Brigadoon

[auld argonian]

...and she is still with us...just checked.

Best

AA

[Colin]

About six or seven years ago the original kilts from Brigadoon were on Ebay. I bought the one Gene Kelley wore, with the silver thread added, for $125.00. Later sold it for a lot more to a collector of memorabilia.

I don't remember Gene Kelly actually ever wearing a kilt in that movie....Maybe I am wrong, but I thought he was in his hunting gear for the first part and in another outfit at the end. When did he wear a kilt?

[auld argonian]

There was also a made-for-tv version in the sixties or seventies...Robert Goulet taking over for Gene Kelly. Somewhere in all of this old junk I have a copy of the soundtrack for this...was produced by Armstrong Flooring.

I mention this because there was a kilt listed on ebay that had a provenance of having been from a film of Brigadoon but they mention that it also had a date on it that was ten years past the production date of the Gene Kelly flick.

Best

AA

[Freedomlover]

I don't remember Gene Kelly actually ever wearing a kilt in that movie....Maybe I am wrong, but I thought he was in his hunting gear for the first part and in another outfit at the end. When did he wear a kilt?

You got me thinking. I haven't seen the film for years so I couldn't say where in it he wore it. I went off the Ebay listing, and that is what it claimed. The movie buff I sold it to never raised the question. Now I'm wondering if what I bought and sold was genuine. I had a Hollywood costumers label in it, but who knows?

[Nick]

I know that what some call "Brigadoonery" is much lamented, but "Brigadoon" is what got me wearing kilts. And the funny thing is, I played Tommy! One of two men in the entire cast who never wore a kilt! But during the show some of us expressed interest in our choreographer teaching a class in Scottish dancing (she's a competitave dancer), since she was getting a job as a prof at the local university. I took the class, and wore a kilt the first time during an out-of-class practice. So yes, it's silly, but I owe a debt of gratitude to Brigadoon: if it hadn't been for that show, I might still be one in trousers!

[Hamish]

I recently bought, but have not yet viewed, the DVD of 'Brigadoon' so I'll run it through tomorrow and check the Gene Kelly/ kilt question. I must admit, I saw the film when it was first released (not since) but I do not remember Gene Kelly or Van Johnson wearing kilts.

As I recall, the film was made in the era when American actors made little or no attempt to adopt the correct accents when portaying characters in other lands. All those original 'Lassie' films, and the 'Robin Hood' sagas - ruined by the all-American accents!! I think it was Dick Van Dyke's horrendous London cockney in 'Mary Poppins' that put an end to most of that!!

[Rob]

I recently bought, but have not yet viewed, the DVD of 'Brigadoon' so I'll run it through tomorrow and check the Gene Kelly/ kilt question. I must admit, I saw the film when it was first released (not since) but I do not remember Gene Kelly or Van Johnson wearing kilts.

Ham,

There is nothing wrong with your memory. Neither of them wore kilts in the film.

Rob

[Hamish]

Ham,

There is nothing wrong with your memory. Neither of them wore kilts in the film.

Rob

You are absolutely correct, Rob. I just sat through the DVD and saw it like I'd never seen it before - it's been so long since I did see it on the big screen. There were masses of kilts, of course, all with sparkling threads woven into the tartans (helping to make the scenes 'unworldly' I imagine), but Gene and Van kept their trousers on throughout!!

Another thing I noticed (and this would be of interest to Graham;)), all the other guys not wearing kilts wore tartan tights with their Jacobean-style shirts and potaines .......... and some of them were sporting dressy-looking sporrans with those tights! Maybe that was a requirement of the Film Censor at the time, although he did not seem to be concerned with similar garments in 'Kiss Me Kate' !!!!!!!!!

[michael steinrok]

Foothill College completed Brigadoon over the summer. I kind of enjoyed it but the staff (at least one of them was extremely rude) I left before it ended