Brigadoon Revisited

An affectionate look back at the low budget "synthetic Scotch" movie that still sparkles in the mist, 70 years on

- JUDY VICKERS

A SWIRL of mist, a skirl of pipes, several twirls of tartanyes, 70 years ago this year Brigadoon, Hollywood's take on romantic Scotland, was released in all its CinemaScope glory.

In the decades since, the movie, starring Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse, has become a byword for cheesy Scottish clichés. In Four Weddings And A Funeral, Simon Callow's character arrives at a kilt-filled Highland wedding and shouts, "It's bloody Brigadoon!" No more explanation needed.

Although the film itself was critically panned and made modest box office returns, the original stage version was a huge success on Broadway and on tour, even transferring to London's West End for an 18-month run in 1949 (for which a Scottish advisor was hired to make the tartans and accents a little more authentic). There have been countless stage productions since then, as well as a 1960s TV series.

The story is of a village - Brigadoon - which appears out of the mist for a day, once every 100 years. And on that particular day in 1954, two Americans (Kelly as Tommy and Van Johnson as his pal Jeff) are on a grouse shooting holiday in Scotland when the mists clear and the village appears before them.

Puzzled as to why the village doesn't appear on their map, the pair cross a quaint stone arched bridge into the main square filled with happy villagers weaving tartan.