“You dance love; you dance, joy, you dance dreams.”(Gene Kelly, 1985)

As we continue to explore The Many Faces of Romance in The Movie Musical, we come upon the most famous of the genre, Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire. 

Each man dances “love, joy, and dreams.”

In a Facebook post, a friend asked this thought-provoking question:

“Kelly as a man in love was more believable. You never doubt for a moment that his vulnerable, yearning characters are in love. Can we say  the same about guarded, suave Astaire?”

Welcome to the March - April 2023 Edition ~  The Faces of Love in Brigadoon and Easter Parade

Love for the men in these films is very different.

As Tommie Albright in Brigadoon, Kelly is restless. (“Something seems wrong. Especially about Jane and me, and that makes everything seem wrong.”) His sadness and vulnerability allow him to find Fiona—the beautiful girl who lives in a fantasy.  

Astaire, as Don Hewes in Easter Parade, is suave, sophisticated, and with Nadine Hale on his arm, has everything. (“You see that? Nadine and Hewes. That’s written in stardust.”)  Those words, together with a beautiful song and dance (It Only Happens When I Dance with You) sealed with a tender kiss, mean love.

The simple gestures of a greeting, a smile, holding  hands,  and walking through the heather on the hill fill Tommie  with the feeling of “being in love.” 

For Don, “being in love” with Nadine is a blow to his ego. (“I signed that contract Don. They say they’ll star me!)  His ego bruised (“if it were just that she had fallen in love with some guy, I could do something about it!”), he decides to take on a new partner. (“Any one of those girls has as much talent as she has!”)  

Enter Hannah Brown, the farm girl from Michigan who doesn’t know her left leg from her right without a garter. Don sees Hannah as a challenge and decides to teach her to dance, wear clothes, and become an exotic girl dancer.

Tommie’s expression of love is more evident in the gentle way he takes Fiona’s hand when they “go walking through the heather on the hill.” 

When  Don and Hannah prepare to “go walking” up the avenue after being in a successful vaudeville show, Don’s admiration is boundless. (“You don’t belong in the same show with (Nadine). She can’t hold a candle to you!”)  For Don, admiration and love may be two sides of the same coin. Can happiness be far behind? 

Happiness shines for Tommie when he sings of his love for Fiona. (“From the way that I feel, can’t believe that it’s real! Why it’s almost like being in love!”) 

The happiness of love surprises Don when Hannah sings a lovely version of It Only Happens When I Dance with You  (“Why didn’t you tell me I was in love with you?”), and when they dance to  I Love a Piano, he finds her “wonderful!” 

As each story continues, the couple’s happiness is tested by outside forces and internal doubts. The threat of a disappearing Brigadoon if Harry Beaton crosses the bridge brings Tommie to Fiona.

His anguish is genuine when he confronts the possibility of losing her. (“They stopped him. He wasn’t far from the brook when I think what could have happened! Your whole world gone – forever.")

His dream is seen when he dances with her in a reprise of Heather on The Hill and discovers, “I can’t leave you. I love you!”  

His heartbreak is genuine when he realizes that his doubts and fears prevent him from staying and may prevent his return. (“Why do people have to lose things to find out what they need?”) 

The doubt that plagues Hannah (“Isn’t that the girl you used to dance with? Were you in love with her?”  seeing Don dance with Nadine on the roof ) leads her to abandon Don and rebuff his attempts to apologize (“You’re lost, aren’t you? This isn’t the Ziegfeld roof!”)  and leave her crying all night. When she learns that Don is auditioning a new partner on Easter Sunday,  her resolve to get him back returns. (“He can’t do that! He loves me!”)

Hannah’s feelings for Don and Tommie’s feelings for Fiona are stamped across their faces in their voices and bodies when they dance. 

The love that Don feels for Nadaine and eventually for Hannah is seen in the signature song,   (It Only Happens When I Dance with You); the graceful, elegant dancing, the compliments (“that’s written in stardust,”; ”she can’t compare to you!”) and of course, his kisses. They may not be as passionate as Tommie’s, but they are beuatiful.

So, should we doubt that Kelly’s and Astaire’s characters are in love? No!!

Do they have decidedly different ways to demonstrate that love? Absolutely.
 

Is one way better than the other? I leave that to you.
 

~~Lori