Brigadoon
Ah, lads and lassies, gather round for a rousing telling of a classic Scottish tale. What? It's not a classic Scottish tale? It's actually based on a story about a German village that comes under an evil, magic curse. Okay, that explains why it's so crappy.
I taped Brigadoon because I knew Van Johnson and Gene Kelly were the two male stars. And I had seen my high school put on a production of it while I was in high school and remembered enjoying it. I think it lost a lot in the translation from the stage to the screen.
Brigadoon is about two Americans who have come to Scotland to hunt. They got lost somewhere in the middle of Scotland and come across a village where there shouldn't be a village. It's Brigadoon -- a magical town that lives one day every one hundred years. And today there is going to be a marriage. Fiona (Cyd Charrise) is the older sister of the girl getting married. She doesn't want to get married until she meets the right man -- and he happens to be an American from the twentieth century. Ah, yes, love strikes Tommy (Kelly) and Fiona and they sing and dance in the heather.
Tommy and Jeff (Johnson) also have a number where they show the seventeenth century Scots people modern dance. One of the men from the village tries to leave, which would cause the whole village to stop existing, and Jeff shoots him by accident.
Tommy and Jeff decide to leave the village -- Tommy isn't 100% sure that he loves Fiona -- and they head back to New York. Tommy continues to remain discontented with his modern fiance, and he goes back to Scotland with Jeff in tow to look for Brigadoon. The village wakes up briefly to welcome Tommy back and all is happy.
But the movie! Not very good. I think the problem is that it really looks like a soundstage -- which it was -- and so much of the film is done in long shots. I like long shots, but seriously, I felt like I needed to get to know the characters a little bit more than I actually did. And Van was really annoying. I like him quite a bit -- I'm all about taping his films -- but as an alcoholic! Yikes! And his accent just grated. Gene wasn't much better. The dances were a little too much ballet for me. It just didn't move me at all. Not even the sappy romantic songs.
FILE UNDER: Classic Films ; Van Johnson
I taped Brigadoon because I knew Van Johnson and Gene Kelly were the two male stars. And I had seen my high school put on a production of it while I was in high school and remembered enjoying it. I think it lost a lot in the translation from the stage to the screen.
Brigadoon is about two Americans who have come to Scotland to hunt. They got lost somewhere in the middle of Scotland and come across a village where there shouldn't be a village. It's Brigadoon -- a magical town that lives one day every one hundred years. And today there is going to be a marriage. Fiona (Cyd Charrise) is the older sister of the girl getting married. She doesn't want to get married until she meets the right man -- and he happens to be an American from the twentieth century. Ah, yes, love strikes Tommy (Kelly) and Fiona and they sing and dance in the heather.
Tommy and Jeff (Johnson) also have a number where they show the seventeenth century Scots people modern dance. One of the men from the village tries to leave, which would cause the whole village to stop existing, and Jeff shoots him by accident.
Tommy and Jeff decide to leave the village -- Tommy isn't 100% sure that he loves Fiona -- and they head back to New York. Tommy continues to remain discontented with his modern fiance, and he goes back to Scotland with Jeff in tow to look for Brigadoon. The village wakes up briefly to welcome Tommy back and all is happy.
But the movie! Not very good. I think the problem is that it really looks like a soundstage -- which it was -- and so much of the film is done in long shots. I like long shots, but seriously, I felt like I needed to get to know the characters a little bit more than I actually did. And Van was really annoying. I like him quite a bit -- I'm all about taping his films -- but as an alcoholic! Yikes! And his accent just grated. Gene wasn't much better. The dances were a little too much ballet for me. It just didn't move me at all. Not even the sappy romantic songs.
FILE UNDER: Classic Films ; Van Johnson
posted by Rebecca at 4:10 PM
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