of MGM musicals. 6.5/10

I love MGM musicals but I have to confess BRIGADOON is never one that captured my fancy. You'd think that a fantasy about a village that only comes to life once every hundred years wouldn't require the use of real settings as a background for the story. But the artificiality of all the studio soundstage sets is so striking that it immediately clashes with the story, even though it's supposed to be a fantasy.I understand the Broadway musical was really designed around singers in the leading roles since some of the songs required real voices. Here the switch has been made to give dancers GENE KELLY and CYD CHARISSE the main chores and they've even dropped several good songs in order to accommodate them. Kelly requested that a certain number be dropped because he wasn't up to it vocally.And so, we have a rather dreary looking production with artificial sets for the village, a painted cyclorama screen for the hillside settings, and a grumpy VAN JOHNSON in a role that offers very little sympathy to his plight. Unfortunately, all of it seems curiously lifeless and artificial.At least CYD CHARISSE makes a lovely, intense Fiona and her dance routines with Kelly are, of course, nicely executed. Kelly did all the choreography rather than Agnes deMille who did the stage version.But somehow it all falls flat, perhaps due to the trite dialog that's supposed to be humorous--and the pacing is poor. The final scene in a New York restaurant seems to throw the whole story off kilter.Summing up: This is one MGM musical I had trouble sitting through, to be absolutely honest. What was Vincent Minnelli thinking?