Two American bachelor buddies (Gene Kelly and Van Johnson) are on a grouse-shooting holiday in Scotland. They get lost in the hills, and in the morning they stumble on a picturesque village right out of the 18th century which is not on their map. At first the villagers seem strangely spooked by the newcomers, but eventually the two are caught up in the pre-nuptial celebrations of dashing Charlie Dalrymple and beautiful Jean Campbell. Complications ensue when one of the Yanks meets Jean's older sister Fiona (Cyd Charisse). Love blooms, even though he has a fiancee back in New York. Turns out, though, that there's something much deeper which might keep them apart...

MGM's 1954 film adaptation of Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe's *Brigadoon* is a largely forgotten product of the studio's glory period for musicals - *Singin' in the Rain* (1952), *An American in Paris* (1951), *The Band Wagon* (1953), *Seven Brides for Seven Brothers* (1954) - just to name a few!. On the face of it this seems odd. After all, *Brigadoon* was the handiwork of MGM's first-team "Freed unit" (Arthur Freed was the producer of most of MGM's legendary late '40's and '50's musicals), unlike "Seven Brides", which was shot at the same time (but which was much more successful both critically and financially). Directed by Vincente Minnelli, starring Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse, with contract star Van Johnson thrown in for comic relief, based on Lerner and Loewe's 1947 Broadway smash - how could it go wrong?

Well, it didn't go *completely* wrong. On its own merits it's a pleasant 2-hour diversion. But any comparison with other productions exposes some serious gaffes made in the process of adapting it from the stage to the screen. Supposedly for financial reasons, MGM scrapped a plan to film on location in the Scottish highlands and used the studio backlot - thus missing a great chance to "open up" a stagebound story. This isn't necessarily fatal. In fact "Seven Brides", with a plot even more outdoorsy, was also a studio production, but suffers much less from the jarringly obvious painted backdrops and awkward plant and animal props that we find in MGM's *Brigadoon*. Even the 1966 television production had the sense to move at least some scenes outside. It doesn't help that MGM also saved money on the coloring process - glorious (but costly) Technicolor was replaced by something called "Anscocolor", one of the cheaper alternatives which were just making their appearance in Hollywood at this time but which undoubtably lack the warm glow of 3-strip Technicolor.

The main problem, however, lies in the fact that this adaptation of the stage musical shoehorns Lerner and Loewe's lush romantic songfest into a dancing extravaganza - a problem which can surely be laid at the feet of Freed, Minnelli, and also Gene Kelly, who was in charge of the choreography and around whom the film is obviously built. Unlike any of the other musicals mentioned above, *Brigadoon* was an expensive stage property, not an original movie musical, and the studio had much less flexibility in adapting it to suit the talents of its stars. The Broadway cast of Marion Bell and David Brooks were singers, not dancers; their film counterparts, Cyd Charisse and Gene Kelly, simply lack the pipes to do justice to many of L. and L.'s lovely songs. Rumour has it that MGM had considered casting Kathryn Grayson and Howard Keel in place of Charisse and Kelly (they had harmonized together beautifully in the otherwise rambling *Show Boat* of 1951, and again in the delightful *Kiss Me Kate* of 1953), but that's not how things worked out. Charisse had no singing voice at all, and was dubbed (by Carol Richards); Kelly had a reedy voice which could be effective in the right scene (no complaints about *Singin' in the Rain!*) but is seriously strained in "Go Home with Bonny Jean", "Heather on the Hill", and "It's Almost Like Being in Love". In fact the latter song is a glorious duet between the lovers in the stage show; Kelly does it solo in the film. Instead, what we get between the two lovers in the film is dancing - very elegant, in fact quite balletic (Charisse's specialty), but it goes on and on, and serves again to bring out the artificial studio sets, with Charisse and Kelly dancing around potted heather plants when they're supposed to be wandering over heathered hillsides. Even worse, all this dancing crowds out some of L.& L.'s most beautiful music. One of the best things about the film is tenor Jimmy Thompson, who plays Charlie Dalrymple. On the stage, Charlie has the ballads "Go Home with Bonny Jean", and "Come to Me, Bend to Me". In the film he has to share "Bonny Jean" with Kelly and Johnson, and "Come to Me" didn't even make the final cut. One of the liveliest stage characters is the milkmaid Meg Brockie, who sings the spirited "Real Love of My Life" and "My Mother's Wedding Day". The film (in which she's played by Dodie Heath) preserves some of the comic byplay with Van Johnson, but scraps her songs. Likewise for the girls' chorus "Jeannie's Packin' Up". Two other songs by the male lead, "There But for You Go I", and "From This Day On", were also cut, but this may have been a mercy killing; they survive on the cast recording and as out-takes on the DVD, and they show Gene Kelly's voice to very poor advantage indeed. I should add that many (not all) of these cut songs can be found in the cast recording and as extras on the DVD.

Another out-take on the DVD is the Sword Dance which is part of Jean and Charlie's wedding. The fact that it was cut brings up another matter; the ensemble scenes in the film. These are in fact one of the more attractive elements of the movie, in particular the McConnachy Square market scene. It's worth noting that in the Broadway show the emphasis was on the ensemble dancing, not the individual, and was choreographed by none other than Agnes de Mille. Yes, one must admit that the splashy plaids and kilts and hose and tam-o-shanters show a Scotland that has never existed outside a tourist brochure, and that the level of brogue you hear ebbs and flows suspiciously. But the tone is light, and the hoofing of Kelly - and even Van Johnson! - fits in nicely here. The "Run and Get Him" chase scene is also well done, and integrates Kelly and Johnson in unexpected ways.

A light fantasy like *Brigadoon* doesn't require soul-stirring acting, and this isn't one of the show's problems. Kelly adds a nice touch of mischief to his portrayal of the torn lover, and if Johnson is a little too cynical for my taste in his role as the wisecracking sidekick, he and the man-hunting Dodie Heath do have fun in their scene together. Barry Jones is appropriately benevolent as Mr. Lundie, the elderly schoolmaster who has all the answers.

The real fish out of water here is Cyd Charisse. Let's ignore the fact that, with her height and exotic beauty and non-period dress, she looks about as Scottish as Charlie Chan. The truth is that she just doesn't have the acting chops to sustain a role this important to the plot. Outside of the dances, she and Kelly have surprisingly little time together on screen and develop no romantic chemistry. It's not hard to see why she had a non-speaking role in *Singin' in the Rain* and a more marginal one in *The Band Wagon*.

My parting reflection on *Brigadoon*? If you just have to own it, buy it as part of one of the various DVD packages that Warner has available. It's paired with the much superior *On the Town* (1949), also with Gene Kelly, and with several other MGM musicals in the "Warner's Classic Musicals Collection" set. Otherwise, it's a harmless rainy-day rental or worth a look on television.
PS - DRG has just (spring 2005) come out with a splendid remastering of the classic 1958 Columbia recording of *Brigadoon*, with Shirley Jones and Jack Cassidy, almost certainly the best audio version of this musical.

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for a Rainy Day
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older