A Salute to Stanley Donen - Seven Brides for Seven Brothers

MGM, 1954
Starring Howard Keel, Jane Powell, Russ Tambyn, and Julie Newmar
Directed by Stanley Donen
Music by Saul Chaplin and Gene dePaul; Lyrics by Johnny Mercer

We head into more robust territory for the first musical western to appear on this blog. This was not expected to be a hit in 1954. MGM threw all their hopes and finances into their adaptation of the Broadway show Brigadoon, but this is the one that audiences and critics took to, making it one of the biggest hits of the year. It was one of the few musicals my younger brother and very macho stepfather would watch without complaint. Let's head to a small backwoods town in Oregon in 1850 to see just how well this dance-heavy tale works today...

The Story: Adam Pontipee (Keel) rides into town, hoping to marry a good, strong woman who will help him take care of his farm and his six wild younger brothers. He eventually convinces Millie (Powell), a cook at a local tavern, to marry him. She thinks she's creating a new life and isn't thrilled to be saddled with caring for such an uncouth family at first. Millie won't put up with their rudeness and lack of social graces. She finally gets them all cleaned up - even Adam - and teaches them to dance for a big barn raising party in town. The men in town aren't happy with seeing six handsome bachelors who are interested in the only women around and first compete with them, then pick on them. After one attacks Adam, Gideon, the youngest brother (Tambyn), starts a brawl that ends with the girls angry, the townspeople angrier, and no barn.

The boys, however, can't get their ladies out of their heads and threaten to leave. Inspired by a book Millie brought with her about the kidnapped Sabine Women, Adam suggests they abduct the girls and bring them up to the farm to be married. They do just that, causing an avalanche in the pass leading to their farm to keep them from escaping. Millie's horrified. She banishes the boys to the barn. Stung by Millie telling him off, Adam's the one who leaves. He eventually returns in the spring to find that the boys are now in love with the girls, and Millie is pregnant. They now understand why kidnapping the ladies wasn't the best idea...but it's the ladies who have other plans.

The Song and Dance: With Donen and choreographer Michael Kidd in charge, the emphasis here is firmly on the "dance" side of things. Four of the seven brothers and all of the brides but Powell were trained dancers; Russ Tamblyn was an acrobat, hence some of his more death-defying feats on the boards in the Barn Raising Ballet. Powell gets top honors as Millie. She may be a dreamer, but she's also a spitfire who has no qualms about turning the dinner table over on the boys when they eat like pigs or telling Adam off after they kidnap the girls. No wonder she managed to whip the guys into shape so quickly. Also look for Tommy Rall as Frank, the most hot-headed of the brothers, and Julie Newmar as Dorcas, the oldest and boldest of the brides.

If nothing else, I give them credit for the unusual setting. I don't know many westerns that are actually north-westerns (or many musicals that are set in Oregon). Oregon's cold winters even come into play as part of the plot.

Favorite Number: The brothers get at least three awesome ensemble numbers, the most famous of which is "The Barn Raising Ballet." Their face-off against the men in town is one of, if not the most famous, chorus routines in film history, with the guys performing increasingly difficult stunts to show off for their prospective women.

I'm even fonder of "Lonesome Polecat," with the boys doing some wonderful dancing as they chop wood and do other chores. Their spirited "Goin' Courtin'" with Millie, as she teaches them how to dance like gentlemen, is also a lot of fun to watch. Powell also gets the lovely "Wonderful, Wonderful Day" as Adam brings Millie home for the first time. The brides also have a nice ensemble number of their own, "June Bride," and brides and brothers come together for "Spring, Spring, Spring."

Trivia: Special kudos to the costuming department for taking inspiration from the pioneer characters in the film and making the best of their limited budget. The women's dresses in the film were made from antique quilts head costumer Walter Plunkett apparently found at a Salvation Army. Not only are they unique and colorful, but their being made from old quilts is historically-accurate to that time and place, too.

The limited budget is also why most of the movie was filmed on an obvious soundstage. Much of their budget went to the bigger and more heavily publicized Brigadoon. Apparently, the only scene shot in the real outdoors was the escape through the pass with the girls, which was filmed in Sun Valley, Idaho.

Some folks may have noticed that Benjamin, the second-oldest brother in orange, doesn't take part in (or has limited roles in) most of the dances. He was played by Jeff Richards, who was actually a former baseball player. Julie Newmar could dance, but as his partner, ended up off to the side a lot of the time as well.

There was a stage version that debuted in 1978 and eventually made it to Broadway in 1982, where it played only five performances. It did a little bit better in London, and has since become popular with regional theaters. A modernized TV show from 1982 lasted only a season and is best-known for introducing River Phoenix as the youngest brother.

What I Don't Like: Millie is definitely not the only person who has problems with the kidnapping plot nowadays. That the boys are shown to be awkward and not terribly social is only a mild excuse. They're lucky they weren't strung up and probably deserved far worse than Millie's tongue-lashing and the snowballs with rocks in them that the girls pelted them with. A few sexist lyrics here and there don't help. At the very least, it's the girls who, much like Millie, eventually take matters into their own hands.

The Big Finale: Terrific performances, fun songs, and some of the best and most energetic chorus routines ever committed to film more than overcome the occasionally awkward and dated plot. If you're a fan of dance, or have a man in your life who thinks he's too macho for musicals, try this one on him.

Home Media: Alas, the two-disc DVD set is currently out of print, but there is a Warner Archives Blu-Ray, and it can be found on several streaming platforms and in at least two DVD musical collections.

DVD
DVD - 5 Film Collection: Musicals
Blu-Ray
Google Play