When I was a lad, I would browse my father’s collection of 78 rpm records that had been passed on to him by my grandparents. Among the records by the likes of Glenn Miller and others was a huge, elaborate folio of five or so discs in a bound binder whose cover displayed two Scottish dancers and the title “Brigadoon.” It was hard to play those old 78s but I remember the story quite well as the entire book was well summarized among the pages of the folio. It wasn’t until my college days that I got to see the film version, and it was like meeting an old friend.

“Brigadoon” first ran on Broadway in 1947 and eventually made it to the big screen in the newly developed CinemaScope format in 1954 starring Gene Kelly, Cyd Charisse and Van Johnson. The book and lyrics were written by Alan Jay Lerner and the music composed by Frederick Loewe. The film hit the big screen in the middle of MGM’s great run of musicals during the 1950s and takes its place among a number of stellar musicals starring Kelly such as “Singin’ in the Rain,” “Gigi” and the Oscar-winning “An American in Paris.” Cyd Charisse, who had a prominent cameo role in the ballet finale in “Singin’ in the Rain,” had acted in films since as early as 1943 and went on to star with Fred Astaire in “Silk Stockings” in 1957. Lerner and Loewe partnered to write “An American in Paris” (also directed by Vincent Minelli), “Gigi,” “Paint Your Wagon,” “My Fair Lady” and “Camelot.”

Although Frederick Loewe was of the old school, having been born in 1901 in Germany and moving to New York in his 20s, Lerner distinguished himself as his generation’s brightest light within the composing world. While his early life story follows along a similar trajectory as fellow composer Cole Porter, having gone to boarding schools and Harvard, he was a full generation -- 27 years younger -- than Porter and also 23 years younger than the lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II. He was 29 when he wrote “Brigadoon” and six years younger than Kelly at the time of filming.

The plot of “Brigadoon” is somewhat of an archetype and, I think, resonates with the audience because it reflects the kind of longing that partly defines the human condition. It is a story about a young New Yorker who, with his hunting companion, goes to Scotland, comes upon a magical village that appears every 100 years for a single day, falls in love and then has the village disappear before his eyes. It is not unlike the familiar longing-for-home stories depicted in such films as “The Wizard of Oz,” but for some reason the idea of longing to be somewhere else, in a different time or place for the sake of love, has not often found its way into film, although “Lost Horizon,” the more recent “Somewhere in Time,” of course the mini-series “Shmigadoon!” and, to a large extent, “Groundhog Day” come to mind. As a cultural reference, the story strongly parallels the Zen ox-herding stories and is teleological in the way of much Christian lore.

Now if you think you need to know or think about any of this to enjoy this movie, good news -- you don’t. As a story, it resonates fully and as musicals go, it is among the most delightful from the golden age of MGM musicals. Every minute is a joy to watch.

“Brigadoon” screens at Woodmere, 9201 Germantown Ave. in Chestnut Hill, on Tuesday, Dec. 16, at 7 p.m. as part of the Chestnut Hill Film Group’s Tuesday Night at the Movies series. Light refreshments will be provided. Tuesday Night at the Movies screenings are free to attend, but donations are greatly appreciated.