Two hundred years ago, a miracle took the village of Brigadoon out of time, making it appear for only one day every hundred year. On the second day after the “miracle,” American Tommy Albright (Gene Kelly) and his grumpy sidekick Jeff Douglas (Van Johnson) stumble upon the town. Tommy falls for Fiona (Cyd Charisse) but isn’t certain he believes the myth and isn’t ready to give up his modern life to join the town, as no resident can ever leave or they will all be destroyed. Within the town, a spurned lover wants out, threatening everyone’s existence.
A studio-bound musical that tries desperately to look like it was shot on location, Brigadoon benefits from some pleasant Lerner and Loewe songs and good leads, but little else. I don’t recall a more claustrophobic film, at least not one that purports to be showing the great outdoors. The dancing is competent, but the choreography is boring and occasionally embarrassing, and most of the numbers are too long. But then, the entire production is too long.
An early widescreen movie, the blame for its look is often placed on Hollywood in general not yet knowing how to direct the new format. But Hollywood wasn’t directing; Vincente Minnelli was, and he certainly didn’t have a clue. A close-up might have been nice. Perhaps a reaction shot. But the whole thing looks like a camera (without a changeable focus) was plopped down fifty feet from the action. On a small screen, you’ll have to identify characters by their wardrobe. With a DVD, you’re likely to finally use that zoom feature.
Van Johnson is the comic relief in a film in desperate need of it, but he’s given nothing funny to say. Grouchy does not equal funny. The Broadway musical does have humorous moments, but those songs and the dialog that went with them were cut from the screenplay.
The main story is thinner than good cold cuts, with Tommy and Fiona falling in love at first sight. You know what is going to happen, and it does, without a great deal of emotion. The subplot, involving Harry, who doesn’t want to be stuck in Brigadoon forever, and is willing to destroy everything to end an unpleasant existence, is dealt with in the cheapest way possible. There’s some tricky morality at play, but instead of having the characters wrestle with the situation, an accident takes care of it and it isn’t given another thought. While Harry is painted as a villain for not being “grateful” for his unasked for imprisonment, he’s the one likely to rouse the sympathies of modern audiences, and the rest of the village’s reaction to him blemishes this paradise.
Kelly was the wrong choice for the lead. His talents lay in his footwork and in his speaking-toned singing voice, which made it almost seam natural when he’d burst into song. But that tone also makes him sound light and reedy. Brigadoon needs a rich tenor (or a baritone) as Tommy, and that isn’t Kelly. The Broadway version of the show contained several balletic dances, which would have been right up his alley, but those are missing from the movie, leaving little that needed his hoofing skills.
If you are a musical fan, forget the flick and buy the soundtrack. I’ll Go Home with Bonnie Jean and Almost Like Being in Love are worth hearing, if not seeing.
My other reviews of Gene Kelly films: Cover Girl (1944), Anchors Aweigh (1945), Ziegfeld Follies (1946), The Pirate (1948), Words and Music (1948), On the Town (1949), Summer Stock (1950), An American in Paris (1951), It’s Always Fair Weather (1955), Les Girls (1957), The Young Girls of Rochefort (1967).