Seven Brides for Seven Brothers Poster

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)

Comedy | Musical | Western
Rayting:   7.4/10 21.4K votes
Country: USA
Language: English
Release date: 6 August 1954

In 1850 Oregon, when a backwoodsman brings a wife home to his farm, his six brothers decide that they want to get married too.

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MovieAddict2016 3 November 2005

Adam Pontipee (Howard Keel) lives with his six brothers in a cabin in a remote area of the woods. He goes to town one day and convinces a girl named Milly (Jane Powell) to marry him. They return to the cabin, where she suddenly realizes he has six brothers.

Milly tries to teach them some manners after her initial shock, but they are not entirely keen to change their ways. They are, however, anxious to get wives of their own.

After Adam reads about Roman capturing of Sabine women, he hatches a plan for his brothers - kidnap whoever they want to marry and bring them back to the cabin.

"Seven Bridges for Seven Brothers" is, today, somewhat of a classic; Stanley Donen adapts the screenplay by Albert Hackett, Frances Goodrich and Dorothy Kingsley; their combined efforts are superb.

I have grown up on this film and was surprised at the fact that, after having seen it very recently, it continues to hold up as well as it did when I was younger. I recommend it to everyone of all ages - it's funny, charming, sweet-natured and very enjoyable.

carver-5 23 March 2000

Fmovies: I've seen this movie about ten times over the years, and it is such a joy to watch! This movie was nominated for Best Picture, and rightly so. The snappy, well written, melodic songs, coupled with the first rate dancing is a match made in Hollywood musical heaven. By the way, did you know that the guy playing "Frank" was borrowed from the New York Ballet?

This film will put a warm fuzzy feeling in you throughout the entire two hours. This movie stands up against "Singin in the Rain", and "On the Town" any day!

See it in the wide-screen version for the full effect!

AlsExGal 10 July 2018

Revisiting this film, I was immediately pulled in by Howard Keel's opening song Bless Your Beautiful Hide. Audacious even in it's day, there's a tenderness in Mercer's lyrics that makes it somewhat forgivable-remember suspending your reality for a musical? Handsome Howard Keel's virility doesn't hurt. Instead of recoiling over the idea of "finding a wife" I just rolled with it as a silly plot idea. Once I had put myself in the same fantasy mode as when watching a Busby Berkeley musical, I started enjoying it.

I really paid attention to the musical numbers, most notably the Barn Dance & Lonesome Polecat. Amazing. Not too many dances in movies were designed to actually TELL a story, showing what the characters were feeling so eloquently. The Barn Dance scene is the best example I've ever seen of this. The dancing styles of townies vs mountaineers, the girl's being hoisted up in the air, the colors, the acrobatics all contribute to a very coherent "story" in dance.

Lonesome Polecat is also just extraordinary. It has a low base line of something like 3/4 but the lyrics are sung in some odd time signature like 5/9. (help me here music experts) The choreography too, is just excellent- the men really stand out as athletic, as is typical in many cultures such as Indian & Hawaiian dances.

I was again struck by how awful crazy the story line is, but how easily it's vindicated by Keel's character explaining how tough life is for mountain settlers. And Janie Powell was so perfect as the sweet young pretty girl who makes lemonade out of a bunch of sour lemons. The entire story is really about how she orchestrates a success out of her bad situation. I like that she's physically tiny but controls the fate of everyone in the story, not with weak conniving but with strong confident guidance.

At first you think this is a terribly sexist story, but it's truly a pioneering and feminist story.

silverscreen888 13 June 2005

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers fmovies. It would be difficult, I suspect not to like, "Seven Brides For Seven Brothers". This film boasts an attractive frontier setting, famously excellent dance numbers choreographed by Michael Kidd, powerful Howard Keel as the head of the Pontifee clan and Jane Powell as the lovely girl who is swept off her feet by his charms. Of course when she finds out that he has six brothers, all scruffy backwoodsmen in need of manners and wives, trouble ensues. But all turns out well, with a little help from a lesson in Roman history, hard work, and the willingness of six other local girls to be (finally) swept off their feet. Howard Petrie, Ian Wolfe and such lovelies as Ruta Lee, Julie Newmar and Virginia Gibson contribute to the fun as the girls; the brothers include Russ Tamblyn, non-dancer Jeff Richards and some of the best dancers on the planet. The movie also presents some famous songs including, "Wonderful Day", "I'm a Lonesome Polecat", "June Bride" and, "When You're in Love" as well as "Goin' Courtin'", among others. Well-remembered scenes include the hilarious barn raising, the town dance, the sleigh pursuit and avalanche and the "Spring, Spring, Spring" vocal climax. Forget the acting, which is sometimes a bit potty; the director and the music add to a clearly-defined script a rare sense of frontier life, where taking risks for happiness and facing the precariousness of things where life is less than settled become necessary. Very few films have followed the lead of "Seven Brides" as a frontier or western musical; and none has been as well received nor appreciated. What a pity, its fans say, it was not given an outdoor setting instead of backlot scenery--and an "A" budget...It has a few flaws; but for five decades it has been one of the happiest musical films ever made; and that is quite an enduring achievement.

Bob-45 2 February 2005

How can "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" be such a wonderful musical? While the songs are lovely, they are mostly forgettable. The characters of the six brides and five of the brothers are almost hopelessly underwritten. Credit director Stanley Donen, choreographer Michael Kidd, cinematographer George Folsey, and a perfect cast led by Howard Keel and Jane Powell for creating one of the all time great musicals and an unforgettable motion picture experience even 50 years after its release. "Brides" has never been surpassed for ensemble performance, and that includes "West Side Story". This is largely due to Michael Kidd's choreography and the Donen/Folsey scene composition. Kidd exploited the best elements of each character's dance style (one brother is a ballet star; another, an acrobat) and created the most bravura ballroom/freestyle dance number in motion picture history, the barn dance sequence which formally introduces the "brides" to the "brothers". Kidd's work would have been in vain, however, had not Donen and Folsey so skillfully composed the scene. "Brides" is the best example of scene composition of any wide screen musical I've ever seen; every frame is filled with something visually interesting. Donen frequently, but subtly uses Jane Powell's tiny stature for comic effect by surrounding her with the tall brothers in submissive poses. Powell is clearly always in control, but her size and generally cheery temperament prevent her from ever seeming a bully. Donen also carefully chose to dress the brothers in bright, distinctly colored shirts, which enables the audience to clearly distinguish the characters during key scenes.

The movie also has a subtle feminist slant. Powell is clearly younger than her husband, Howard Keel, but she is also clearly a more mature and dominant character. For the time, "Brides" was also daring in its depiction of "good" women looking forward to enjoying sex. Prior to one song/dance number, bride Julie Newmarr poses on a bed in a position clearly representing "missionary position" sex, legs up and astride an imaginary lover's back.

Though the brides don't get as much screen time or individuality as the brothers, each looks as if she would be a great partner. Both the brides and the brothers get a satisfactory showcasing as couples in the last song, "Spring, Spring, Spring".

I'll leave others to explain the plot. I would like to mention that Donen had an uphill battle with the studio while making "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers". The studio had so little faith, they continually cut "Brides" budget to put more money into the lumbering "Brigadoon." Sets and even cast members were loaned out to other movies. Brothers Russ Tamblyn an Jeff Richards, as well as part of the set can be seen in "Many Rivers to Cross." Instead of Technicolor, the studio used Ansco color. Thus, "Brides" looks about as good as "Wizard of Oz," but no where near as good as "Harvey Girls" or "Meet Me in St. Louis." That's quite an achievement being the best photographed, best choreographed and best ensemble acted musical of the last 50 years. I think it's also the most entertaining. I give "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" a "10."

petrov-4 8 November 2004

Howard Keel died yesterday bringing a lifetime of energetic and fun films to a close. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers was one of those films. It had catchy memorable tunes with strong hooks that stay in the brain for days. It took full advantage of brilliant color, fabulous choreography, and even managed to have that one thing that too many musicals eschew... a plot... complete with character arcs. Adam Pontipee is the eldest of seven brothers who decides that living in a squalor with six other scroungy bachelors and horrible cooking has gone on long enough. When Milly agrees to marry him on the day they meet, everyone's in for a shock.

Adam finds that a wife is more than a cooking and cleaning slave and that his actions can effect others far more than he ever thought. Milly learns that expectations and dreams don't always work out the way you hope, but they can still work out. The six brothers learn that there's more to life than chopping wood, that Adam isn't always right and that you can't just take what you want. And six young women (the brides) discover that there are more choices than the ones people put in front of you.

The movie asks some hard questions and doesn't answer all of them. Initially the brides are all quite take with the brothers, until the bachelors in town chase them back into the mountains. When the bachelors decide to kidnap the brides we have to ask ourselves how such an act could work out well. Before we heap indignities on the writers, we should also ask whether the townsfolk should be allowed to chase off anyone who might contend for the affections of the girls they have their eyes on. That's one of the finest points of this movie. These aren't matters of black and white. This is a story of humanity and of men and women. But mostly, this is a fine musical and part of Howard Keel's enduring legacy.

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