Rating: 
Summary: Best musical of the 1950's, maybe all - time
Review: I saw this first on cable on a lazy day and it quickly replaced "Singin' in the Rain" as my favorite musical. I got it on DVD for the widescreen and have totally appreciated it more!
What I like about the film is that everybody (Keel, Powell, the guys, and the girls) get their share of singing and dancing. My favorite song is "June Bride" with all of the girls...great colorful dresses, beautiful young women--I've always wondered which ones really sang and which ones were dubbed--when I saw that sequence, I said to myself...'hollywood can never make movies like this again'...
Rating:
Summary: Great Movie For Any Age
Review: I bought this DVD for my wife, not having seen the movie in years. When we sat down to see it, my 5 year old daughter was walking through the room when Keel began his "Bless Your Beautiful Hide" song and stopped to watch. She never left. She clapped along with the barn raising dance and did ballet to the "June Bride" number. It is now one her most requested movies to watch. As for myself, I think that the "lonesome" number with the brothers singing and "dancing" with the axes and saws is the best and most realistic dance number I have ever seen. The way they "dance" doing what seems like natural work movement in time to this sad song was amazing. This is the best Musical in terms of dance in my opinion. All the dancing are part of the plot not like most musicals where you feel like "Ok here is a dance number". I highly recommend this movie for anyone. As for the DVD, the extra documentary was great. My wife has seen this movie dozens of times, but until we watched we never knew that only 5 of the seven brothers actually dance.
Rating:
Summary: Always My Favorite
Review: Remember when people were kind to one another and even enemies could share a good song and choreographed dance with one another? Ok, me neither, but this movie will make you feel like the world was once this way. I love musicals and classic moves and "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" will never disappoint you. The men are handsome, the girls are beautiful, the tunes are catchy, and the dance numbers are fun! This tale of a strong women with a country-bumpkin of a man is funny and sweet and will remain my favorite forever. If you like movies that are pure with good plots and morals, remember the classic movies and this one is great.
Rating:
Summary: ONE OF THOSE MUSICALS
Review: This film i beleive should be seen by all men who grew up without sisters;it would help them understand their nature.It's funny how such a story like this can succeed in making a wonderful movie,at times bold and romantic.Strangely,none of the songs written by MERCER and DEPAUL became standards of the repertoire,but god knows how many great songs mister MERCER wrote.HOWARD KEEL made many musicals(ANNIE GET YOUR GUN,KISS ME KATE,SHOWBOAT),and as we say,he had a heck of a voice.The fight scenes will please the men,and the courtship will delight the ladies.In the end,everybody ends up happy.
Rating:
Summary: This is a keeper
Review: I saw this film in the movies when it first came out. I watched it recently and found that it is just as fun to watch as the first time. I had forgotten some of the scenes and was pleasantly surprised. You will find your self not humming but actually singing the tunes along with the movie and in the shower. Well even if you don't normally sing in the shower this movie will help you start. And do not go swinging your ax in the house.The DVD version has background information to enhance your viewing pleasure. If nothing else this film is a good addition to your library. Just incase you really haven't seen this film (hard to imagine), Millie (Jane Powell) one of the towns people is courted by Adam (Howard Keel) who is from another world, that of the woods. Both people have different agendas. Millie plans on a place of her own out of the hectic city and maybe a little more exotic with a different sort of man. Adam on the other hand needs a chief cook and bottle washer for himself and his six brothers. At first the surprise is on Millie. Later Adam finds out that he can not handle what he has brought home. The fun begins as Millie and Adam has a different approach to finding wives for the six brothers. This film has lots of color-coordinated clothes, great dance scenes and appropriate song at just the right places to integrate into a fun story.
Rating:
Summary: brilliant, breathtaking musical
Review: SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS, an original musical, was one of the top-grossing moneymakers for the MGM studios ever. Jane Powell and Howard Keel lead the call in this lusty, robust story centered around Adam, his wife Milly, and their task to teach Adam's six roudy back-woods brothers how to snag a wife. Milly is given the mammoth task of refining the coarse men into cultured, polite suitors (no mean feat!). As she teaches them about "Goin' Cotin'", they open their hearts and sing to the hills! With the Johnny Mercer-Jean de Paul songs "When You're In Love", "Wonderful, Wonderful Day" and "When You Marry In June", SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS also stars Russ Tamblyn, Tommy Rall and Julie Newmar, it's infectious entertainment.
Rating:
Summary: I Didn't Know Countrymen and Women Could Dance Like That
Review: I was amazed at the town barn-raising scene. The dancing was unbelieveable and the music is incredible. The casting was great. An excellent musical. Jane Powell does an outstanding job.
Rating: 
Summary: Sexist fare?? No way!
Review: Many people consider this great film to be the product of a sexist, male-dominated culture, where women are subservient creatures, whom men can abuse at will for their own pleasure. But one must TAKE A SERIOUS, CAREFUL LOOK AT THE FILM...and above all, LISTEN to the dialogue! There are THREE MOMENTS when Millie (Jane Powell) clearly articulates the heart and soul of the story: 1.)Near the beginning, riding in the wagon with Howard Keel when she talks briefly of familiy things ("I'd like to be wearing something that belonged to your mother...") 2.) In the middle of the film, when she learns that Benjamin is planning on leaving the farm...she tells Howard of her "dreams"...of all of the brothers married with families..."all visiting back and forth on Christmas and birthdays..." 3.) Near then end....when Howard, CLEARLY A TRANSFOREMED MAN, holds his infant daughter for the first time, and Jane tells him that she wants to give the tot a "bible name"...."picking up where your father left off." These 3 moments reveal the true essence of the character AND THE FILM ITSELF.....Yeah...so Howard and his brothers are rough, "slum-oxy backwoodsmen"...totally unaccustomed to relations with the fair sex....and Howard admits on his wedding night that a woman to "work alongside him" is of prime importance.....BUT THAT"S JUST THE REALITY OF THE TIME AND PLACE OF THE STORY...IT"S THE SET-UP...into which Millie becomes entangled....it's a horror for her inititally (but notice how Howard was JUST ABOUT TO TELL HER OF HIS LIVING SITUATION when she bursts in with "Wonderful Day"....he at least had enough conscience to consider letting her know what was in store once they arrived at the farm, but he crapped out. Not very manly, of course, but he WILL BECOME A TRUE, STRONG LOVING MAN by the end of the film! The brilliant scripting and direction of "7 Brides" allows Millie to formulate her "plan" for the brothers, and then carry it out. On her first morning there, she succeeds in getting them all cleaned up, acting decently at the breakfast table, and lets them know that their new "big sister" is going to help them meet the girls in town. EVERY SCENE that follows lets these ideas unfold beautifully: Millie's deep and mature love as she deals with her husband's domineering, insensitive "old world" idea of marriage; the brothers and their plight to win the town girls while trying THEIR BEST TO RESIST THEIR IMPULSE TO FIGHT any time they feel threatened (note how Millie "defuses" things during the big dance by intercepting Tommy Rall just as he's about to start a fight....she coaxes them to use their terrific physical DANCING skills to win the women, as opposed to their FIGHTING skills); the townsmen's hatred of the Pontipee brothers, which leads to the barn destruction; the brother's frustration and loneliness which leads to Howard's desperately immature kidnap plan; Millie's outrage, as she turns Howard and the boys out into the barn.....Gideon's visit to Howard at the cabin to let him know of the birth of his daughter...Gideon slugs his big brother...Howard is about to beat the crap out of him but doesn't....and that sock on the chin starts him thinking.... It all makes such beautiful, logical sense. MILLIE is the spiritual, emotional guiding light of this story: strong-willed, steadfast, warm, loving, mature....and SHE WINS...the big, macho Howard yields to HER, accepting the petite Millie on HER terms, embracing HER values, HER views on what makes a loving union between man and wife. PLUS..there's great music and dancin' to boot!! Only the near-fatal silliness of the final scenes....the uniquely brilliant song "SPRING, SPRING, SPRING" is almost a total throw-away, complete with LOUSY vocal dubbing....and the near farcical final chase scenes in the barn, etc., keep this great film from the 5-star rating in my opinion. But I still love it, and the DVD looks and sounds GREAT!! And it's wonderful to see Tommy Rall and Virginia Gibson, etc in the "Making of" documentary. So forget all of the knee-jerk feminist abhorence of this film... "7 Brides" really contains great and valuable lessons for men and women alike, easy to appreciate if given the chance!
Rating:
Summary: Is that catwoman in the backround?
Review: Seven Brides for Seven Brothers is one of the greatest movies I have seen. The color is superb,the acting magnificent, dancing wonderful, and musical performances outstanding. The movie stars Howard Keel as a frontiers-man, and Jane Powell as a sort of liberated woman, before they were even around. Then there was the whole part of where...you know...typical love potion...boy meets girl...likes her food...thinks she is cute...and asks her to marry him 5 minutes later. The other cast includes Julie Newmar(Newmeyer, before the name change)who was the original Catwoman on the 1960's TV Show Batman, as Dorcus Gaylin, one of the brides, and Ruta Lee, as another one of the brides. There are all sorts of wonderful events that happen in this movie, including, an avalanche, barn raising, marraige, kidnapping (not good usually, but in this case it is ok, because I do not think that the kidnappies minded that much). If I can recomend just one movie to you, it would most definatly be...well it would be Auntie Mame, but this one would most definatly be my second choice!
Rating:
Summary: A marvelous musical
Review: Stanley Donen's classic "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" is truly Hollywood entertainment on its grandest scale, a gloriously giddy production and a masterful example of song-and-dance staging. When rugged backwoodsman Adam Pontipee (Howard Keel) weds a beautiful small-town girl named Milly (Jane Powell), the young bride finds herself in an unexpected predicament--having to cook and clean for Adam's six unmarried brothers. In time, she grooms them and teaches them manners, hoping to set them up with brides of their own, and the ensuing shenanigans, which eventually lead to an outrageous "kidnapping," are an absolute riot. 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.
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