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Brigadoon
Considering all of the talent involved on both sides of the camera, the 1954 film version of the Lerner and Lowe Broadway musical Brigadoon never becomes the truly enchanting musical film it could have and should have been.
Tommy (Gene Kelly) and Jeff (Van Johnson) are New York businessmen who go on a hunting trip in Scotland who get lost but they encounter a tiny village where the townspeople are preparing for the wedding of Jean (Virginia Bosler) and Charlie (Jimmy Thompson). Tommy is instantly attracted to Jean's older sister, Fiona (Cyd Charisse) but their romance leads Tommy to a secret about the town that could keep Tommy and Fiona apart forever, not to mention Harry Beaton (Hugh Laing) the other man who still loves Jean whose obsession with Jean could also destroy Brigadoon forever.
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Considered by many a lesser work of Lerner and Lowe, who also wrote the scores for My Fair Lady and Camelot, the stage musical does go under some serious deconstruction here as a large portion of the score was scrapped to fit the MGM stable of stars, or more specifically, the dancing talents of Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse (Charisse's singing is dubbed by Carole Richards). A lot of what is expressed between the lead characters in this story that was done with dialogue and song onstage is done with dance and dilutes a lot of the story's charm. Despite the score tampering, we still have "Waitin for My Dearie", "The Heather on the Hill", "I'll Go Home with Bonnie Jean:, "Almost Like Being in Love" and the lilting title song. The town tart, Meg Brody, had two of the show';s best songs onstage, "The Love of My Life" and "My Mother's Wedding Day", but both were scrapped here reducing the role of Meg to a cameo that she makes the most of with Johnson. I also missed a lovely ballad between the leads called "Come to Me, Bend to Me."
The other problem here (and director Vincente Minnelli has to take some blame for this) is the look of the film. We all know of Minnelli's eye for color onscreen and it is evident here; unfortunately, this allegedly magic Scottish village looks like it was built completely on a sound stage. I never get the feeling that I'm in the highlands of Scotland and it's a shame that Minnelli didn't do some location shooting for this. He didn't have to go to Scotland, but he could have gone somewhere with some real mountains and hills. Minnelli's overly melodramatic handling of the final act didn't help either.
Kelly also served as choreographer for the film and his staging of the dance numbers is energetic but a little unimaginative. He works well with Charisse, who makes a lovely Fiona and Johnson has some funny moments, but for an MGM version of a Lerner and Lowe musical, this was a disappointment.
Considering all of the talent involved on both sides of the camera, the 1954 film version of the Lerner and Lowe Broadway musical Brigadoon never becomes the truly enchanting musical film it could have and should have been.
Tommy (Gene Kelly) and Jeff (Van Johnson) are New York businessmen who go on a hunting trip in Scotland who get lost but they encounter a tiny village where the townspeople are preparing for the wedding of Jean (Virginia Bosler) and Charlie (Jimmy Thompson). Tommy is instantly attracted to Jean's older sister, Fiona (Cyd Charisse) but their romance leads Tommy to a secret about the town that could keep Tommy and Fiona apart forever, not to mention Harry Beaton (Hugh Laing) the other man who still loves Jean whose obsession with Jean could also destroy Brigadoon forever.
Considered by many a lesser work of Lerner and Lowe, who also wrote the scores for My Fair Lady and Camelot, the stage musical does go under some serious deconstruction here as a large portion of the score was scrapped to fit the MGM stable of stars, or more specifically, the dancing talents of Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse (Charisse's singing is dubbed by Carole Richards). A lot of what is expressed between the lead characters in this story that was done with dialogue and song onstage is done with dance and dilutes a lot of the story's charm. Despite the score tampering, we still have "Waitin for My Dearie", "The Heather on the Hill", "I'll Go Home with Bonnie Jean:, "Almost Like Being in Love" and the lilting title song. The town tart, Meg Brody, had two of the show';s best songs onstage, "The Love of My Life" and "My Mother's Wedding Day", but both were scrapped here reducing the role of Meg to a cameo that she makes the most of with Johnson. I also missed a lovely ballad between the leads called "Come to Me, Bend to Me."
The other problem here (and director Vincente Minnelli has to take some blame for this) is the look of the film. We all know of Minnelli's eye for color onscreen and it is evident here; unfortunately, this allegedly magic Scottish village looks like it was built completely on a sound stage. I never get the feeling that I'm in the highlands of Scotland and it's a shame that Minnelli didn't do some location shooting for this. He didn't have to go to Scotland, but he could have gone somewhere with some real mountains and hills. Minnelli's overly melodramatic handling of the final act didn't help either.
Kelly also served as choreographer for the film and his staging of the dance numbers is energetic but a little unimaginative. He works well with Charisse, who makes a lovely Fiona and Johnson has some funny moments, but for an MGM version of a Lerner and Lowe musical, this was a disappointment.