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Seven Brides for Seven Brothers is a 1954 American musical film, directed by Stanley Donen, with music by Gene de Paul, lyrics by Johnny Mercer, and choreography by Michael Kidd. The screenplay, by Albert Hackett, Frances Goodrich, and Dorothy Kingsley, is based on the short story "The Sobbin' Women", by Stephen Vincent Benét, which was based in turn on the ancient Roman legend of the Rape of the Sabine Women. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, which is set in Oregon in 1850, is particularly known for Kidd's unusual choreography, which makes dance numbers out of such mundane frontier pursuits as chopping wood and raising a barn. Film critic Stephanie Zacharek has called the barn-raising sequence in Seven Brides "one of the most rousing dance numbers ever put on screen."[4] The film was photographed in Ansco Color in the CinemaScope format.[5]

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
Theatrical release poster
Directed byStanley Donen
Screenplay by
Based on"The Sobbin' Women"
by Stephen Vincent Benét
Produced byJack Cummings
Starring
CinematographyGeorge Folsey
Edited byRalph E. Winters
Music byGene de Paul
Johnny Mercer (lyrics)
Adolph Deutsch
(musical direction)
Saul Chaplin
(musical supervision)
Production
company
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Distributed byLoew's, Inc.
Release dates
  • July 15, 1954 (1954-07-15) (Houston, Texas)[1]
  • July 22, 1954 (1954-07-22) (New York)
  • December 20, 1954 (1954-12-20) (United States)
Running time
102 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$2,540,000[2]
Box office$9,403,000[2][3]

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers won the Academy Award for Best Scoring of a Musical Picture and was nominated for four additional awards, including Best Picture. In 2006, American Film Institute named Seven Brides for Seven Brothers as one of the best American musical films ever made. In 2004, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers was selected for preservation in the U.S. National Film Registry of the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."


Plot


In 1850, backwoodsman Adam Pontipee arrives at an Oregon Territory town to look for a bride (Bless Your Beautiful Hide). He eventually meets Milly and proposes to her after seeing the quality of her cooking and her insistence on finishing her chores before she leaves with him. Despite not knowing him well, she accepts under the belief she is taking care of only him (Wonderful, Wonderful Day).

When they arrive at his mountain cabin however, she is surprised to learn that he has six brothers – Benjamin, Caleb, Daniel, Ephraim, Frank, and Gideon – who all live uncouth lives with him. An angered Milly accuses Adam of manipulating her into becoming his servant, but he acknowledges that he needs her help due to how difficult living in the backwoods is and plans on sleeping outside to avoid losing face with his brothers, after Millie throws him out of the room. She eventually lets Adam sleep inside upon seeing him crawl up to sleep in a tree, explaining she had high hopes regarding marriage and love (When You're in Love).

The next morning, Milly teaches the Pontipee's cleanliness and proper manners. She is later shocked to learn Adam's brothers are unmarried as they rarely see girls and never learned how to communicate with them. Despite initial difficulties in changing their "mountain man" ways, they eventually realize they can only get brides by following Milly's example (Goin' Co'tin'). At a barn-raising social-gathering, the brothers meet Dorcas, Ruth, Martha, Liza, Sarah, and Alice, all of whom take a fancy to each other despite the women already having suitors, who taunt the Pontipee's (Hoedown/Barn Dance). The brothers resist the urge to fight at Millie's request, but the suitors attack Adam, provoking Gideon to retaliate. A brawl ensues, in which the physically superior Pontipee's overpower the suitors, but are expelled from town.

As winter comes and the brothers pine for the women they fell in love with (Lonesome Polecat), Milly asks Adam to help them. He reads his brothers "The Sobbin' Women" and Milly's Bible, telling them they should do whatever it takes to get their loves.

With Adam's aid, the brothers kidnap the six women before causing an avalanche in Echo Pass to stop the townspeople pursuing them. However, the Pontipees realize they forgot to kidnap a parson to conduct their weddings. Furious at the Pontipees' actions, Milly forces the men to live in the barn while the women stay in the house with her, sleeping in the brothers' beds. In response, a similarly furious Adam leaves for the Pontipees' trapping cabin further up the mountain to spend the winter alone. Gideon tells Milly, but she refuses to stop him.

Over the winter, the women vent their frustrations by pranking the remaining Pontipees and musing upon their slowly softening feelings towards marriage (June Bride). Spring arrives and the women and the Pontipee's are paired off and happy in each other's company (Spring, Spring) until Milly announces she is having Adam's baby, causing everyone present to come together to help her. She gives birth to a baby girl named Hannah in the spring and Gideon leaves to tell Adam. Adam still refuses to return, despite learning he has a daughter, so Gideon berates him for his selfishness and punches him before leaving, causing Adam to feel shame for his actions. After the snow in Echo Pass melts, Adam returns, as he had said he would. Upon meeting his daughter, he realizes how worried the townspeople must be over the missing women and tells his brothers they should return them; but having fallen in love the six couples are unwilling to part and the women run and hide rather than go back to town. After discovering this, Milly tells the brothers, who track them down only to encounter the angry townspeople, who have come through the pass intending to hang them for kidnapping the girls.

Alice's father, Reverend Elcott, hears Hannah crying as the townspeople sneak up onto the farm. Worried the baby might belong to one of the six women, he asks the women whose child Hannah is. After they all answer "mine", the fathers agree to give the six brothers and the six women a collective shotgun wedding.


Cast


The Brothers and their Brides:


Brothers


To perform the dance numbers and action sequences, choreographer Michael Kidd wanted dancers to portray all six of Adam Pontipee's brothers. Kidd said that he "had to find a way to have these backwoods men dance without looking ridiculous. I had to base it all around activities you would accept from such people – it couldn't look like ballet. And it could only have been done by superbly trained dancers." However, he was able to integrate into the cast two non-dancer MGM contract players who were assigned to the film, Jeff Richards, who performed just the simpler dance numbers, and Russ Tamblyn, using him in the dance numbers by exploiting his talents as a gymnast and tumbler.[6][7]

The other four brothers were portrayed by professional dancers – Matt Mattox, Marc Platt, Tommy Rall, and Jacques d'Amboise. All four balanced on a beam together during their barn-raising dance.

The wood-chopping scene in Lonesome Polecat was filmed in a single take.[8]


Brides


Professional dancers played all seven of the brides.

The four girls whom Adam sees in the Bixby store when he first goes into town are Dorcas, Ruth, Liza and Sarah.


Townspeople



Production


Choreographer Michael Kidd originally turned down the film, recalling in 1997: "Here are these slobs living off in the woods. They have no schooling, they are uncouth, there's manure on the floor, the cows come in and out – and they're gonna get up and dance? We'd be laughed out of the house."[13]

Lyricist Johnny Mercer said that the musical numbers were written at Kidd's behest, as an example "of how a songwriter sometimes has to take his cue from his collaborators."[14] For example, Kidd explained to Mercer and dePaul his conception of the "Lonesome Polecat" number, the lament of the brothers for the women, and the two worked out the music and lyrics.[14]

In his introduction to a showing on Turner Classic Movies on January 17, 2009, host Robert Osborne, as well as Jane Powell in her autobiography, The Girl Next Door, both say MGM was much less interested in Seven Brides than it was in Brigadoon which was also filming at the time, even cutting its budget and transferring the money to the Lerner and Loewe vehicle.[12]

Most of the movie was shot on the MGM sound stages. One exterior sequence not filmed at the studio was shot on location at Corral Creek Canyon in Sun Valley, Idaho. It was here that the escape following the brothers' kidnapping their future brides and the avalanche that closed the pass was filmed.[15]

On the 2004 DVD commentary, Stanley Donen states that the film was originally shot in two versions, one in CinemaScope and another in normal ratio, because MGM was concerned that not all theaters had the capability to screen it. Despite the fact that it cost more than the widescreen version to make, he says, the other version was never used. However, both versions are available on the 2004 DVD release.

The dresses worn by the female cast were made from old quilts that costume designer Walter Plunkett found at the Salvation Army.[12]


Songs and music


The "Main Title" is a medley of the songs "Sobbin' Women", "Bless Your Beautiful Hide" and "Wonderful, Wonderful Day".

In the film, Matt Mattox's voice is dubbed in by Bill Lee on "Lonesome Polecat". Mattox can be heard singing the song on the soundtrack album.

Song / Music
Title
CharactersVocalists
(Singers and speakers etc.)
Instrumental
Music
Year
recorded
Main TitleN/AN/AM-G-M Studio Orchestra1954
Bless Your Beautiful HideAdamHoward KeelM-G-M Studio Orchestra1953
Bless Your Beautiful Hide (reprise)AdamHoward KeelM-G-M Studio Orchestra1954
Wonderful, Wonderful DayMillyJane PowellM-G-M Studio Orchestra1954
When You're in LoveMillyJane PowellM-G-M Studio Orchestra1953
Goin' Courtin'Milly and BrothersJane Powell, Tommy Rall, Russ Tamblyn, Marc Platt,
Matt Mattox, Jacques d'Amboise, Jeff Richards,
Howard Hudson, Gene Lanham & Robert Wacker
M-G-M Studio Orchestra1953
Barn DanceN/AN/AM-G-M Studio Orchestra1953
Barn RaisingN/AN/AM-G-M Studio Orchestra1954
When You're in Love (reprise)AdamHoward KeelM-G-M Studio Orchestra1953
Lonesome PolecatThe BrothersBill Lee and the M-G-M Studio ChorusM-G-M Studio Orchestra1954
Sobbin' WomenAdam & BrothersHoward Keel, Tommy Rall, Russ Tamblyn,
Matt Mattox, Alan Davies, C. Parlato, Marc Platt,
Robert Wacker, Gene Lanham & M. Spergel
M-G-M Studio Orchestra1953
Kidnapped And ChaseN/AN/AM-G-M Studio Orchestra1954
June BrideThe BridesVirginia Gibson, Barbara Ames, Betty Allan,
Betty Noyes, Marie Vernon & Norma Zimmer
M-G-M Studio Orchestra1954
June Bride (reprise)Brides & MillyVirginia Gibson, Barbara Ames, Betty Allan,
Betty Noyes, Marie Vernon & Norma Zimmer
& Jane Powell
M-G-M Studio Orchestra1954
Spring, Spring, SpringBrothers & BridesHoward Keel, Tommy Rall, Russ Tamblyn,
Matt Mattox, Alan Davies, C. Parlato,
Robert Wacker, Gene Lanham, M. Spergel, Bill Lee,
Virginia Gibson, Barbara Ames, Betty Allan,
Betty Noyes, Marie Vernon & Norma Zimmer
M-G-M Studio Orchestra1954
End TitleN/AN/AM-G-M Studio Orchestra1954

Reception


Contemporary reviews from critics were positive. A. H. Weiler of The New York Times called the film "a wholly engaging, bouncy, tuneful and panchromatic package ... Although the powers at M-G-M are deviating from the normal song-and-dance extravaganza in 'Seven Brides for Seven Brothers,' it is a gamble that is paying rich rewards."[16] Variety wrote: "This is a happy, hand-clapping, foot-stomping, country type of musical with all the slickness of a Broadway show. It offers songs, dances and romancing in such a delightful package that word-of-mouth could talk it into solid business at the boxoffice."[17] Richard L. Coe of The Washington Post declared: "Dandy dancing, singable songs and the ozone of originality make 'Seven Brides for Seven Brothers' the niftiest musical I've seen in months."[18] Harrison's Reports called it "A thoroughly delightful blend of songs, dances and romantic comedy" with "exceptionally good musical numbers."[19] The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote that the dances "give the picture its remarkably spirited and exhilarating quality ... A minor weakness is the playing of Jane Powell, whose Milly is a somewhat colourless figure; Howard Keel, the brides and the brothers, however, are all admirable."[20] John McCarten of The New Yorker posted a dissenting negative review, writing that the film "got on my nerves" and "struck me as desperately contrived and often witless", though he did concede that there were "some fine dances" in it.[21]

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers was the 5th most popular film at the British box office in 1955.[22] According to MGM records it made $5,526,000 in the US and Canada and $3,877,000 elsewhere resulting in a profit of $3,198,000.[2]

The film came in third in a BBC Radio 2 listener poll of the UK's "Number One Essential Musicals"[23] and was listed as number eight in the "Top 10 MGM musicals" in the book Top 10 of Film by Russell Ash. In 2004, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry as being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." In 2006, it was ranked #21 on the American Film Institute's list of best musicals. In 2008, the film was ranked number 464 in Empire's list of the 500 greatest films of all time.[24]

Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes awards Seven Brides for Seven Brothers an 88% "Fresh" rating based on 24 reviews, with an average rating of 7.7/10. The critics' consensus states: "Buoyed by crowd-pleasing tunes and charming performances, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers makes a successful transition from Broadway to screen that's sure to please the whole family", despite the fact that the movie was originally produced for film and debuted on Broadway over two decades later.[25]


Publicity slogan


The following slogan was used to publicize the film in 1954:


Awards and honors


Awards
Award Date of ceremony Category Recipients and nominees Result
Academy Awards March 30, 1955 Best Picture Jack Cummings Nominated
Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay Albert Hackett, Frances Goodrich, and Dorothy Kingsley Nominated
Best Cinematography, Color George J. Folsey Nominated
Best Film Editing Ralph E. Winters Nominated
Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture Adolph Deutsch and Saul Chaplin Won
BAFTA Awards February 16, 1955 Best Film from any Source Stanley Donen (United States) Nominated
Directors Guild of America February 13, 1955 Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures Stanley Donen Nominated
National Board of Review December 20, 1954 Top Ten Best Films of the Year 2nd place
National Film Registry December 28, 2004 Honored
Satellite Awards December 17, 2005 Best Youth DVD For the 50th Anniversary Two-Disc Special Edition DVD Nominated
Writers Guild of America February 28, 1955 Best Written American Musical Albert Hackett, Frances Goodrich, and Dorothy Kingsley Won

The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists:


Adaptations and remakes



References


  1. "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers – Details". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved July 30, 2018.
  2. The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.
  3. For domestic figures see "All Time Domestic Champs", Variety, 6 January 1960 p 34
  4. Gold, Sylviane (March 2008). "DEATHS: Michael Kidd (1915–2007)". Dance Magazine. 82 (3): 88–89.
  5. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954) - IMDb, retrieved 2022-03-09
  6. Gilbert, Tom (March 3–9, 1997). "Kidd embraced by the Academy". Variety. p. 54.
  7. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers TCM.com
  8. Silverman, 1996, p.194
  9. Filming notes in the DVD anniversary edition
  10. Moira Macdonald (20 November 2005). "Dancer reflects on legendary career". The Seattle Times.
  11. Jacques d'Amboise Ballet Encyclopedia
  12. Powell, Jane (1988). The Girl Next Door...and How She Grew (1st ed.). ISBN 0-688-06757-3.
  13. "Michael Kidd". The Independent. 29 December 2007. p. 44.
  14. Furia, Philip & Patterson, Laurie (2010). The Songs of Hollywood. Oxford University Press, USA. pp. 188. ISBN 978-0195337082.
  15. "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954) | Trivia", IMDb. Retrieved December 28, 2015.
  16. Weiler, A. H. (July 23, 1954). "The Screen in Review". The New York Times: 8.
  17. "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers". Variety: 6. June 2, 1954.
  18. Coe, Richard L. (August 21, 1954). "Seven Big Cheers For Seven Brides". The Washington Post. p. 6.
  19. "'Seven Brides for Seven Brothers' with Howard Keel and Jane Powell". Harrison's Reports: 90. June 5, 1954.
  20. "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers". The Monthly Film Bulletin. 21 (251): 175–176. December 1954.
  21. McCarten, John (July 31, 1954). "The Current Cinema". The New Yorker. p. 53.
  22. "Dirk Bogarde favourite film actor". The Irish Times. Dublin, Ireland. December 29, 1955. p. 9.
  23. Top ten musicals – BBC Radio 2
  24. The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time
  25. "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
  26. "AFI's Greatest Movie Musicals" (PDF). American Film Institute. Retrieved 2016-08-13.



На других языках


[de] Eine Braut für sieben Brüder

Eine Braut für sieben Brüder (Originaltitel: Seven Brides for Seven Brothers) ist eine US-amerikanische Musical-Filmkomödie des Regisseurs Stanley Donen aus dem Jahr 1954 nach der Kurzgeschichte The Sobbin’ Women von Stephen Vincent Benét, die auf der altrömischen Geschichte Der Raub der Sabinerinnen von Plutarch basiert. Die Filmmusik wurde von Gene De Paul (Musik) und Johnny Mercer (Liedtexte) verfasst. Die Choreografie stammt von Michael Kidd.
- [en] Seven Brides for Seven Brothers

[es] Siete novias para siete hermanos

Siete novias para siete hermanos (1954) es un musical romántico dirigido por Stanley Donen y protagonizado, en los papeles principales, por Howard Keel y Jane Powell. Con música de Saul Chaplin y Gene de Paul, letra de Johnny Mercer y un guion de Albert Hackett, Frances Goodrich y Dorothy Kingsley, la historia se centra en el cuento The Sobbin' Women, de Stephen Vincent Benét, y en la leyenda del rapto de las sabinas.

[ru] Семь невест для семерых братьев

«Семь невест для семерых братьев» (англ. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers) — музыкальный фильм, снятый в 1954 году. Сценарий был основан на рассказе о Диком Западе Стивена Винсента Бене «Сабинянки», в основе которого лежала древнеримская легенда о похищении сабинянок.



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