Brigadoon

The New Yorkers Tommy Albright (Gene Kelly) and Jeff Douglas (Van Johnson) travel in a hunting trip to the highlands of Scotland. Tommy and Jeff are best friends and Tommy is taking a break from his engagement with his fiancée Jane Ashton (Elaine Stewart).

Tommy and Jeff get lost on the hills and out of the blue, they see a small town that is out of the map. When they arrive in town, Tommy meets the local Fiona Campbell (Cyd Charisse) and they learn that the place is called Brigadoon. Further, it is the wedding day of her younger sister and they are invited to stay to the party. Meanwhile Tommy and Fiona fall in love with each other.

Later Tommy and the skeptical Jeff discover that a local preacher had prayed to God on the Eighteenth Century asking for a miracle to protect Brigadoon from witches that lived in Scotland. From that day on, when the locals go to sleep in the night, they wake up 100 years later. However, if a dweller leaves Brigadoon, the town and the citizens would all disappear forever. But an outsider could stay forever in Brigadoon provided he or she loves someone in the enchanted town.

"Brigadoon" is a fairy tale that combines "Lost Horizon" with "The Sleeping Beauty". The plot is silly and the songs are dated, but the romantic story and Cyd Charisse are delightful and the final message ("when you love someone, everything is possible, even a miracle") is very beautiful. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "A Lenda dos Beijos Perdidos" ("The Legend of the Lost Kisses")

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.

I'm sure that when Gene Kelly and Van Johnson wandered into that quaint Scottish village called Brigadoon they must have thought they were entering a Scottish theme park. Certainly no modern conveniences around and everyone dressed in costume. But there's a reason for it, a most enchanting reason, the heart and secret of Brigadoon.

Brigadoon ran in the 1947-1948 season on Broadway for 581 performances in the initial production. It was Alan Jay Lerner's and Frederick Loewe's first really big Broadway success though it was their second collaboration. MGM bought the property for the Arthur Freed unit and it lay dormant for a few years while a lot of creative and financial differences got worked out.

Gene Kelly curiously enough had the reverse problem with this that his Broadway hit Pal Joey had. The original production of Pal Joey was his first big musical hit and he never went back to Broadway after. But when the film for Pal Joey finally got made it was with Frank Sinatra in the lead and the part was changed to a singer's as opposed to dancer's role.

Similarly the original Broadway Tommy Albright was a singer named David Brooks and Fiona was played by Marion Bell both pretty good singers. Kelly who could carry a tune had a whole lot of trouble with some of the songs, in fact he himself asked that his version of There But For You Go I be cut from the final film.

Changing over to dancing leads, Kelly got Cyd Charisse as his partner and as was usual, Cyd's singing was dubbed with Carole Richards's voice. They did do some mighty nice dancing though, especially The Heather on the Hill ballet and Kelly's lighthearted romp to Almost Like Being in Love which was the big hit from Brigadoon.

Kelly wanted to shoot the film on location in Scotland, but MGM eying budgetary problems and director Vincente Minnelli's desire to do it on their sound stage the film was shot indoors with Brigadoon recreated at Culver City.

One of my favorite numbers from Brigadoon is My Mother's Wedding Day which the character Meg Brockie sings. It was eliminated by the Breen office censors would you believe. They thought it inappropriate for drunken Scotsmen to be cavorting about on a solemn occasion like a wedding. As a result the character of Meg Brockie was cut down to nothing. A pity because Pamela Britton won rave reviews for her Broadway performance and Dody Heath is left with next to nothing in the role.

Still there's enough of Brigadoon for audiences to still enjoy and dream about an enchanted Scottish village we might all like to escape the travails of the world to.

Other commentors have criticized this movie up and down for its casting, props, stage, singing and dancing. I don't profess to be an expert on any of those things. I enjoy movies and I enjoyed this one. It is the story line that gets me most. That an entire village appears for just one day every 100 years may be far fetched but is great fantasy. I'll have to admit that I've enjoyed this story more in live theater than the movie version, but the movie version is much easier to pop in the VCR for anytime viewing. I think its a great movie and might make a great remake if someone was willing to address the criticisms left here by other commentors.

I think this movie is one of the better musicals to come out of the '50s. Gene Kelley and Van Johnson make such a great team, it's a shame they didn't do more movies together. Johnson's timing and sarcastic remarks are truly funny. Cyd Charrise is also enjoyable in her Scottish role. This movie is very enjoyable for the whole family.