Seven Brides for Seven Brothers Video

Average Rating:

The vocal work is uniformly spectacular--Powell's voice in particular has never sounded creamier--but equally remarkable is the expert choreography. One of the most memorable sequences in the film is the elaborate barn-raising dance number, in which the Pontipee brothers prove themselves expert dancers--and acrobats. Unfortunately, the true splendor of these scenes can only be viewed in the film's original CinemaScope format, in which all seven brothers can be seen dancing. I was fortunate enough to view "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" in a theater--a terrific experience--and was extremely disappointed to see how much screen space is lost in the transition to video. Don't get me wrong; this film is well worth the purchase price, but no TV screen could possibly do it justice.

In addition to being a first-rate western and a first-rate musical, "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" is one of those rare films whose "flaws" only increase its viewability over time. At one point, the backdrop behind Powell as she sings is so obviously fake that it renders the whole scene ridiculous. Also, the way in which the characters burst into song (usually without preamble) is positively groan-inducing--even for a musical--but strangely enough, these quirks only make the whole show more enjoyable. Some of the film's cheesiest lines ("Can't make no vows to a herd of cows") take on new hilarity when viewed today, especially those quips that make reference to the sexes. Certainly some might accuse the film's outlook as both dated and sexist--after all, it is 1850--but the whole story is so outrageously un-PC (and seems to know it) that you can't help but love it anyway.

In short, "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" is one of those films you just have to surrender to. The less you take it seriously, the more you will enjoy it. This is 102 minutes of pure cinematic joy, and a must for musical lovers and non-musical lovers alike.

Critics don't always agree with one another, but in this case Halliwell and I are in perfect accord. "Seven Brides" is set in the Oregon Territory in 1850, where redheaded, buckskin-clad farmer-trapper Adam Pontipee (Keel) comes down to his local town one spring day to trade his winter's take of beaver fur, and, after enumerating his major wants to the storekeeper, adds, "And you wouldn't have a *wife* hid under the counter, would you?" He and his six younger brothers (probably about the same age-spread as actually separated Keel (then 37) and Russ Tamblyn ("baby" Gideon, 20)) have been living a womanless life ("Place is like a pigsty, and the food tastes worse") apparently since the death of their mother (a later line of dialogue hints that their father was killed when the youngest was an infant), and Adam is tired of it. "Never set my mind to somethin' but what I got it," he says, and he does, too. Catching sight of the bound-girl Milly (Powell) in the tavern yard, he is struck immediately by her looks, captivated by his first taste of her cooking, and promptly proposes to her over the back of the cow she's milking. She, for her part, falls for him at first sight, but is deeply disappointed to find that he hasn't told her about his brothers, who live "not around--here." Still, her love endures, and she resolves to civilize the family and encourage her brothers-in-law to find wives too. By the time of a barn-raising late that summer, she's well on her way, and the six younger Pontipees, following Adam's example, quickly pair off with local girls, only to prejudice every swain in the area by their good looks (they're "all as tall as church steeples"), athletic abilities, and skill as a carpentry team. Inspired by Plutarch's version of the Sabine legend, Adam encourages them to "carry 'em off," warning that "This bein' Oregon, and God-fearin' country, you'd have to kidnap a preacher too." The raid nets six scared girls, but the boys forget the preacher--and can't go back for him, since an avalanche seals the pass that leads to their holding. Snowbound, girls and Pontipees gradually overcome the former's fears and the latter's shame and shyness, and, as you might expect in a musical, all comes right at last.

Adapted from (and actually superior to) a short story by Stephen Vincent Benet, directed by Stanley Donen and choreographed with great verve by Michael Kidd, "Seven Brides" shows what MGM might well have managed to do if only the vogue for musicals had lasted longer. There's generous humor, beginning with the Biblical/alphabetical names of the seven Pontipees (Adam, Benjamin, Caleb, Daniel, Ephraim, Frankincense (who hates to be called that), Gideon) and going on through Milly's "civilizing" efforts, the barn-raising, the raid for the girls, and the developing attachment between the two factions on the snowbound farm. At least two of the songs, "When You're in Love" and "When You Marry in June," deserve to have more radio play than they do, and the dance numbers are notable: the major one, which occurs at the barn-raising, has elements of hoedown, ballet, gymnastics, and a duel, all skillfully rolled into one; the lesser one that accompanies the brothers' mournful "Lonesome Polecat" features carefully restrained slow-motion dancing. (It's worth noting that one of the brothers, Ephraim, is played by Jacques D'Amboise, who was actually a professional ballet dancer.) The "budget economies" condemned by Halliwell are obvious chiefly in the extensive use of blue-screen, painted backdrops, and ersatz exteriors; there's one very jarring transition from an exterior to an interior set (probably because the script requires Powell to deliver her first musical number, "Wonderful, Wonderful Day," and sound technology wasn't sufficiently developed, fifty years ago, to allow her to do it outdoors). Yet the few full exteriors are sweepingly beautiful and clearly were filmed on location. Above all, in the Pontipees' quest for brides--and the kind of brides they seek, as exemplified by Adam's early lines to Milly--the movie manages to offer, even though it isn't really a Western, something of the feel of the actual pioneer environment. All ages alike should find it a thoroughly enjoyable video.