Brigadoon (1954) Review

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When I first rented BRIGADOON from the public library last spring, I immediately fell in love with it. Just added the DVD to my collection yesterday. It is one of the most beautiful films I have ever seen. It is a 1954 film adaptation of the 1947 Broadway musical. The Lerner and Loewe score is one of the greatest ever written for the stage (or screen). The great cast includes Gene Kelly, Van Johnson, and Cyd Charisse. Although certainly not the greatest singers in the world, Kelly's and Johnson's singing is more than adequate and is really quite lovely. Charisse's singing voice is dubbed for this film, and she works great as well.

When Brigadoon made the transition from Broadway to Hollywood, a good chunk of its score was dispensed with in order to make room to highlight the dancing abilities of its stars. This is, in fact, where many people find fault with this film; the lack of the rest of the Broadway score. To these people, I have this to say... ---This movie is not the Broadway play. It is a **film adaptation.**-- This is also the common complaint about MGM's "Show Boat" from 3 years earlier. Another common complaint about "Brigadoon" is that it was obviously shot in soundstages on the MGM lot in Culver City instead of the highlands of Scotland. This was due to the fact that producers were working with smaller budgets than they had been just 3 or 4 years earlier. This, coupled with the unpredictable weather in the British Isles, necesitated that the film be shot at the studio. This is also evident in "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" from the same year. Although the sets are obviously painted backdrops, they are nicely done and work well. IMO, they do not demerit the film.

Brigadoon more than makes up for the missing songs by adding some spectacular dance numbers. "Heather on the Hill" is one of the most sweeping dance numbers I have ever seen in any film. Kelly's and Charisse's gracefulness really hits the spot.

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND the DVD, with its lush color, clear picture, and stereo sound. If you haven't seen "Brigadoon," you should see it. At the very least for some of the greatest dance numbers you will ever see.

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I saw a high school production of BRIGADOON in San Francisco at the ICA (Immaculate Conception Academy) at 24th and Guerrero. These girls who played the parts had never been anywhere near Scotland, you could tell, and some had not been in the USA very long and the charming accents of South of the Border stood in for the strong Scots burr. Nevertheless they played the show beautifully and ever since then I have had a fondness for the music and the story. I feel that the makers of MOULIN ROUGE were probably trying to capture some of the big-hearted appeal of BRIGADOON when they created their fantasy world. Watching the movie I have always felt that a bit of the magic was lost because so much of Minnelli's canvas was spent on dance elements which, IMHO, are just not that interesting. So many dance numbers created to take advantage of Gene Kelly's and Cyd Charisse's astonishing abilities. Maybe too many! Thus some of the musical numbers had to be cut out, including some of the loveliest of the songs Lerner and Loewe wrote for the 1947 musical.

Imagine my surprise and delight when the new DVD came out this spring and I discover that, in fact, Minnelli did film three of the rejected songs (and recorded another, perhaps the greatest) and that all of this deleted material would be available on the disc. I was in hog heaven. However we are all familiar with some deleted scenes that you watch and then you say, "Well, I know why that sucker got deleted" and I was afraid that these scenes would be of inferior quality. (Like "Is It A Crime?" in BELLS ARE RINGING--forgive me, "Crime" fans!)

But it is my pleasure to report that all 3 numbers here are keepers. I wish somehow they had been re-integrated back into the main print of BRIGADOON and we could then judge the movie for once and for all the way Minnelli wanted it. If it is too long, then maybe shorten down the "Sword Dance." I feel sure that somewhere footage must exist for the exquisite "There But For You Go I"--or is that just a dream of mine? In any case we can now hear the track, and we can see the fully staged versions of "Come to Me, Bend to Me" and the marvelous "From This Day On" which is to BRIGADOON what "From This Moment On" is to KISS ME KATE. All in all, the plus factor makes this disc the one to buy if you're wanting the full BRIGADOON magic.

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The reason I saw this is because I am a huge Gene Kelly fan and I love Cyd Charisse as well! This isn't the greatest MGM musical but it was one of the last ones from the "Golden Age" that make this movie very special. The movie is about two hunters named Tommy(Gene Kelly) and Jeff (Van Johnson) who are in Scotland. While they are lost they stumble into this little village that isn't on their map. The village happens to be Brigadoon and it happens to wake up for one day every one hundred years. Tommy starts to fall in love with Fiona (Cyd Charisse) but Fiona can't leave the village if she does the town will disappear forever. This movie has a lot of great music my favorites are "Heather on the Hill", "Waitin' for My Dearie", "I'll Go Home With Bonnie Jean", and "Almost Like Being in Love." This is really one the last great musicals! This a must see movie! I am very happy that Warner Bros. re-released this on DVD with good extras!

Here are the extras:

First-ever New Digital 16x9 Transfer (2:55:1)

Soundtrack Remastered in Dolby Digital 5.1

Three Outtake Musical Numbers: Come to Me, Bend to Me, From this Day On and Sword Dance

Audio Outtake: There But for You Go I

Theatrical Trailer

Languages: English & French

Subtitles English, French and Spanish

Go out and get lost and fall in love with Brigadoon!

Honest reviews on Brigadoon (1954)

Although painted backdrops and cyclorama stand in for the "heathered hills" of Scotland, M-G-M's film version of BRIGADOON (directed by Vincente Minnelli) does feature Cyd Charisse and Gene Kelly in some of their finest work on screen. Charisse in particular dazzles as Fiona with some fancy footwork in "The Heather on the Hill", the memorable pas de deux with Kelly. Dody Heath and Van Johnson provide the cute secondary romance. The Broadway score of Lerner and Loewe ("Waitin' for My Dearie", "I'll Go Home with Bonnie Jean", "Almost Like Being in Love", etc.) is justly-delivered by the renowned M-G-M Studio Orchestra under the baton of Johnny Green (with arrangements by Conrad Salinger).

Originally this film was to have been shot on location in Scotland, but budget cuts under the new studio head Dore Schary prevented this. The fake sets combined with the CinemaScope ratio spelled disaster for the film technically. Artistically, BRIGADOON's heart was in the right place and the sincerity of the performers overcomes any of the bigger problems. Still wonderful.

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I wonder why the beautiful Lerner-Loewe meoldies and lyrics and the movie itself are not more popular than they are I'll go home with Bonnie Jean, The heather on the Hill, Almost like being in love. The movie itself is a serious production, meticulous in costumes, design and choreography.

This is a fairy tale, almost a charming ghost story, which is so unreal that it only happens in old places like the Scottish highland. Something beautiful that emerges beneath the fog only once in a while.

The story is also rich in Scottish culture bagpipes, kilts, market place and folklore.

I also wonder why Van Johnson, with a big build and yet such a nimble tap dancer, did not have more dancing roles in other movies. And Cyd Charisse ballet dancing is simply an eye candy.

The melodies are so sweet and chorus so pure that the movie is worth watching over and over again, even if it is only for the songs.