"Brigadoon" may be old hat to the cynical folks who don't believe in leprechauns, men wearing skirts and jumping over swords or the luck of the Irish or Scottish or anything about the Highlands. Down on MacConnachy Square, however, they do believe, and they've converted me. For every 100 years that this town sleeps, I'd long to find it, my own Shangri-La, wherever and whatever country it may be in.
Lerner and Lowe had a couple of Broadway flops when they struck gold with this musical fantasy, and when MGM filmed it in Cinemascope in 1954, they couldn't have done it better. Yes, the scenery is obviously backdrops and plastic shrubbery planted everywhere to make it appear as the Scottish countryside. Yes, the story is slightly corny, but when the charm is so overwhelming, I'll take corn any day.
Americans Gene Kelly and Van Johnson discover the mystical town of Brigadoon when they are lost in the highlands on a hunting trip, but like the visitors to Shangri-La in "Lost Horizon", they have mixed reactions to it. Kelly falls in love with it, most particularly the young Cyd Charisse, the dancing beauty he finds it difficult to be willing to be apart from. Through Charisse and the town elders, he learns the truth about the story as a wedding approaches for two of the townsfolk, but one of the brooding residents is determined to curse the village because of his love for the bride who chose another. Then, the Americans return to noisy Manhattan where voices from Brigadoon echo in Kelly's ears. He longs to find something that has disappeared into the mist and won't reappear for another 199 years, 11 months, 22 days, etc.
We all long for a place in this world where we can settle into serenity and Brigadoon is for Gene Kelly that place. He dances to the "Heather on the Hill" and croons "Almost Like Being in Love" as if he has just discovered that he really is alive. Then, he joins in the festive dance with the groom to be (the energetic "I'll Go Home With Bonnie Jean") that even briefly has the cynical Johnson transfixed. But we each reach for our own destiny, and Johnson isn't interested in the far away world of Brigadoon.
Colorfully made for the eyes, and a treat for the ears as well, "Brigadoon" is a sweet legend that shows if you love someone so very much, you can never really loose them. It's a sweet sentiment that you can't help but believing as this fantasy unfolds. Faithful to the Broadway vehicle, it only cut out a few musical numbers (most notably the comical "My Mother's Wedding Day") yet retained its focus on athletic choreography as part of the narrative of telling the story. Forget that there's a huge obvious line down the middle of the Scottish sky (where the backdrop was glued together) and just enjoy it for everything it is.
Lerner and Lowe had a couple of Broadway flops when they struck gold with this musical fantasy, and when MGM filmed it in Cinemascope in 1954, they couldn't have done it better. Yes, the scenery is obviously backdrops and plastic shrubbery planted everywhere to make it appear as the Scottish countryside. Yes, the story is slightly corny, but when the charm is so overwhelming, I'll take corn any day.
Americans Gene Kelly and Van Johnson discover the mystical town of Brigadoon when they are lost in the highlands on a hunting trip, but like the visitors to Shangri-La in "Lost Horizon", they have mixed reactions to it. Kelly falls in love with it, most particularly the young Cyd Charisse, the dancing beauty he finds it difficult to be willing to be apart from. Through Charisse and the town elders, he learns the truth about the story as a wedding approaches for two of the townsfolk, but one of the brooding residents is determined to curse the village because of his love for the bride who chose another. Then, the Americans return to noisy Manhattan where voices from Brigadoon echo in Kelly's ears. He longs to find something that has disappeared into the mist and won't reappear for another 199 years, 11 months, 22 days, etc.
We all long for a place in this world where we can settle into serenity and Brigadoon is for Gene Kelly that place. He dances to the "Heather on the Hill" and croons "Almost Like Being in Love" as if he has just discovered that he really is alive. Then, he joins in the festive dance with the groom to be (the energetic "I'll Go Home With Bonnie Jean") that even briefly has the cynical Johnson transfixed. But we each reach for our own destiny, and Johnson isn't interested in the far away world of Brigadoon.
Colorfully made for the eyes, and a treat for the ears as well, "Brigadoon" is a sweet legend that shows if you love someone so very much, you can never really loose them. It's a sweet sentiment that you can't help but believing as this fantasy unfolds. Faithful to the Broadway vehicle, it only cut out a few musical numbers (most notably the comical "My Mother's Wedding Day") yet retained its focus on athletic choreography as part of the narrative of telling the story. Forget that there's a huge obvious line down the middle of the Scottish sky (where the backdrop was glued together) and just enjoy it for everything it is.