Revisit: Seven Brides for Seven Brothers

An MGM release 1954

Directed by Stanley Donen

Writing credits:
Stephen Vincent Benet (story The Sobbin' Women)
Albert Hackett
Frances Goodrich
Dorothy Kingsley

Adam (Howard Keel), the eldest of seven brothers, goes to town and convinces Milly (Jane Powell) to marry him. Milly sets out to reform the uncouth siblings, who are anxious to get wives of their own.



One of my top three favorite musicals, Seven Brides is an absurd exploration o love as filtered through hyper-accentuated representations of gender. Adam - the manliest man imaginable - marries Milly - the most hopless romantic of women imaginable - and they sing lovely backwoods songs about lonliness and love. The film is a great example of widescreen formatting - MGM crams somewhere upwards 15 characters on screen at once, dancing intensely. Makes a great case against adjusted TV formatting. Fantastic entertainment.