Product Details

• Actors: Jane Powell, Howard Keel, Jeff Richards, Russ Tamblyn, Tommy Rall
• Directors: Stanley Donen
• Writers: Albert Hackett, Dorothy Kingsley, Frances Goodrich, Stephen Vincent Benet
• Producers: Jack Cummings
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Digital Video Transfer, HiFi Sound, Letterboxed, Widescreen, NTSC
• Rated: G (General Audience)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
• VHS Release Date: January 6, 1998
• Run Time: 102 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (275 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 0792837606
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #255,557 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Well, bless my beautiful hide! Director Stanley Donen invests this rollicking musical with a hearty exuberance. Howard Keel, with his big-as-all-outdoors baritone, stars as a bold "mountain man" living in the Oregon woods who brings home a bride (plucky songbird soprano Jane Powell) to his six slovenly brothers. Taming the rambunctious brood, Jane proceeds to make gentlemen of them so they can woo sweethearts of their own. But old habits die hard: their flirting gives way to fighting in the film's celebrated barn-raising scene, a lively acrobatic dance number exuberantly choreographed by Michael Kidd. Big brother chimes in with his own brand of advice--an old-fashioned kidnapping! Donen manages to get away with such a politically incorrect plot by investing the boys with a innocent sweetness, most notably the youngest brother played with genial earnestness by Rusty (Russ) Tamblyn (pre-West Side Story). This modest production became a huge hit and remains one of MGM's best-loved musical comedies, an energetic, high-kicking classic. --Sean Axmaker

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

82 of 87 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the Best Musicals of All Time, August 12, 2004

By 

Robin Currier - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (DVD)

My husband doesn't even like musicals, but he likes this one!

What could be better than singing by Howard Keel and Jane Powell? The music is great, the colors bright and vivid, the choreography wonderful.

To our modern eyes, the story of this 1954 musical seems a little outdated--the attitudes towards women are somewhat distasteful. Howard Keel's character, Adam, needs someone to clean and cook for his household of 6 wild brothers, so he just goes into town and "acquires" a wife, poor Millie (Jane Powell) who has no idea what is in store for her.

When the boys decide they need wives, they just go into town, kidnap a batch of girls, beat the girls' boyfriends insensible, and spend the winter snowbound with the girls who miraculously fall in love with them. OK, well then...

But, the charm of this musical somehow allows us to overlook all of this, and Millie's sheer spunkiness in trying to tame these wild men redeems them somehow. So everyone learns his lesson and all ends well.

This musical is also interesting in that it showcases several young talents who became better known in later years: The character of Dorcas is played by Julie Newmeyer (a young Julie Newmar, Catwoman in the TV series Batman in later years), Russ Tamblyn (future star of West Side Story), and Ruta Kilmonis (later semi-celebrity Ruta Lee). Even in this very early outing, Julie Newmar's distinctive voice and looks make her stand out.

The director, Stanley Donen, directed some of the best musicals in the 50s, including Damn Yankees, Singing in the Rain, Kismet (uncredited), and Royal Wedding. Inexplicably, in his later career, he directed such bombs as Saturn 3 (1980).

43 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Singin' & dancin' & sobbin', May 27, 2001

By 

Edward (San Francisco) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (Widescreen Edition) [VHS] (VHS Tape)

A "sleeper" when it was released in 1954, "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" is still one of the freshest musicals ever made. With a pretty, spirited score by Gene de Paul and Johnny Mercer and rambunctious but carefully-controlled choreography by Michael Kidd, this modestly-budgeted movie surprised everyone by becoming an enormous hit, even being nominated for Best Picture. Based on a short story by Stephen Vncent Benet called "Sobbin' Women" (which was the film's working title), it tells the story of a frontier woman Millie (Jane Powell) courted by a backwoodsman Adam (Howard Keel). He takes her off to his rustic home, neglecting to tell her he has six untamed brothers to care for. Undaunted, Millie sets about domesticating the household, complete with readings from classical history, including the story of the Sabine women, which the boys take to heart. The musical was filmed in AnscoColor and CinemaScope, and the wide screen is utilized to great effect, especially in the barn-raising sequence. Letter-box is mandatory. DePaul and Mercer wrote some effective songs ("Wonderful Day", "When You're in Love", "Sobbin' Women") and the numbers blend into the story perfectly under Stanley Donen's smooth direction. Dresden-doll coloratura Powell and strapping baritone Keel make such an attractive couple it's odd M~G~M never co-starred them again. (Evidently a musical version of "Robin Hood" never got past the drawing board.) The brothers include New York City Ballet star Jacques d'Amboise and a non-dancer, the mysterious Jeff Richards, who may have been the handsomest man ever to appear on the screen, Rock Hudson notwithstanding. Among the brides is Julie Newmar, who a couple of seasons later would stupefy Broadway in "Li'l Abner".Bright and pleasantly aggressive, "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" is right up there with Metro's best musicals.

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Get the Widescreen Version, May 2, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Seven Brides for Seven Brothers [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Yes, I agree with all the glowing reviews. Our whole family, including young boys, LOVE this movie. We've watched it many times. However, we bought the regular VHS version, and they lost a lot in the formatting. You frequently hear actors speaking who are not on screen.

So our advice: buy the widescreen so you can see all seven brothers at the same time.

Our family has decided to buy a DVD player just so we can get this film in the DVD version.

SG