Rating: 
Summary: Music for the family
Review: I'll admit that when my older sister showed me the cover of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers 4 years ago after she'd bought it, I was a little skeptical that it would be a memorable addition to our collection. how wrong I was! It was absolutely delightful. Our whole family loves it. My brother is always belting out, "Bless yer beautiful hide!" The music is wonderful and the story is hilarious. This is a great addition to any musical lover's collection.
Rating: 
Summary: Great musical Fun, albeit Corny Musical Fun
Review: Seven Brides for Seven Brothers is a film that surprised MGM. It was released the same year as Brigadoon, and since Gene Kelly and Cid Charisse were better known stars than Howard Keel and Jane Powell, it was assumed that Brigadoon would be the bigger hit. Director Stanley Donen had to make many compromises on the film that he believed sacrificed the quality of the overall picture. Yet the movie was a great success and is one of MGM's most beloved musicals. (All this information can be found in the additional track section of the DVD Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.) The story is rather implausible. Adam, and his six brothers Ben, Caleb, Dan, Ephraim, Frankincense, and Gideon, live alone in the Oregon back country. Adam decided to get a wife and Millie, a local girl agrees to take a chance with Adam. She gets more than she bargained for when she is expected to cook and clean for the seven barbaric men, but eventually she tames them. The six bachelor brothers deicide they too want wives and kidnap six other young ladies. Eventually the women fall in love with the men and all are married. Somehow the magic of the movie makes the viewer forget the complete political incorrectness of the film, and in reality the brothers should be facing criminal charges rather than marital bliss. Highlights of the film include the barn raising scene where one of Hollywood's greatest dance scenes takes place-the brothers compete fore the attention of the ladies with one of the most acrobatic square dances ever conceived. The lonely feel of "I'm a Lonesome Polecat" is very convincing. DVD viewers can get the benefit of the story behind the movie which gives the viewer an appreciation of the great musical films. All in all, this is a feel good film and definitely worth the price.
Rating:
Summary: The Beginning of the Feminist Movement
Review: Okay, okay. So Millie agrees to marry Adam after only knowing him for a few minutes. So he casually appraises every woman he sees while looking for a wife. So they kidnap six girls from their homes. SO WHAT? I didn't realize there was such a feminist backlash to this utterly charming musical. For all you feminists out there (by the way, did I mention I really don't care for Gloria Steinem?), let's set a few things straight. For a movie made in the 1950's (the decade that gave us high heel and pearl wearing Harriet Nelson, June Cleaver, and Donna Reed) I'd say this movie was ahead of it's time. Note that Millie is perfectly happy until she realizes that she's been deceived and must, in fact, care for SEVEN men instead of just one. Sure, she rolls up her sleeves and begins to clean without complaint, but that's what women in that period DID. Don't think the men just sat around on their bums. They had plenty of work to do as well. But I digress. They make such pigs of themselves at dinner and don't even wait for grace. When Adam doesn't come to her aid, as a husband in that time should have, Millie makes her position known clearly by yelling and then turning the huge table of food over on some of the brothers. Did June Cleaver ever do this? I don't think so. Later, she lets Adam know she's hurt and angry by not 'sleeping alongside' him. Yeah, she forgives him kind of quick, but that's important to the plot. If she hadn't forgiven him, there would be no baby later. Millie is the one who, much to their horror, sneaks in her new brothers' bedroom and takes their clothes to be washed, then demands they all take a bath and shave. Millie is the one who teaches them about courting. Millie is the one who prevents the first fight at the barn raising. It's because of Millie that the brothers feel guilty about the fight they did get in. Millie prevents them from entering the house after they kidnap the girls. Millie, Millie, Millie. She's the driving force behind a picture loaded with testosterone. I'd say that's pretty liberal for the cookie-cutter '50's. Check out this movie. The choreography is outstanding, the singing is out of this world, and the comedy flows freely throughout. A great musical, but also a great movie. Oh, and, about the line dealing with the coon hunt. That is not a racial slur, as some people might think. Coon hunting is an actual sport and does take place at night. You have my word.
Rating:
Summary: Campy but a classic
Review: I should have been born in the days of the big musicals, I guess, but I love a movie that can tell a story with a song. Adam travels to town from his cabin in the hills for two reasons. First, he has to trade some furs. Second, he needs to get a wife. And he's going to look 'em all over before he makes a decision. Millie decides to marry Adam, to finally care for one man, have a home and start a family (what every woman wants, right?) She does so after only having known him for minutes. Ah, such is romance! But they arrive at his home to find that she won't be caring for one man, but 'seven back-woodsmen' - the seven brothers. She's put out, but soon settles in and organizes the family. Soon the brothers meet girls - the seven brides - of their own and decide to kidnap them when they figure there is no other way to have a wedding. Of course, they get the idea from Adam telling them the biblical story of the Sabine women. I don't want to ruin the story, so I'll just say they get snowed in, sing some numbers, fall in love and then the girls' families show up! This was a musical at its best. Sure, the scenery is campy by today's standards and the plot is pretty dated, but its a wonderful, happy story that you walk away from humming a tune and grinning.
Rating:
Summary: All Time Favorite Musical
Review: There just isn't anything to top Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. I had owned it for years but always knew from watching my pan and scan that I was missing a lot. Was I ever! This movie should ONLY be seen in the widescreen format! The songs are lovely, the story simple but fun and the DANCING!!!! The barn-raising alone is worth buying 7 Brides for. I challenge anyone to name a musical with more exuberance! Wish I could give it 7 stars.
Rating:
Summary: The MGM musical goes out with a bang
Review: Filmed in the declining years of movie musicals, this was among the last efforts in the genre of MGM, which was known for many years as *the* studio for them. Critic Leslie Halliwell describes it as "A highly successful MGM musical which appeared at the end of the peak period spurred by Gene Kelly, and somehow failed to prolong it. Marred by obvious budget economies, it nevertheless brought tremendous gusto to its Western retelling of the story of the rape of the Sabine women..." 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.
Rating:
Summary: How to watch "7 Brides for 7 Brothers"
Review: If you are a musical fan and have not run across this before, you MUST see it. This is a wonderful example of the genre, the best movie musical I can think of outside of Rodgers-&-Hammerstein. The direction by Stanley Donen is outstanding, the dances are great (the barnwarming scene is worth the price of the movie alone), the performances are charming. It's about as deep as a creekbed in a midsummer drought, which is a mite disconcerting given that the plot involves 7 lovesick brothers in 1850 Oregon who go into town to kidnap some girls to marry. 1) Pick a day when you are not feeling one bit cynical. Christmas for example.
2) Banish the menfolk, lest they guffaw and make rude noises at the romantic scenes.
3) Suspend disbelief, so you won't mind that the costumes are 1950s technicolor and as charmingly inauthentic as possible, that Jane Powell's haircolor came out of a bottle, that although Millie refuses to share a bed with Adam she nevertheless produces a baby in the spring.
4) Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: 5 Stars For 'Seven'
Review: They just don't make 'em like this anymore. Pure fun! SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS is one of the most exuberant musicals from MGM's musical heyday directed by the great Stanley Donen (MY FAIR LADY). The film title spells out the plot. An Oregon mountain man Adam Pontipee (Howard Keel) goes to town to get supplies...and to bring home a wife. In just a few hours, he meets Milly working as a cook in the town's "greasy spoon" and makes his proposal. The two get hitched right way and go off to his farm in the wilderness. Little does she know that she has to contend with his six "untamed" brothers. However,through her sheer will and smarts, teaches and changes the attitudes and decorum of the six brothers as they learn manners, how to court girls and dance. Then, they too want to get wives. The highlight of the film is when the brothers all go to a church social picnic. There, they show off their dancing chops to what is one of the greatest acrobatic dancing sequences ever filmed. Great songs, dance sequences, and humor, characters to care about (and a very risqué, yet humorous ending for it's day) make this a must see musical. Standout performances from Jane Powell and a very youthful Russ Tamblyn (WEST SIDE STORY as 'Riff' , TWIN PEAKS ) as the youngest brother, Gideon. Note: Also look for a young Julie Newmar(Catwoman in the BATMAN 60's TV series) as one of the seven brides.
Rating:
Summary: a great musical!
Review: I very highly recommend this musical. Howard Keel and Jane powell are great in it! It's wonderful! It deserves all the stars it can get.
Rating:
Summary: A colorful, sidesplitting classic
Review: This movie has been my favorite since I was in elementary school. Watching it one recent new year's eve with female friends of various ages, it still drew me in and amazed me. Not only did everyone enjoy it, it struck me as a movie that takes full advantage of the medium. The colors are bright and beautiful, the music vibrant and well-fitted to the story, the choreography stunning and flowing. So many movies today could be made in black and white without any soundtrack and not really lose much. "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" would still be a fun story without the song and dance, but as a musical it shines among the best.
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