Friday, September 14, 2012
ROLLING IN THE HEATHER
Today's film was the Vincent Minnelli production of
with Gene Kelly, Van Johnson and Cyd Charisse.
The year I graduated from high school.
The town of Brigadoon rises every hundred years for just one day and so does this movie. I had a yen to see it. It has been a very long time.
I know the score cold and have heard several Broadway versions of the Lerner and Lowe musical.
In this, Gene Kelly doesn't sing very well but he sure can dance and also is able to stand there beautifully. Surprise! Van Johnson, who it turns out was gay all the way through, can sing and dance right with the great master. Charisse is not at her best in this film. It is not a rich part and she doesn't do her own singing. The dance is slow and lugubrious.
But. The production is very peppy. They decided to stay inside. It is all indoor sets with huge background paintings and all. Younger people will moan at this but it is a lost art. Yes. We knew that they were not outside. It is a fantasy and is meant to be indicated as such. It is a magical town. The flats bring it to life. Outside or CGI would kill it. Dead.
What else. Many musical adaptations ruined the score with huge orchestration. This film is an exception partly because a lot of the music is meant to be rich and lush but also it is piped down quite a bit and brought forward, I suspect, in this restoration to make it sound more 21st century. They can do that ya' know.
I had forgotten the New York scenes. The pace, the noise, the frantic race to have fun. It is very well done.
The men still strip to chase Harry Beaton. The fog still rolls in and out. The quaint and charming village is still quaint and charming. 18th Century you know.
I cried quite a bit during this and at the end which is superbly rendered. Perfect. Couldn't be better. Somehow I suspect the film beats the stage here and in some other areas (NYC) because you just can't do these kind of "shots" when you are watching from a theater seat.
And it is in CINEMASCOPE! Color by ANSCO!
This is a 5, goddamit. A Netflix5 out of 5. Love it.
The trailer is almost 4 minutes long. As fun to watch as the movie.
Labels: films
