Factual error: After Gene Kelly sings "The Heather on the Hill", he sees more heather on the other side of the bridge. He starts across but Cyd Charisse freezes in horror, since to cross the bridge would break the spell over the village of Brigadoon. She then drops some of her heather in the middle of the path and runs back to the village. The camera cuts to Gene Kelly chasing after her, but the heather dropped on the path has disappeared.
Continuity mistake: When Van Johnson sneaks away from the girl in the rocking chair, she is sleeping with his hat in her lap. In the next scene, he has his hat back.
Continuity mistake: When Tommy is back in the city in the bar, zoning out and hearing songs in his memory, he hears Fiona sing "Waitin' for M'Dearie." Unless there were speakers in Fiona's home, turned up and pointed across the bridge, he never could have heard that song.
Answer: The way it works is, the village comes to life for one day once every one hundred years. It is not the same day over and over. It is always one day forward. For example if the one full day that the village came alive was on June 1st, then after one hundred years, the next day would be June 2nd, then another one hundred years, June 3rd, and so on. Each time the villagers awaken, the passage of time to them is always like only one day had passed.
raywest ★