Free Mark Griffin by A Hundred or More Hidden Things: The Life, Films of Vincente Minnelli Page B

Brigadoon were brought to life with a gargantuan 600-foot-long matte painting that encircled the entire set. The blatantly artificial environs would remain a sticking point with Gene Kelly.
    If Minnelli and Kelly couldn’t agree on where the film should be shot, they were also at odds regarding how it should be shot. “Vincente and I were
never in synch, I must confess,” Kelly admitted. Minnelli envisioned the movie as “more of an operetta”—the type of “theatrical artifice” that was less like An American in Paris and more like The Pirate . Kelly, however, saw Brigadoon as “a Scottish Western”—Arthur Freed meets John Ford. When the entire production veered more in Minnelli’s direction, the star-choreographer was unhappy, and it showed. Minnelli later said he “had many talks with [Kelly], trying to impress on him the need to show exuberance in the part.” 4 But the star remained remote and grim-looking.
    Although he had been overruled on location and approach, Kelly would get his way in another matter. “Minnelli was named as the director but Gene seemed to be doing everything,” remembers Michael Maule, a former New York City Ballet dancer who was initially cast as Brigadoon ’s bridegroom, Charlie Chisholm Dalrymple. “I must say that I was very suspicious because there was this stand-in for me. A nice-looking young man. Gene would say, ‘Let whatever-his-name-was run through the scene for you. You just take it easy and let him do everything for you.’ And he kept doing this. Never giving me a chance to play a scene myself. I was very suspicious but everybody was so nice.” One day, after a run-through, Maule was abruptly dismissed:
    They fired me. Minnelli didn’t say much. It was Gene who said, “I’m sorry. I just didn’t have time to work with you.” I think that what happened was that they had signed me in New York without Gene being told. And he wanted to show them who was boss. I was heartbroken. I must have cried for about half an hour. . . . Later, I called up Vincente Minnelli’s office and I said, “Could I have an appointment to see you?” And he said, “Yes, certainly.” I went in to see him and put in a complaint about what had happened. I said, “I just want to tell you the way I feel and I think it was a dreadful thing to do.” And Minnelli agreed with me. He was terribly nice and he said, “I’m so sorry but, you know, I’m really powerless to do anything.” I really believe Minnelli had nothing to do with it. . . . I think Gene was hot for my stand-in. 5
    Principal photography got underway in December 1953. Adding to the already palpable tension on the set was the fact that once the performers finally managed to produce whatever effect their exacting, nonverbal director was looking for, they were obliged to do it all over again. As beleaguered costar Van Johnson recalled,
    They were going from widescreen to CinemaScope, so when we got a take, Vincente would say, “Now we’re going to do one for CinemaScope. . . .” So I watched him. It took another 45 minutes to put this big camera on and relight
and widen the thing. So, finally, I said, “I’m shooting two pictures!” I went to see Dore Schary and I said, “I’m shooting two movies. I should have two salaries . . .” but Dore said, “Yes, you’re shooting two versions. That’s right. And you’re getting one salary, Van, and be glad that you’re getting it . . .” and I walked out very meekly. I never did that again. 6

    Van Johnson, Cyd Charisse, and Gene Kelly in Minnelli’s adaptation of Broadway’s Brigadoon . Vincente wanted to shoot it in Scotland but was overruled. Kelly envisioned it as a “Scottish western,” while his director saw it as “more of an operetta.” To top it all off, the musical was shot simultaneously in two versions: widescreen and CinemaScope. PHOTO COURTESY OF PHOTOFEST
    Minnelli would later praise Lerner’s fantasy as “ingenious” and the score as “melodic