Brigadoon (1954)

Brigadoon
Directed by Vicente Minnelli
Written by Alan Jay Lerner
1954/USA
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
First viewing/Netflix rental

[box] All the music of life seems to be/ Like a bell that is ringing for me/ And from the way that I feel/ When that bell starts to peal/ I would swear I was falling/ I could swear I was falling/ It’s almost like being in love. – “Almost Like Being in Love”, lyrics by Alan J. Lerner [/box]

This has some nice songs and Minnelli does well with Cinemascope but it didn’t grab me.

Americans Tommy Albright (Gene Kelly) and Jeff Douglas (Van Johnson) have come to Scotland to hunt grouse.  One day, they stumble across a strange village that doesn’t appear on the map.  It is a wedding day and villagers are preparing for festivities.  Tommy is immediately taken by Fiona Campbell (Cyd Charisse) the beautiful older sister of the bride.

It develops that the village is under a protective spell that means it reappears only once every hundred years.  The villagers are not aware of the passage of time, nor do they age. If any villager leaves town the village will disappear entirely.  A young man who is jealous of the wedding threatens to do just that.  As the day comes to an end, Tommy is faced with deciding whether he wants to stay with Fiona or return to modern New York.

Again, this has good music and some lovely balletic dancing.   It lacks pacing or a compelling story, though, and I found it quite forgettable.  The Scottish accents leave a lot to be desired.

Brigadoon was nominated for Academy Awards in the categories of Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color; Best Costume Design, Color, and Best Sound, Recording.