Among the song and dance routines for this Broadway show revamped for Vincente Minnelli’s Brigadoon (1954) is one that looks like a picnic because Tommy and Fiona seem to be setting out for a picnic. She’s carrying a basket, but it’s empty—and meant for collecting heather. If you see the frame out of context, it looks picnicky, but it leads to the romantic ballad “The Heather on the Hill.”
When Jeff Douglas berates Tommy Albright for considering staying in Brigadoon (a town stuck in time where it is 1754, not 1954) for a lifetime, he’s cynical: “And you wanna give up your family, your friends, your whole life for this? It’s not even worth arguing. Now go say goodbye to the little people and thank them for the picnic!” Tommy’s problem is that he’s in love, something Jeff cannot understand. Reluctantly, Tommy says goodbye and returns to New York, where everyone drinks very dry martinis for lunch, and Jeff quips, “It’s not the heat but the humanity.” Muddled more than before, Tommy gets on the next plane for Brigadoon, where Fiona greets him. True love wins, and so does sudsy melodrama.
Brigadoon is an original fairytale by Alan Jay Lerner. Its premise is that Brigadoon, a village in the Scottish Highlands, awakens once every hundred years for twenty-four hours and then sleeps for a century. When Tommy and Jeff first stumble into Brigadoon, it’s two hundred years earlier.
Featured Image: Singing “The Heather on the Hill.” Gene Kelly as Tommy alright and Syd Charisse as Fiona Campbell
See Vincente Minnelli. Brigadoon (1954). Screenplay by Alan Jay Lerner based on his play (1947). Music by Fritz Loewe. Lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner