Brigadoon (film)

Infobox Film
name = Brigadoon


image_size =
caption = Original film poster
director = Vincente Minnelli
producer = Arthur Freed
writer = Alan Jay Lerner
narrator =
starring = Gene Kelly
Van Johnson
Cyd Charisse
music = Alan Jay Lerner (Lyrics)
Frederick Loewe (Music)
cinematography = Joseph Ruttenberg
editing = Albert Akst
distributor = MGM
released = September 8, 1954
runtime = 108 min.
country = USA
language = English
budget = $2,352,625 (estimated)
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website =
amg_id =
imdb_id = 0046807

"Brigadoon" (1954) is an MGM musical feature film based on the Broadway musical of the same name by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe. The film was directed by Vincente Minnelli and stars Gene Kelly, Van Johnson, and Cyd Charisse. "Brigadoon" has been broadcast on American television and is available in both VHS and DVD formats.

Plot

Americans Tommy Albright (Gene Kelly) and Jeff Douglas (Van Johnson) are on a hunting trip in Scotland and become lost in the woodlands. They hap upon Brigadoon, a magical village that rises out of the mists every hundred years for only a day. Tommy falls in love with village lass Fiona Campbell (Cyd Charisse). When he learns his love for Fiona will make it possible for him to remain in Brigadoon forever, he initially is willing to commit himself but backs down as the day ends and Brigadoon disappears. Back in New York City, he can think only of Fiona. He returns to Scotland. There, his great love causes Brigadoon to materialize before its appointed time. He crosses the bridge to the village and is united with Fiona forever.

Cast

* Gene Kelly — Tommy Albright
* Van Johnson — Jeff Douglas
* Cyd Charisse — Fiona Campbell
* Elaine Stewart — Jane Ashton
* Barry Jones — Mr. Lundie
* Hugh Laing — Harry Beaton
* Albert Sharpe — Andrew Campbell
* Virginia Bosler — Jean Campbell
* Jimmy Thompson — Charlie Chisholm Dalrymple
* Tudor Owen — Archie Beaton
* Owen McGiveney — Angus
* Dee Turnell — Ann
* Dodie Heath — Meg Brockie (as Dody Heath)
* Eddie Quillan — Sandy

Musical numbers

#"Once in the Highlands/Brigadoon/Down on MacConnachy Square" –Eddie Quillan, Villagers, and Offscreen M-G-M Chorus
#"Waiting for My Dearie" – Cyd Charisse (dubbed by Carol Richards) and Dee Turnell (dubbed by Bonnie Murray)
#"I'll Go Home with Bonnie Jean" – Jimmy Thompson (dubbed by John Gustafson), Gene Kelly, Van Johnson and Chorus
#"The Heather on the Hill" – Gene Kelly, Danced by Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse
#"Almost Like Being in Love" – Sung and Danced by Gene Kelly
#"The Wedding Dance" – Danced by Jimmy Thompson and Virginia Bosler
#"The Chase" – Sung by men pursuing Hugh Laing
#"The Heather on the Hill" – Danced by Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse
#"I'll Go Home with Bonnie Jean" (reprise) – Sung offscreen by Jimmy Thompson, Carol Richards and Chorus
#"The Heather on the Hill" (reprise) – Sung offscreen by Jimmy Thompson, Carol Richards and Chorus
#"Waitin' for My Dearie" (reprise) – Sung offscreen by Jimmy Thompson, Carol Richards and Chorus
#"Finale: Brigadoon" – M-G-M Chorus:"Source: [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046807/soundtrack IMDB] "

Four of the stage show's musical numbers ("Come to Me, Bend to Me", "There But For You Go I", "From This Day On", and "The Sword Dance") were cut prior to the film's release. The Breen office refused to allow the use of the two songs the Meg Brockie character sang in the stage version ("The Love of My Life" and "My Mother's Wedding Day" [ [http://www.guntheranderson.com/v/data/mymother.htm Lyrics to My Mother's Wedding Day] ] ), as the lyrics were considered too risqué for general audiences. With the omission of these songs, the supporting role of Meg Brockie was reduced in the film to scarcely more than a bit part. The minor song "Jeannie's Packin' Up" was also omitted. Some of this was done because, after listening to Gene Kelly's pre-recordings of "There But For You Go I" and "From This Day On", the makers of the film felt that the results did not show his voice to its best advantage, but some was done because producer Arthur Freed wanted to shape the two-and-a-half hour stage musical into a film that ran 108 minutes.

Complete sound and picture footage of three of the deleted musical numbers has survived, and it is included in the latest DVD release of the film.

The 1954 original motion picture soundtrack was originally incomplete, but was re-released with deleted songs, alternate takes, and undubbed vocals.

Reception

Bosley Crowther in the "New York Times" of September 17, 1954, described the film as "curiously flat and out-of-joint, rambling all over creation and seldom generating warmth or charm." Crowther admired the costumes, sets, and decor but deplored the omission of several musical numbers. He found fault with the film's two stars and its director, "...the personable Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse have the lead dancing roles. Even so, their several individual numbers are done too slickly, too mechanistically. What should be wistful and lyric smack strongly of trickery and style...Mr. Kelly's [performance] is as thin and metallic as a nail; Miss Charisse's is solemn and posey...Vincente Minnelli's direction lacks his usual vitality and flow." He concluded by noting the film was "pretty weak synthetic Scotch." [ [http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9D07E6DB1E31E53BBC4F52DFBF66838F649EDE "New York Times" Review] ]

Awards and nominations

The film was nominated for three 1955 Academy Awards:
*Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color - (Cedric Gibbons, E. Preston Ames, Edwin B. Willis, F. Keogh Gleason)
*Best Costume Design, Color - (Irene Sharaff)
*Best Sound, Recording - Wesley C. Miller (MGM)

The film won a 1955 Golden Globe:
* Best Cinematography, Color - (Joseph Ruttenberg)

References