Brigadoon (1954)

This may be the first film I watched because of a vocabulary lesson. Dictionaries make the titular place sound akin to Xanadu or Shangri-la, albeit often with less emphasis on utopian qualities and more on separation from the outside world. When I learned that the source was a Lerner and Lowe musical and this version had Vincente Minnelli directing and Gene Kelly starring, I opted to take a chance in spite of a mixed reception.

Two New Yorkers, Tommy (Kelly) and Jeff (Van Johnson), go hunting for sport in Scotland and stumble on a curiously unmapped farming town. They can tell that the citizens are unaccustomed to visitors, but Charlie (Jimmy Thompson), feeling great about his imminent wedding, urges their welcome. As it happens, Tommy rapidly falls in mutual love with the bride's sister, Fiona (Cyd Charisse), nearly forgetting his fiancée back in New York. But Jeff can't shake the feeling there's something too fishy about Brigadoon, and he'd like to forget the whole thing....

The twist is revealed maybe halfway through the movie, but Wikipedia explains it in the first sentence, and IMDb doesn't consider it a spoiler either. I pretty much have to spill it if I want to say much. If you don't think you're ready, you can skip the next four paragraphs, but here are some hints from the first few minutes: The townsfolk dress like the 18th century, and they reject the outsiders' cash because of the year on it.

A town elder appears to be the only one who can explain the situation to Tommy and Jeff when they demand it. He says that a minister 200 years ago prayed for a miracle that would keep Brigadoon almost completely unchanged by the outside world, specifically by making it exist only one day per century. Thus, from the inside perspective, only two days have passed since this miracle occurred. Sadly, the minister saw fit to practice self-sacrifice for effect, so he couldn't be a part of his beloved hometown anymore.

The elder makes that minister out to be a saint, but the blessing is so mixed that I'd sooner call it a curse. Brigadoon has no choice but to be self-sufficient. Not only will interacting with outsiders only get harder by the "day," but if any native citizen were to leave the borders, the entire town and everyone in it would disappear for good come nightfall. And no, they aren't all content. This also has serious implications for Tommy: He doesn't have long to decide whether to say a seemingly permanent goodbye to one world or the other.

Of course, like with the Red King's dream, it's not clear that the legend is 100% true, since no one has dared to test it. For that matter, it's not clear how anyone heard about the miracle in the first place, let alone how they all came to believe in it. And they sure don't act like they've had only two days (with long sleeps) to get used to the idea. Heck, how much Brigadoon time will elapse before the world becomes uninhabitable to humans? The more you dwell on the premises, the more absurd they get.

Perhaps the story is better viewed as a thought experiment. How readily would you believe the explanation with the evidence on hand? How much would you have to love someone to stay under the circumstances? Could you possibly love anyone that strongly in a matter of hours if not minutes -- especially if you were already engaged to someone else?

The contrast provided by Jeff adds some interest. He's grown terribly cynical about life in general and love in particular. When a Brigadoon woman courts him, he's not the least bit receptive. Nor does he change his mind about her, to our knowledge. His snide remarks help counterbalance the nearly cloying idyllic side.

Alas, I think the story shoots itself in the foot and makes Jeff look wise. Love is a mental prison for Tommy, forcing him to choose between one drastic move and another. When the initial ardor fades, he's likely to realize that an old-fashioned lifestyle for the rest of his life isn't so swell. More certainly, love causes trouble when Harry (Hugh Laing), unable to marry his crush, turns to hating the place and wants to flee. Anywhere else, he'd have that right; but in Brigadoon, it's attempted mass murder.

Sure, there's a happy ending, as always for '50s musicals. But when it relies on another miracle, it doesn't exactly reinforce the idea that love wins in reality. You might as well use a Superman comic to promulgate the notion that justice will prevail.

OK, enough about the plot; we've had plenty of popular musicals with fairy-tale logic and questionable lessons. What of the spectacle? Well, this being a Kelly vehicle, there's a heavy helping of dance. Indeed, the trailer summarized the picture as "An American in Scotland." Unfortunately, the moves aren't as fun or innovative as I've come to hope. They may seem a little different with the frequent Scottish flavor, but they rarely look all that difficult or energetic.

There are also significantly fewer songs than on the stage. This comes partly from a few allegedly racy numbers being cut and partly from the lower singing talent available. The makers had wanted Howard Keel instead of Kelly and Jane Powell instead of Charisse, but those two were busy with the same year's Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, which, against contemporary expectations, did way better at the box office. I can see why.

Not that Brigadoon would have been a superb musical under the best conditions. I had never heard any of the songs before, and I almost completely forgot how they went as soon as they were over. The deleted scenes don't help either.

As for the non-dance visuals, at least the costumes look nice in technicolor. Kelly and Minnelli wanted to shoot in Scotland but had to use an expensive fake backdrop instead, convincing enough for birds to smack but rather obvious to humans. In a way, it's just as well, contributing to the dreamy nature of Brigadoon.

How much you like the movie may depend on your own level of idealism. I'd probably have liked it better as a teen, when I had a thing for utopias.