Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
1954 – Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
If you learn the plot of this delightful, Oscar-winning musical out of context, you might be appalled. Adam Pontipee (Howard Keel), a backwoodsman in mid-19th century Oregon, meets and quickly marries Milly (Jane Powell), a pretty young townswoman who has instantly fallen in love with him. But after Adam brings her home to meet (and cook and clean for, and live with) his six, B-to-G alphabetically named brothers, their ill-mannered behavior and the sheer untidiness of the place horrify her. But the plucky Milly rolls up her sleeves and takes on both the household and the brothers. She wins them over, to the point where they all soon get to hankering for women of their own. The longings become worse when they meet six fetching young ladies from the town. So, just before winter makes the mountain road impassible, the brothers head out and kidnap the women, ensuring that the seven couples – hence the title – will all be spending the long months of isolation under the same roof. Based on Plutarch’s story, “The Rape of the Sabine Women,” which the brothers use to justify their group abduction, it’s completely innocuous. It also features one of the most exuberant dance routines ever filmed, the “Barn Dance.” Created by Michael Kidd, it’s a six-minute masterpiece of choreography and acrobatics, an interpretation of romantic rivalries (the brothers versus the women’s six suitors from the town) that throbs with testosterone. And it all leads to an ending that involves an “I am Spartacus” moment played for laughs. Stanley Donen directed. [Trivia notes: 1) Seven Brides… remains one of the few movies shot entirely – and separately – in two different formats; in the then-standard screen ratio of 1.33:1 and in CinemaScope, which at 2.66:1 was twice as large. The reason? The widescreen format was brand new, and many of the country’s theaters weren’t yet equipped to accommodate it. 2) Donen practically begged Kidd to stage the musical numbers. Kidd, who initially hated the premise, finally agreed – but only if he wouldn’t have to choreograph any dancing! 3) MGM’s executives didn’t think the movie would do well, so they balked at budgeting for location shooting and confined the production to the studio’s sound stages and back lot. Serendipitously, the resulting painted backdrops for the town and the Pontipee brothers’ cabin were huge and gorgeous, and they actually enhanced the movie’s romantic mood. And despite the studio’s pessimism, Seven Brides… became one of the biggest box-office hits of the year. 4) Costume designer Walter Plunkett needed to differentiate the brothers from the townsmen for the “Barn Dance” and other crowded sequences. So, he turned the seven actors into redheads and dressed each of them in a differently colored bright shirt while confining their counterparts to black hair and grey and drab outfits. It worked. The Pontipees stand out smartly]

Mixer and relatives are now at max. More homework next.

Alex Andrite: If the volume for you is too low, and you can’t correct the volume level on your speakers, then I think you need to adjust some settings in your computer. The volume for me is fine.