Brigadoon (1954)

(Youtube Streaming, June 2022) All right, this is it – not that I think anyone will care, but this is the final film from legendary MGM musicals producer Arthur Freed that I hadn’t yet seen. Compared to the other last few titles of the Freed Unit filmography, Brigadoon is not all that racially problematic, lower-budgeted or stuck with unfamiliar actors. In fact, it’s also one of the last few musicals featuring Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse that were left on my list. No, if it took that long, it’s because the film somehow isn’t legally available for broadcast in Canada – TCM regularly shows it for the American market, but substitutes other titles for its Canadian simulcast. No other channel or streaming site seems to have it. The version for sale on Amazon is said to be Region-2 only. So, I had to be inventive in how I saw it. Alas, I can’t say that the result was worth the trouble. Surprisingly dull and twee, the film features Kelly as an American tumbling upon a fantastic village in the depth of the Scottish highlands, a village bound by complex romantic rituals that is set to disappear for another hundred years within days. The film’s lavish number of dancers doesn’t manage to make it feel any more real than its soundstage shooting location – something even apparent in the film’s best moments, the anthology-worthy dance duet between Charisse and Kelly to the tune of “The Heather on the Hill.”  Despite some moments where the film becomes mildly intriguing, much of Brigadoon feels as flat as its soundstage backdrops – forgettable songs, a few set-pieces, overdone Scottish mythmaking and a contrived fantasy narrative that’s just an excuse for “We don’t need to justify a happy ending.”  It’s tedious more often than not, and increasingly drawn-out as the third act gets underway. It’s a surprising dud for Kelly, Charisse and director Vincente Minnelli as well – a project that was launched with care and hopes, but failed to rise to meet expectations. Brigadoon is not a particularly good way to end my trip through the Freed filmography – but, hey, at least there’s no blackface in this one.