How do you turn a short story about kidnapping and Stockholm Syndrome into a riveting musical that has endured for decades and landed on most critics’ top ten musical films of all time list? You hire Gene de Paul to write the music, Johnny Mercer to pen the lyrics, and Michael Kidd to invent some outrageous choreography that incorporates mundane frontier activities into the dancing. Then you get Stanley Donen, legendary musical director of such classics as Royal Wedding, Singin’ in the Rain, and On the Town, to direct it. You film it in 70mm and Cinemascope, in glorious color and include a cast as colorful as the film itself. After all of that, bless your beautiful hide, you have the recipe for one of the most enduring classic musicals of all time.
The setting in 1850’s Oregon Territory and Adam Pontipee (Howard Keel) arrives in town to procure supplies. He also has a special item he wishes to pick up, a wife. He and his six brothers live alone many miles out of town and have had no female companionship since their mother passed on. The only way to their homestead is through a narrow gap in the mountains that often is impassable during the winter when avalanches can block the pass. Despite being told that none of the women in town are available he persists and discovers Milly (Jane Powell), being impressed by her strength and work ethic. Surprisingly, she accepts his abrupt proposal and marries him that same day, returning back to the homestead unaware of just what she has gotten herself into.
Upon arrival at her new home she is shocked to discover that it includes the six younger brothers of Adam: Benjamin (Jeff Richards), Caleb (Matt Mattox), Daniel (Marc Platt), Ephraim (Jacques d’Amboise), Frank (Tommy Rall), and Gideon (Russ Tamblyn). All seven brothers were named, in alphabetical order, after characters in the Bible with Frank being short for Frankincense, a matter he is a bit sensitive about. None of the men are used to having a woman around and are thus very rough around the edges, messy and prone to fighting at the drop of a hat. Milly is at first overwhelmed but quickly sets about straightening them all up and trying to help them develop manners, especially after they express interest in finding wives of their own. Eventually, acting on bad advice from Adam himself, the brothers sneak back into town one evening and take the six girls they want by force, intentionally causing an avalanche behind them to prevent the townsfolk from coming after them until after the spring thaw.
There is of course more to the story than just that bare-bones description but that is the just of what happens throughout the course of its relatively short runtime. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers would end up being so popular that it spawned many copy-cat productions. Gunsmoke would end up doing two episodes in its final season that stole this idea. There were several television series that were directly, or indirectly, based on this film, too. Here Come the Brides was inspired by this premise. In the early 1980’s a series titled Seven Brides for Seven Brothers debuted but lasted just a single season. There was also a stage musical that was a direct adaptation of the film. There were also several unofficial foreign adaptations made over the years. The premise, considered somewhat sexist in modern society, was a popular one that many wanted to revisit again and again.
While the film has maintained its popularity for seventy years, recent mentalities have been less forgiving with the plot line of the brothers kidnapping the women in the middle of the night calling it sexist and an outdated view of equality. What these points of view fail to understand is that this was the world view in the 1800’s. Women were seen as acquisitions in those days. It wasn’t right but it was the way things were. A film like this shouldn’t be viewed through the lens of modern day political correctness anymore than a film like Blazing Saddles should be. This is an era of such outdated notions as wiving settlers and bartering with the father for the hand of his eldest daughter. On that note, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers is a fun romp that doesn’t take itself too seriously and shouldn’t be judged that way, either.
MGM produced and distributed Seven Brides but they had little faith in their picture, instead backing their rival film Brigadoon, a Gene kelly and Van Johnson vehicle about a small town in Scotland that only appears for a single day out of every hundred years before vanishing into the mist again. MGM cut funding from Seven Brides to funnel it over to Brigadoon only to see it bomb at the box-office, losing nearly a million dollars off the production budget. Seven Brides, on the other hand, more than made up for it by bringing in nearly four times its budget in ticket sales making it an instant hit. History has not been kind to Brigadoon. It has its fans but is still considered a less than stellar musical that had more promise than it actually delivered.
When Milly first meets the brothers she is introduced to them by name, very quickly as Adam rattles them off while pointing at each. This is the best introduction to them that we get and it’s very easy to forget who is who amongst them. This is further compounded with the introduction of the six women and we get even more characters to try and keep track of. Good luck with that. To be honest it doesn’t really matter. We get very little character development to keep them separate other than that Frank is overly sensitive about his full name and that Gideon is the youngest. We get even less from the girls who are just there to look pretty and eventually be the brides of the young men. They all have their own colors they wear to help but beyond that nothing much distinguishes them. Of the six abductees Dorcas (Julie Newmar) stands out the most for no other reason than being a recognizable actress from her later career in 1960’s television. Without that recognition even her character would be lost in the shuffle of things; there is simply not enough time to develop all these men and women into their own individual characters.
Fortunately there is no real need to do that. This movie is about the story and not about the characters in it. Even Adam and Milly are underdeveloped and they make up the bulk of the character moments. We’re not here for a character analysis. We’re here for catchy songs, incredibly staged dance numbers and rambunctious set pieces. A sheer highlight of the entire picture is the barn raising scene. This is the part of the film where the brothers are first really introduced to the women and it begins with a dance off where the brothers have to keep cutting in to get any time with the women. This is impressively staged as the girls have to be handed off effortlessly between the two groups of men while still looking like the men are butting in and stealing them away from each other. It’s some amazing choreography and really shows off the talents of the actors who were primarily cast for their dancing abilities and not their acting talents and screen presence.
After the dance there is a contest to raise a barn, with each group of men given a side to work on. The group that finishes their side first wins. The women have taken a liking to the brothers despite already having suitors and that has angered their beaus. The barn raising rapidly descends into madness as the suitors sabotage the brothers, dropping tools and lumber on them, eventually provoking an all out brawl that only ends when all four sides of the barn come crashing back down. This angers the townspeople, ruining the barn raising and damaging any real chances of the brothers being with the women they care for. Once winter comes, they become desperate and thus comes the idea to ride back into town and take the women in the middle of the night, forcing an avalanche to block the passage so that the townsfolk cannot intercede until spring.
If you think about the plot too much, especially with modern sensibilities, you will miss out on what is truly a great story. Seven Brides is an entertaining musical that expands on the short story it is based on, The Sobbin’ Women, and creates an original film that everyone needs to experience. It’s nice and short which limits the time needed to get to know the characters but, in this case, that’s actually a good thing. Too much of that would bog down this story and lose much of the energy. The musical numbers are catchy and made even more fun by some excellent choreography and a delightful sense of humor seen immediately during the opening number: Bless Your Beautiful Hide. That humor and energy never lets up; it’s what makes Seven Brides such an endearing film. Writing about it doesn’t do it justice. One must see it for yourself to really get an appreciation of what an amazing picture Seven Brides for Seven Brothers really is.
Academy Award Nominations:
Best Motion Picture: Jack Cummings
Best Screenplay: Albert Hackett, Frances Goodrich, and Dorothy Kingsley
Best Cinematography - Color: George Folsey
Best Film Editing: Ralph E. Winters
Best Scoring of a Musical Picture: Adolph Deutsch and Saul Chaplin (won)
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Release Date: December 20, 1954
Running Time: 102 Minutes
Not Rated
Starring: Jane Powell, Howard Keel, Jeff Richards, Russ Tamblyn and Tommy Rall
Directed By: Stanley Donen
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