In 1850 Oregon Territory, backwoodsman Adam Pontipee goes to town for supplies and to find a bride. He meets Milly, the pretty young cook at the town bar. Seeing her strength, hardworking attitude, and culinary skills, he proposes. She accepts and they immediately marry.
Upon arriving at the Pontipee mountain homestead, Milly discovers that Adam has six younger brothers – Benjamin, Caleb, Daniel, Ephraim, Frank, and Gideon. All are uncouth and ill-mannered. Adam tells Milly she is responsible for cleaning, laundering, and cooking their meals. After a disastrous first dinner with the rambunctious clan, Milly claims Adam manipulated her into becoming little more than a servant. He acknowledges wanting a strong and hardworking wife, knowing how difficult backwoods life is. When Milly bans Adam from their bed, he crawls out the window to sleep in the tree to avoid losing face with his siblings. Milly relents and allows him back in, lamenting she had high hopes regarding love and marriage.
The brothers want to marry but have rarely seen or interacted with females. Milly begins teaching them hygiene and etiquette. Despite initial reluctance, they realize this can help them find brides. At a town barn-raising event, the Pontipees display their newly acquired social graces. They meet Dorcas, Ruth, Martha, Liza, Sarah, and Alice, who are attracted to the handsome young brothers. The girls' jealous suitors taunt and sneakily attack the Pontipees during the barn raising. The brothers resist retaliating until one man attacks Adam. A brawl ensues in which the physically superior Pontipees prevail, but the townsfolk are angered that the barn raising event was ruined.
As winter approaches, the brothers pine for their loves. To console them, Adam reads from Milly's copy of Plutarch Life of Romulus in the Parallel Lives about the Sabine women, whom the ancient Romans kidnapped to be their wives. Adam then claims his brothers should do the same to get their prospective brides.
The Pontipees sneak into town at night and kidnap the girls. As they race back to the homestead, the men trigger a snow avalanche that blocks the mountain pass, stopping their pursuers. However, the Pontipees realize they neglected to procure a parson to conduct the wedding ceremonies and are snowed in until spring. Milly is furious with Adam and the brothers and exiles them to the barn while the girls stay in the house. Humiliated and angry by Milly's rebuke, Adam leaves for the Pontipees' trapping cabin to spend the winter alone. Gideon tells Milly, but she refuses to stop Adam.
Over the winter, the girls vent their anger by pranking the brothers, but their feelings gradually soften towards them. Meanwhile, Milly reveals she is expecting a baby. By springtime, the girls and the Pontipees have happily paired off. When Milly has a baby girl, Gideon goes to tell Adam. He refuses to return. Gideon chastises Adam over his selfishness and behavior toward Milly. Adam returns after the snow melts and meets his daughter. He and Milly reconcile and name their baby, Hannah. Adam admits that being a father, he now understands how families feel about their daughters. Adam tells his brothers they must return the girls. The heartbroken brothers agree to take them home. However, the girls, wanting to stay, hide and refuse to go back. As the brothers search for them, the angry townsmen have come through the reopened pass.
As the townsmen sneak up to the farm, Alice's father, Reverend Elcott, hears a baby crying. Fearing the worst, he asks the girls whose baby it is. They immediately conspire together and simultaneously answer, "mine". The fathers begrudgingly allow their daughters to marry the brothers in a collectiveshotgun wedding.
To perform the dance numbers and action sequences, choreographer Michael Kidd wanted dancers to portray all six of Adam Pontipee's brothers. Kidd said that he "had to find a way to have these backwoods men dance without looking ridiculous. I had to base it all around activities you would accept from such people– it couldn't look like ballet. And it could only have been done by superbly trained dancers." However, he was able to integrate into the cast two non-dancer MGM contract players who were assigned to the film, Jeff Richards, who performed just the simpler dance numbers, and Russ Tamblyn, using him in the dance numbers by exploiting his talents as a gymnast and tumbler.[6][7]
The other four brothers were portrayed by professional dancers– Matt Mattox, Marc Platt, Tommy Rall, and Jacques d'Amboise. All four balanced on a beam together during their barn-raising dance.
The wood-chopping scene in Lonesome Polecat was filmed in a single take.[8]
Adam (light green shirt): Howard Keel, a professional singer, appeared as the eldest of the seven brothers. He also appeared as Petruchio in the film version of Kiss Me Kate, and appeared in leading roles in other musical films including Calamity Jane, Rose Marie and Show Boat.[9]
Benjamin (orange shirt): Jeff Richards was a former professional baseball player who topped out at the AAA level of the minor leagues. Although obviously athletic, he is noticeably in the background, seated, or standing during the dance numbers so as to not expose his lesser dancing skills. This often relegated his partner, the classically trained ballet dancer Julie Newmar, to the background as well.[10]
Caleb (yellow shirt): Matt Mattox, a professional dancer, appeared on stage on Broadway and also danced in many Hollywood musical films. His singing voice for the film was dubbed by Bill Lee.
Daniel (mauve shirt): Marc Platt, a professional dancer, danced the role of Chalmers / Dream Curly in the original 1943 Broadway production of Oklahoma!. He also had a dancing/speaking role in the 1955 film version of Oklahoma!, as Curly's friend who buys his saddle at the auction and complains about Ado Annie's pie.[11]
Ephraim (dark green shirt): Jacques d'Amboise, a principal dancer with New York City Ballet, was given special leave for the filming of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (although he was recalled before filming was completed).[12] He also danced in other musical films, including the ballet role of the Starlight Carnival "barker" in the film Carousel (in which he partnered Susan Luckey in Louise's ballet). D'Amboise's work as a dance teacher for children was featured in the documentary film He Makes Me Feel Like Dancin', which won an Academy Award and Tony Award.
Frank (red shirt): Tommy Rall, a professional dancer and singer, appeared on stage on Broadway and in many musical films. His roles included Bill Calhoun (Lucentio) in the film version of Kiss Me Kate, and one of the Gallini brothers in the film Merry Andrew (in which he was one of the three featured acrobatic dancers in the circus engagement scene– Rall is the dancer in the center wearing the red shirt). He appeared in the film Funny Girl, as the Prince who partnered Barbra Streisand in a parody of the ballet Swan Lake.
Gideon (blue shirt): Russ Tamblyn was cast in the role of youngest brother Gideon. Tamblyn showcased his gymnastics training throughout the action sequences. He also had a starring role in the musical West Side Story as Riff. As of 2021, following d'Amboise's death, Tamblyn is the last surviving actor who played a brother.
Brides
Professional dancers played all seven of the brides.
The four girls whom Adam sees in the Bixby store when he first goes into town are Dorcas, Ruth, Liza and Sarah.
Milly: Jane Powell channelled her experiences growing up in Oregon to create Milly. She and Howard Keel would later reprise their roles in a Seven Brides for Seven Brothers stage adaptation.[13] She also appeared in dancing and singing roles in many other musical films, including Royal Wedding, and Rich, Young and Pretty and also A Date with Judy. In the film, she marries Adam.
Dorcas Gaylen: Julie Newmar (Newmeyer), wore a purple dress in the barn raising scene. Dorcas is one of the more confident girls, and has stated that she always wanted to be a June bride and have a baby right away. She is also the only girl shown to have a sibling, a younger sister. A classically trained ballerina, she would later rise to fame as Catwoman in the 1960s TV version of Batman. She also won a Supporting Actress Tony Award for The Marriage-Go-Round (starring Claudette Colbert). She appeared on her neighbor James Belushi's sitcom According to Jim after the two settled a highly publicized lawsuit. Her singing voice for the film was dubbed by Betty Allen. She marries Benjamin.
Ruth Jepson: Ruta Lee (Kilmonis) enjoyed a long stage and television career, appearing in dozens of films and TV series, working with Lucille Ball, Sammy Davis Jr., Elizabeth Taylor, Natalie Wood, and Frank Sinatra. Lee appeared in the sitcom Roseanne as the first girlfriend of Roseanne's mother. Her singing parts for the film were dubbed in post-production by Betty Noyes. She is wearing a blue dress in the barn raising scene, and is shown to like baking pies. She marries Caleb.
Martha: Norma Doggett performed in the 1940s-50s Broadway shows Bells Are Ringing, Fanny, Wish You Were Here, Miss Liberty, and Magdalena. Her singing voice for the film was dubbed by Bobbie Canvin. She wears a green dress during the barn raising scene. She marries Daniel.
Liza: Virginia Gibson was nominated for a Tony Award in 1957 and performed regularly, as singer and dancer, on the Johnny Carson show. She wears a pink checkered dress during the barn raising scene. She marries Ephraim.
Sarah Kine: Betty Carr was also a Broadway veteran, dancing in Damn Yankees, Happy Hunting, Mask and Gown, and Fanny (alongside Norma Doggett). Her singing voice for the film was dubbed by Norma Zimmer. She wears a yellow dress during the barn raising. She marries Frank.
Alice Elcott: Nancy Kilgas made her film debut in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. The youngest of the girls in the story, she is especially close with Milly and wears a peach colored dress in the barn raising scene. Her father is the town reverend. Gideon falls in love with her at first sight. She danced in the film versions of Oklahoma!, Shake, Rattle & Rock!, and Alfred Hitchcock's Torn Curtain. Her singing voice for the film was dubbed by Marie Greene. She marries Gideon.
Townspeople
Reverend Elcott (Ian Wolfe) is the local preacher and father of Alice, one of the brides. He is the officiant in both wedding ceremonies in the movie. A longtime Hollywood character actor, he is perhaps best remembered for his roles as Carter, chief clerk to "Wilfred the Fox" (Sir Wilfred Roberts) in Witness for the Prosecution, Mr. Atoz in the Star Trek episode "All Our Yesterdays", as Father Joseph the Abbot in The Frisco Kid, and as "Hirsch", "Mrs. Carlson's" butler on WKRP in Cincinnati.
Pete Perkins (Howard Petrie) is a leading citizen of the town where the Pontipees do their trading. Another longtime Hollywood character actor, he is also known for his role as Tom Hendricks in Bend of the River and as Mr. Lattimore, the prosecuting attorney in the Randolph Scott movie Rage At Dawn.
Mrs. Bixby (Marjorie Wood), co-owner of the general store in the town. Perhaps best known for playing Lady Lucas opposite Greer Garson and Laurence Olivier in Pride and Prejudice, she was a Hollywood veteran of 34 films going back to the silent movie era. She died a year after shooting wrapped on the movie.
Mr. Bixby (Russell Simpson), co-owner of the general store in the town. A longtime Hollywood actor with 244 movie and television credits to his name going well back into the silents in 1914, his best known roles are as Pa Joad in The Grapes of Wrath, and Red Kelly in San Francisco.
According to Dore Schary, Joseph Losey recommended the Stephen Vincent Benet story “The Sobbin’ Women” as the basis for a musical film to Schary when the latter was head of production at RKO. Schary tried to get the rights but Joshua Logan had it under option for a stage production.[14] When Logan dropped the option, Schary arranged for MGM to purchase the rights. Schary later said "everything worked" on the film.[15]
Dorothy Kingsley was brought on to the film to replace Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett who she says "didn't get along with Stanley Donen. They were lovely people, darling . . . but the script just wasn't coming out right, they were unhappy, and he was unhappy. They wanted to bow out. Stanley Donen called me in and I looked at the script and said, "The big trouble in the original short story is that the Howard Keel character is the one that tries to get all of these boys married off, and that's not right. The girl has nothing to do, and she's got to be the one to engineer all this stuff." That was changed around and seemed to please everyone, and we went from there."[16]
Choreographer Michael Kidd originally turned down the film, recalling in 1997: "Here are these slobs living off in the woods. They have no schooling, they are uncouth, there's manure on the floor, the cows come in and out– and they're gonna get up and dance? We'd be laughed out of the house."[17]
Lyricist Johnny Mercer said that the musical numbers were written at Kidd's behest, as an example "of how a songwriter sometimes has to take his cue from his collaborators."[18] For example, Kidd explained to Mercer and dePaul his conception of the "Lonesome Polecat" number, the lament of the brothers for the women, and the two worked out the music and lyrics.[18]
In his introduction to a showing on Turner Classic Movies on January 17, 2009, host Robert Osborne, as well as Jane Powell in her autobiography, The Girl Next Door, both say MGM was much less interested in Seven Brides than it was in Brigadoon which was also filming at the time, even cutting its budget and transferring the money to the Lerner and Loewe vehicle.[13]
Most of the movie was shot on the MGM sound stages. One exterior sequence not filmed at the studio was shot on location at Corral Creek Canyon in Sun Valley, Idaho. It was here that the escape following the brothers' kidnapping their future brides and the avalanche that closed the pass was filmed.[19]
On the 2004 DVD commentary, Stanley Donen states that the film was originally shot in two versions, one in CinemaScope and another in normal ratio, because MGM was concerned that not all theaters 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. However, both versions are available on the 1999 LaserDisc and 2004 DVD releases.
Jane Powell, Tommy Rall, Russ Tamblyn, Marc Platt, Matt Mattox, Jacques d'Amboise, Jeff Richards, Howard Hudson, Gene Lanham & Robert Wacker
Barn Dance
N/A
N/A
Barn Raising
1954
When You're in Love (reprise)
Adam
Howard Keel
1953
Lonesome Polecat
The Brothers
Bill Lee and the M-G-M Studio Chorus
1954
Sobbin' Women
Adam & Brothers
Howard Keel, Tommy Rall, Russ Tamblyn, Matt Mattox, Alan Davies, C. Parlato, Marc Platt, Robert Wacker, Gene Lanham & M. Spergel
1953
Kidnapped And Chase
N/A
N/A
1954
June Bride
The Brides
Virginia Gibson, Barbara Ames, Betty Allan, Betty Noyes, Marie Vernon & Norma Zimmer
June Bride (reprise)
Brides & Milly
Virginia Gibson, Barbara Ames, Betty Allan, Betty Noyes, Marie Vernon, Norma Zimmer & Jane Powell
Spring, Spring, Spring
Brothers & Brides
Howard Keel, Tommy Rall, Russ Tamblyn, Matt Mattox, Alan Davies, C. Parlato, Robert Wacker, Gene Lanham, M. Spergel, Bill Lee, Virginia Gibson, Barbara Ames, Betty Allan, Betty Noyes, Marie Vernon & Norma Zimmer
End Title
N/A
N/A
Reception
Critical
Contemporary reviews from critics were positive. When it premiered at the Radio City Music Hall, A. H. Weiler of The New York Times called the film "a wholly engaging, bouncy, tuneful and panchromatic package ... Although the powers at M-G-M are deviating from the normal song-and-dance extravaganza in 'Seven Brides for Seven Brothers,' it is a gamble that is paying rich rewards."[22]
Variety wrote: "This is a happy, hand-clapping, foot-stomping, country type of musical with all the slickness of a Broadway show. It offers songs, dances and romancing in such a delightful package that word-of-mouth could talk it into solid business at the boxoffice."[23]Richard L. Coe of The Washington Post declared: "Dandy dancing, singable songs and the ozone of originality make 'Seven Brides for Seven Brothers' the niftiest musical I've seen in months."[24]Harrison's Reports called it "A thoroughly delightful blend of songs, dances and romantic comedy" with "exceptionally good musical numbers."[25]The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote that the dances "give the picture its remarkably spirited and exhilarating quality ... A minor weakness is the playing of Jane Powell, whose Milly is a somewhat colourless figure; Howard Keel, the brides and the brothers, however, are all admirable."[26]
John McCarten of The New Yorker posted a dissenting negative review, writing that the film "got on my nerves" and "struck me as desperately contrived and often witless", though he did concede that there were "some fine dances" in it.[27]
Box office
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers was the 5th most popular film at the British box office in 1955.[28] According to MGM records it made $5,526,000 in the US and Canada and $3,877,000 elsewhere resulting in a profit of $3,198,000.[2]
Legacy
The film came in third in a BBC Radio 2 listener poll of the UK's "Number One Essential Musicals"[29] and was listed as number eight in the "Top 10 MGM musicals" in the book Top 10 of Film by Russell Ash. In 2004, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry as being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." In 2006, it was ranked #21 on the American Film Institute's list of best musicals. In 2008, the film was ranked number 464 in Empire's list of the 500 greatest films of all time.[30]
Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes awards Seven Brides for Seven Brothers an 89% "Fresh" rating based on 28 reviews, with an average rating of 7.8/10. The critics' consensus states: "Buoyed by crowd-pleasing tunes and charming performances, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers makes a successful transition from Broadway to screen that's sure to please the whole family."[31]
Turkish film Beş Fındıkçı Gelin 1966 is a remake of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.
The 1968–1970 TV series Here Come the Brides was inspired by the movie Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.
The 1978 stage musical Seven Brides for Seven Brothers is an adaptation of the film, with a book by Lawrence Kasha and David Landay. Four songs from the film ("Bless Your Beautiful Hide", "Wonderful Wonderful Day", "Goin' Courtin'", and "Sobbin' Women") were kept for the stage musical; the rest of the score consisted of new songs written by Al Kasha and Joel Hirschhorn.
The 1982 Bollywood film Satte Pe Satta ("Seven on Seven") is an unofficial remake of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.
Loosely remade by the Brazilian comic group Os Trapalhões in 1988 as the film O Casamento dos Trapalhões ("The Bumbling Ones' Wedding or Tramps' Wedding"). Instead of seven, there are four brothers (the members of Os Trapalhões); midway through the movie, they are visited by their four nephews, all members of the Brazilian band Dominó.
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