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| re: BRIGADOON on TCM; I figured out its weak spot | |
| Posted by: AlanScott 11:31 pm EST 03/08/19 | |
| In reply to: BRIGADOON on TCM; I figured out its weak spot - bmc 05:05 pm EST 03/08/19 | |
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| I think that Kelly's singing is among the least of the film's problems. It's not that I disagree with you when you say that his voice is not really right, but I think it's good enough that if the rest of the film worked, it would not significantly hurt the film. And I'd even say that the low-key quality of Kelly's vocals may be a better choice for a film version of this show. I'd say that a bigger problem is cutting back on Fiona's singing (not to mention that awful "Waitin' for My Dearie" dance) and some of the choreography she is given, which undercuts her character. As choreography, the "Heather on the Hill" dance is quite nice, but would Fiona do some of that, even metaphorically? I don't think so. And like the Goulet TV version, why cast a great ballet dancer as Harry Beaton and then barely allow him to dance? It's crazy that Barry Jones as Mr. Lundie dances more than Hugh Laing does, and Barry Jones proves himself a better dancer than I ever would have expected. In fact, Jones dancing at the wedding may be one of the best things in the movie, which is a sign of how inadequate the movie is. I think I'd never seen the complete film till a year or so ago on TCM. I think I'd seen it decades ago in a heavily cut version on the local 4:30 movie on ABC in New York, and since then I'd seen parts of it on TCM but had never seen it from the beginning. It has a bad reputation but my impression of it from the parts I'd seen was not particularly negative. But when I watched the whole thing, I really understand why it's not well-regarded. I wish I could remember of the specifics of what I found so wrong about it. But we know that Minnelli himself was very unhappy with it, and I certainly felt I could see why. I think David Brooks is still the best Tommy on recordings of the score. Oh, I just remembered one other specific thing I disliked: Jane is so unpleasant (and she is also is on the recent recording). Really, she shouldn't be. They're just not right for each other, but if you really just look at her lines, she's very reasonable and patient with him, and he even seems to recognize that. I think it's wrong to make her a snotty bitch. We really don't need to have the deck stacked so totally against her in that way. |
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| re: BRIGADOON on TCM; I figured out its weak spot | |
| Posted by: Chromolume 12:25 pm EST 03/09/19 | |
| In reply to: re: BRIGADOON on TCM; I figured out its weak spot - AlanScott 11:31 pm EST 03/08/19 | |
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| Oh, I just remembered one other specific thing I disliked: Jane is so unpleasant (and she is also is on the recent recording). Really, she shouldn't be. They're just not right for each other, but if you really just look at her lines, she's very reasonable and patient with him, and he even seems to recognize that. I think it's wrong to make her a snotty bitch. We really don't need to have the deck stacked so totally against her in that way. I mentioned this a bit also. I do think that the writing is part of the problem. We don't meet Jane until that scene, after spending the whole rest of the show with Tommy falling in love with Fiona - I think by the time we first see Jane, it's going to be very hard to be on her side, even if she's played sympathetically. To me it's a little similar to the Butterfly/Miss Saigon situation, where Kate/Ellen just never has a real chance to win us over, because we've already developed such a sympathy for Butterfly/Kim. (Even Ellen's constantly changing song has never really helped. In fact, I still like "Her Or Me" better than the other two, because I feel it's really a more honest and dramatic take on the emotional stakes.) Now - I think this works the way it's supposed to in Butterfly/Saigon, given the dramatic arc and stakes. (And in the opera, Jane gets about as much stage time as Kate in Brigadoon, lol.) But part of my problem with that Brigadoon New York scene is, if Jane really could have more of an importance in the story somehow, it might give that scene a more credible tension and stakes, which I think it really could use. More fodder for Tommy to really have to make up his mind, instead of this vague idea that he just can't get Brigadoon OUT of his mind. Since we barely know anything about Jane and about Tommy's feelings for her, it just doesn't play well at all. She indeed might as well just "go home...go home..." lol. |
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| re: BRIGADOON on TCM; I figured out its weak spot | |
| Last Edit: AlanScott 01:37 pm EST 03/09/19 | |
| Posted by: AlanScott 01:35 pm EST 03/09/19 | |
| In reply to: re: BRIGADOON on TCM; I figured out its weak spot - Chromolume 12:25 pm EST 03/09/19 | |
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| I saw Miss Saigon once around three or four years into the first Broadway run, and that really is my total acquaintance with it, except for seeing the segments on the Tonys so . . . I completely see why playing Jane as unpleasantly as possible may be considered desirable, but it's interesting that if you think about the situation and you read the scene, she seems, if anything, exceptionally reasonable and patient with Tommy. I'd think an actress might want to play her that way, but perhaps the audience should not be allowed to feel any sympathy for her. But, really, Lerner did not write her at all negatively, which is interesting. |
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| re: BRIGADOON on TCM; I figured out its weak spot | |
| Posted by: Michael_Portantiere 12:02 am EST 03/09/19 | |
| In reply to: re: BRIGADOON on TCM; I figured out its weak spot - AlanScott 11:31 pm EST 03/08/19 | |
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| "And like the Goulet TV version, why cast a great ballet dancer as Harry Beaton and then barely allow him to dance?" I think part of the answer to that is the answer to what is the cause of several of the film's flaws: Gene Kelly's ego. And one other important factor: I believe Vincente Minnelli was going directly from one movie to another at that time, and he seemed to have his heart in few if any of them and was perhaps not able to focus on each one while working on it. "Oh, I just remembered one other specific thing I disliked: Jane is so unpleasant (and she is also is on the recent recording). Really, she shouldn't be. They're just not right for each other, but if you really just look at her lines, she's very reasonable and patient with him, and he even seems to recognize that. I think it's wrong to make her a snotty bitch. We really don't need to have the deck stacked so totally against her in that way." Agreed. |
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