Brigadoon (1954)

            Brigadoon has a lot going for it. There's the all-star cast of Gene Kelly, Cyd Charisse, and Van Johnson. It was adapted from a Broadway show by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe, masterminds behind My Fair Lady, Camelot, and Gigi. And it is an MGM musical! So why wasn't Brigadoon a hit?

 

            The movie opens with a series of landscape shots, presumably of the Scottish Highlands. In reality, they were the MGM Backlot Highlands. Brigadoon was filmed entirely on MGM's vast backlot in Culver City. Locations were scouted in Scotland, but the unpredictable weather and enormous expense of filming overseas caused the idea to be scrapped. Another idea - filming in the hills of Big Sur, California - was rejected for cost reasons as well. After all, why travel to Scotland when you can build a perfectly good Scotland in California?

            Or so MGM thought. The major budget cuts the studio undertook in the 1950s caused a reduction in Brigadoon's production quality, and the painted backgrounds weren't believable enough for audiences. It was filmed in cheaper Metrocolor as opposed to the more vivid Technicolor, and CinemaScope. Personally I think the muted color scheme improves the movie - the whole idea is that Brigadoon rises out of the mist, and who wants Technicolor mist?

            As the nature scenes unfold, a chorus sings a medley of the opening numbers - "Brigadoon" and "Once in the Highlands." As the lyrics go,

Once in the Highlands, the Highlands of Scotland/Deep in the night on a murky brae

There in the Highlands, the Highlands of Scotland/Two weary hunters lost their way

            The hunters are Tommy Albright and Jeff Douglas, played by Gene Kelly and Van Johnson. They're two Americans who have come to Scotland to hunt grouse and gotten lost on their first night. 

            The scene cuts away to a lively village called Brigadoon, where people are waking up and, in true MGM fashion, singing and dancing a musical number about the fair happening in the town square.

            We also hear a beautiful song (my personal favorite from Brigadoon) called "Waitin' for My Dearie," sung and danced by Cyd Charisse and other village lassies. Her singing voice was dubbed by Carol Richards, who also dubbed for Cyd in Silk Stockings, Deep in My Heart, and It's Always Fair Weather. The song is a bit of foreshadowing about how Fiona, the village girl played by Charisse, is waiting for a "laddie" to come from outside Brigadoon and sweep her off her feet. 

             On a side note, I adored the hairstyles in the "Dearie" number so here's a good picture of two:

            The Scottish accents are a little comical but you get used to them after a bit (Dinna ye know? Canna ye tell?).

            Cutting back to Tommy and Jeff - they look out over the valley and suddenly see a village where there wasn't one before. They look on their map, and the mystery village isn't there either. They find it a bit strange, but being hungry and disoriented, decide to go see if they can find some food. When they get to the village, nobody will talk to them and everyone runs away when they approach.

             They finally find someone who will talk to them, Cyd Charisse's Fiona. Tommy falls in love at first sight, despite having a fiancee back home in New York. Said fiancee's name is Jane, but she is forgotten about for the majority of the movie, only brought up to contrast between America and Brigadoon. You begin to wonder why Tommy is still engaged to her after about the third grimace.

            The hunters are taken to the town square where their money is rejected by Brigadoon merchants, who exclaim in wonder at the date on the money. A man named Charlie Dalrymple comes up and offers to buy them food and drinks to celebrate his wedding day. Tommy and Jeff accept Charlie's offer and congratulate him, until they hear he's marrying a Miss Campbell, who Tommy assumes to be Fiona. This is soon cleared up when Fiona arrives in the square and tells Tommy it's her sister Jean that is getting married. Cue an elaborate and really fun number called "I'll Go Home with Bonnie Jean," where Charlie sings of his love for Jean and brings Tommy and Jeff into the dance.

            You are 100% guaranteed to be found humming "Go home, go home, I'll go home with bonnie Jean" for at least a week after you watch Brigadoon. And yes, those are tartan leggings.

            Fiona goes to pick heather for the wedding, and Tommy tags along and sings a lovely song called "The Heather on the Hill." More beautiful nature scenes!

            The "Heather" dance is my favorite from the movie. Cyd Charisse's costume is so beautiful, especially when she's spinning, and I took plenty of pictures. You can watch the dance on YouTube here!

            While the dance is happening, a random girl from the village tries to flirt with Jeff, who is having none of it. Van Johnson is really just playing Gene Kelly's opposite, but the whole time he just seemed kind of... disinterested? I think it was a combination of the character of Jeff being pretty boring and the point of the film being the Tommy/Fiona romance.

            Tommy meets up with Jeff and sings a song called "Almost Like Being in Love," which is the typical Romantic-Ballad-Meets-Solo-For-Leading-Male-Dancer found in any good musical romance movie (think "Needle in a Haystack" from Gay Divorcee, one of my favorites in this very specific genre - but I digress.) 

            Back in the village, Tommy and Jeff find the Campbell family bible with Charlie's signature in it. To their confusion, the sisters' birth dates and the date of Charlie and Jean's wedding are listed in the 1700s. Tommy begs Fiona to explain to him what is is about Brigadoon that is so mysterious. She agrees to take them to Mr. Lundie, who can explain the village's secret.

            Mr. Lundie explains that a long, long time ago, Scotland was threatened by witches. To save Brigadoon and its people, they enchanted the village to be hidden away, only to appear for one day every hundred years. Each morning when the village folk wake up, another one hundred years has passed. People from the outside world like Tommy and Jeff can happen upon Brigadoon, but if someone from the village tries to leave, the spell would break and Brigadoon would disappear forever. 

            With this knowledge, they go to Charlie and Jean's wedding. Fun fact: Jean was played by Virginia Bosler, the only actress to reprise her role from the Broadway run of Brigadoon in the '40s. I love Jean's wedding dress, too!

            The wedding dancing is interrupted by a jealous man named Harry, who wanted to marry Jean himself. He vows to leave Brigadoon, thus ruining the spell for everyone. A suspenseful scene ensues where everyone chases Harry around the forest until they finally surround him in a tree. A drunken Jeff, looking for grouse, accidentally shoots Harry (I know! A bit dramatic, MGM?) and he dies. The Brigadoon villagers assume he hit his head and promise not to tell Charlie and Jean until the following morning.

            In the chaotic aftermath, Fiona goes to find Tommy. She runs through the dark woods in her bright red dress which was a lovely contrast. It reminded me of Cinderella with her gown, escaping the ball.

            They find each other and dance in the dark, where Tommy realizes how much he really loves Fiona. He tells her he can't leave her and goes to ask Mr. Lundie if he can stay in Brigadoon.

            Back in the town square, Tommy finds Jeff, who confesses to shooting Harry. A shocked Tommy is reminded by his friend that he's only been in Brigadoon for a day and his whole life is back in New York. Tommy tells Fiona this, and decides to go back home to his fiancee, Jane (remember her?). 

            Out to dinner with Jane in New York, Tommy can't think of anyone but Fiona. Everything Jane says reminds him of Brigadoon.

            Eventually he snaps and breaks off the engagement in the middle of the restaurant, calls Jeff, and buys two plane tickets to Scotland. Jeff reminds him it will be another hundred years before he can see Brigadoon again as they stand on the hill where they first saw the village. Then out of the mist - it appears! Hollywood happy endings galore! Mr. Lundie tells Tommy that if you love someone enough, anything is possible, even miracles. Tommy and Fiona are reunited and the credits roll. Voila!

            I hoped you enjoyed reading my thoughts on Brigadoon! After watching it I decided it was quite underrated, considering I'd only heard of it a few times and never as any kind of a hit. It's worth a watch, especially for the dancing and musical numbers. Are there any other movies you consider underrated classics? Or what's your favorite
Romantic-Ballad-Meets-Solo-For-Leading-Male-Dancer? Haha - leave a comment!