Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954) |
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Seven Brides for Seven Brothers Cast |
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Movie Highlights |
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Other InformationAwardsBest Youth DVD Satellite Awards [2005] (Won/Nominated: Nominated) Best Written American Musical Writers Guild of America, USA [1955] (Won/Nominated: Won) Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures Directors Guild of America, USA [1955] (Won/Nominated: Nominated) Best Film from any Source BAFTA Awards [1955] (Won/Nominated: Nominated) Best Writing, Screenplay Academy Awards [1955] (Won/Nominated: Nominated) Best Picture Academy Awards [1955] (Won/Nominated: Nominated) Best Film Editing Academy Awards [1955] (Won/Nominated: Nominated) Best Cinematography, Color Academy Awards [1955] (Won/Nominated: Nominated) Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture Academy Awards (Won/Nominated: 1955) Plot SummaryBased extremely loosely on the Stephen Vincent Benet story Sobbin` Women," Seven Brides for Seven Brothers is one of the best MGM musicals of the 1950s. Most of the story takes place on an Oregon ranch, maintained by Adam Pontabee (Howard Keel) and h... TaglineThe once-in-a-lifetime musical romp! MGM`s love-making musical! A WONDERFUL, YOUTHFUL, LOVIN`, KISSIN` MUSICAL ABOUT SEVEN STOLEN SWEETIES AND THEIR SHOTGUN WEDDINGS! (original print ad - all caps) SINGIN`! DANCIN`! ROMANCIN`! (original print ad - all caps) LUSTY, MIRTHFUL GIRL-STEALING MUSICAL! . . . with Seven Great Songs! DiscographySinglesSpring, Spring, Spring When You`re in Love (reprise) June Bride (reprise) June Bride Lonesome Polecat Goin` Co`tin When You`re in Love Wonderful, Wonderful Day Bless Your Beautiful Hide Kidnapped and Chased Barn Raising Barn Dance |
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Full Cast and Crew |
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Actor CreditsNon Actor Credits |
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Trivia |
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Trivia and QuotesQuotes Adam: Morning ma`am.
Lem`s girlfriend: Morning backwoodsman.
Adam: Nice day for marrying.
Lem: Well, that`s a right good idea.
Lem`s girlfriend: Oh Lem, I thought you`d never ask me.
Adam: Smells good enough to eat.
Milly: Tastes good too, so they tell me.
Adam: Got any ketchup handy?
Milly: My stew can stand on its own feet.
Adam: What do you call her?
Milly: I was thinking of some name like Hannah or Hagar or Hephzibah, picking up where your mother left off.
Adam: Hannah.
Milly: Hannah.
Adam: I got to thinking up at the cabin, about the baby. How I`d feel if someone came creeping in and carried her off. I`d string him up the nearest tree. I`d shoot him down as I would a thieving fox.
Milly: Say something nice, Gideon.
Gideon: Nice night for a coon hunt.
Milly: Raise your hat. What`s the matter, Caleb?
Caleb: My hair ain`t combed.
Rev. Elcott: [after rounding up the girls] Now we`re all fathers and we love you, so don`t be afraid to answer. A ways back I heard a wee babe crying in the house. Whose is it?
[girls look at one another]
Rev. Elcott: Whose is it, don`t be afraid to tell?
Girls: [all at once and smiling] Mine!
Milly: Good morning my brothers. If you`re looking for your outside clothes they`re hanging up drying on the line. I came in before and got them. I couldn`t get your inside clothes so I`ll take them now.
Benjamin Pontipee: Our underwear?
Milly: You`re winter underwear that you`re sleeping in. You might as well hand it over because you`re not gonna get your clothes or food or nothing til you get all cleaned up and shaved.
Benjamin Pontipee: Where`s Adam? We wanna talk to Adam.
Milly: He`s out plowing, he had his breakfast over a half an hour ago. I got hot muffins waiting, crisp bacon, steak, fryer potatoes, fresh ground coffee. Now do I get that winter underwear or do I have to come in there and take it off of you?
Benjamin Pontipee: Don`t listen to her. She wouldn`t dare.
Milly: Oh wouldn`t I?
Dorcas: Which of the boys slept in this bed, do you think?
Liza: Dorcas Galen!
Dorcas: What`s the matter? Haven`t you ever thought of it? That you`re sleeping in one of *their* beds?
Milly: Somehow it just don`t seem fitting for a man to spend his wedding night in a tree.
Adam: Love is like the measles. You only get it once, and the older you are, the harder you take it.
Caleb: There were no F names in the Bible so Ma named him Frankincense because he smelled so sweet.
Milly: Don`t just stand there, do something!
Frank: What for? There`s only three little ones!
Milly: Well, it wouldn`t hurt you to learn some manners, too.
Adam: What do I need manners for? I already got me a wife.
Milly: Don`t you like girls?
Gideon: We ain`t never hardly ever seen one.
Dorcas: I`ve always wanted to be a June Bride... and have a baby right off, in the spring maybe.
Trivia Reportedly Howard Keel`s personal favorite of his movies. M-G-M did not have high financial expectations for the film, and chose instead to allocate its resources to Rose Marie (1954) and Brigadoon (1954)--films that never matched this film`s commercial and critical success. Director Stanley Donen said that producer Jack Cummings originally planned to use existing American folk songs for the film`s musical numbers. After months spent searching in vain for the right music, Donen recalled, the decision was made to commission an original score. M-G-M had waited five years to acquire the rights to `Stephen Vincent Benét``s short story, as Broadway producer Joshua Logan had optioned the story as a potential stage musical.
The story of the Sabine women referred to in the film came from Plutarch`s Life of Romulus . The working titles of this film were "Sobbin` Women" and "A Bride for Seven Brothers". Caleb says, "There was no `F` names in the Bible, so Ma named him Frankincense, `cause he smelled so sweet." However, there are in fact three "F" names in the Bible: Felix (referenced in Acts 24:27); Fes`tus (referenced in Acts 24:27, 25:1, 25:4, 25:9, 25:12, 25:13, 25:14, 25:22, 25:24, 26:24, 26:25, and 26:32); and Fortunatus (referenced in 1 Corinthians 16:17). Jeff Richards (a former professional baseball player) was one of the two "brothers" not chosen for his dancing ability. The other being Howard Keel, who was an actor/singer. Because there was no way of distinguishing between them and the Town Suitors, MGM decided to make all the Pontipee Brothers red-headed. The avalanche was filmed at Corral Creek Canyon, at Sun Valley, Idaho. For the brides costumes, designer Walter Plunkett went to the Salvation Army, found old quilts and turned them into dresses.
Jacques d`Amboise had to leave before filming was finished because he was still under contract with the New York City Ballet, so someone filled in for him during the last few days. You can see someone else playing Ephraim in the scene where the brothers are pacing downstairs while Milly is giving birth. Only four of the brothers were dancers. Russ Tamblyn (Gideon) was an acrobat, and Jeff Richards (Benjamin) was an actor. Benjamin rarely dances in the movie. Shot in only 48 days. Rehearsals for the barn-raising sequence took 3 weeks. Michael Kidd initially turned down the project. He had just come off a show on Broadway and wanted a rest. He changed his mind after hearing the score. Stanley Donen was producer Jack Cummings` first choice for director from the outset, thanks to his success with "On the Town" and "Singin` in the Rain".
The censors weren`t too happy about the line in the song "Lonesome Polecat" where the brothers lament "A man can`t sleep when he sleeps with sheep". By not showing any sheep in the same shot as the brothers, the film-makers were able to get away with it. Played at the Radio City Music Hall in New York in a slot that was originally intended for "Brigadoon". MGM considered this a B movie - they had higher aspirations for the more expensive "Brigadoon". For this reason, they slashed the budget on "Seven Brothers", forcing Stanley Donen to use painted backdrops instead of location filming. Scenes for the widescreen version were shot in the morning and, for the normal ratio, in the afternoon. On the 2004 DVD commentary, Stanley Donen states that the film was originally shot in two versions, one widescreen and another in normal ratio, because MGM was concerned that not all theatres 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. Matt Mattox` singing was dubbed by Bill Lee. | ||
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