"Brigadoon" is really one of the best musicals ever made, a stunning blend of remarkable music with an unbeatable story. This movie *had* to be popular at some point-- what ever happened?! Nobody even knows it exists anymore! Wait a minute... this is sounding very familiar. Lerner and Loewe's disappearing-village fable expertly combines the mysticism of the Scottish Highlands with the unbreakable dancing chops of Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse. It is an explosion of sound, color, and (a tolerable level of) emotion. And as a Scotsman, something makes me connect to the blaring bagpipes and the fantastically well-done accents, not to mention the glorious costumes and phenomenal sets. This is the movie musical as it was originally intended, a fascinating mixture of tunes and story, of fantasy and realism, of words and the things better left unsaid. This is a lambasted masterpiece and deserves recognition for what it is: very near to the perfection many better-known copycats claim is their own (I'm talking to you, "Sound of Music" and "West Side Story").
Review of Brigadoon
