Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (Jane Powell)

(Amazon UK link)

In our gradual quest to watch the DVDs we were given by an elderly friend who was downsizing, we decided on ‘Seven Brides for Seven Brothers’ last night. I knew of the film - one of my brothers would watch it whenever it was on television, when I was in my teens. But it didn’t appeal to me then, and I had not come across it until our recent acquisition.

I had little idea what it was about, although the title rather sums it up. Adam (Howard Keel) is the first of the main characters whom we meet in this film. He’s walking through a ‘Wild West’ town in Oregon, doing some trading in stores, and also - as he tells everyone - in search of a wife. He and his brothers are farmers who live in the mountains, and they never meet women. The story is set in the 1850s. 

The reason Adam wants a wife is extremely sexist - his male-only household needs someone who can cook, and clean, and create some semblance of order. It doesn’t sound at all appealing. He breaks into song as he wanders through the town, criticising the local girls for being the wrong size or shape. Then he spots Milly (Jane Powell) who works for an inn. He sees her serving delicious food, dealing with dozens of men at the same time, and also chopping wood. She seems ideal, and fortunately she likes the idea of getting married to this handsome stranger, and leaving her life of drudgery.

Adam does not mention his brothers, so it’s quite a rude awakening when she meets them. There are some amusing (albeit somewhat gross) scenes as she discovers exactly what she has let herself in for. This causes some inevitable stress with Adam too… 

So Milly sets to work, not just to clean the place and provide some nutritious food, but to reform Adam’s brothers. She teaches them about ‘courting’, and tells them to avoid fighting if they want to attract young women. She also supposedly teaches them some basic dance steps; they learn remarkably rapidly. It’s clear that the actors playing the brothers are talented dancers. There are some excellent dance/gymnastic scenes which I very much appreciated. 

There’s singing, too; this is, after all, a musical. It’s not over-done, but every so often someone breaks into song, usually as part of the story. It’s not the kind of musical where the story stops as random people appear to sing and dance, for no apparent reason. The songs in this film don’t go on too long and on the whole I thought they added to the story. 

The acting is slightly overdone, as was typical for films of this era, but that wasn’t a problem, as far as we were concerned. ‘Seven Brides for Seven Brothers’ was made in 1954, so I was quite surprised that it’s in colour. Some of the backgrounds look a bit artificial, but they didn’t detract from the story. 

If the film weren’t so well-made, and basically light-hearted, some sections would be quite shocking. Not just because of the way Milly is expected to work every minute of her day to look after seven men, but because of the way the other six ‘brides’ are acquired… to say more would be to give too much of a spoiler. 

Other than Adam and Millie it wasn't particularly easy to recall who was whom out of either the brothers or their potential brides; even less so with the many townsfolk who were involved. The only brother who stood out was the youngest, Gideon (Russ Tamblyn). The others looked - and behaved - rather too similarly. 

A bonus which we were not expecting was an ‘extra’ feature on our DVD: a short documentary about the making of the film. It has interviews and snippets filmed in the 1990s with several of the cast and crew. Apparently the production costs were slashed in half, although the amount spent still sounded huge for a film made eighty years ago. 

Nobody expected this film to be a success, but it was very much so. Still popular in the 1970s when my brother watched it; still popular in the 1990s when the bonus material was made. The DVD has been remastered and the quality seemed pretty good. We enjoyed the film and are happy to add it to our collection.

Recommended. 

You can read more about this film on the IMDb site: Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. 

Review copyright 2024 Sue's DVD Reviews

Bus Stop (Marilyn Monroe)

(Amazon UK link)

We were given twenty-five DVDs by a friend who was downsizing, most of which are of films and musicals from the 1950s and 1960s. We hadn’t even heard of some of them, including ‘Bus Stop’, which was made in 1956. We thought it might be black and white, but it was an early colour film. We had, of course, heard of Marilyn Monroe but neither of us could recall ever having seen any of her films. 

The opening of the film is set in Montana, at a rodeo. I found this a bit disturbing: dangerous, bucking animals are ridden, and then other animals lassoed and brought down. I had to look away a couple of times. But we soon meet the two important male characters in the story: a young cowboy called Beau (Don Murray) who has apparently never left the ranch where he grew up, and his mentor, Virgil, known as Virge (Arthur O’Connell). 

It took me a few minutes to be able to tune into the strong accents and fast talking, but it didn’t much matter. These two men board a bus that’s going to take them to Phoenix, in Arizona, where Beau is going to enter some major rodeo competitions. He’s quite arrogant about  his abilities, and - as becomes clear - also very naive. Virge thinks it’s about time he looks for a nice girl, but Beau has had nothing to do with girls and has no idea how to approach one.

On the first evening in Phoenix, they go to a night club where Cherie (Marilyn Monroe) is singing, in a rather scanty outfit. She’s evidently being treated quite badly by the manager, who hasn’t yet paid her anything, and expects her to perform and try to manipulate customers into buying her drinks. I found her Southern accent extremely hard to understand; she comes across as unintelligent, but far from innocent. Unsurprisingly, Beau finds her very attractive - and after a brief conversation he informs her they’re going to be married…

It’s obviously intended to be humorous, but I found Beau’s attempts to take charge, to ‘tame’ Cherie as if she were a wild animal, to be rather disturbing. His insistence that he is going to call her ‘Cherry’ is also somewhat demeaning. And it seemed very strange to me that, while one or two of the women understand and sympathise with her predicament, it takes a lot longer for any of the men around Beau to do anything other than voice objections. 

The last half hour or so of the film is set at a small inn/cafe known as the ‘Bus Stop’, as that’s where several cross-country buses. The landlady, Grace (Betty Field) makes them all welcome, and doesn’t want any unpleasantness. Conveniently there is a heavy blizzard which prevents the coach from leaving (and any other buses from arriving) and unsurprisingly there’s a showdown… but I found the ending rather trite and unlikely, although also a bit sad: Cherie has not had a happy life. 

The acting is mostly good, in a 1950s way, and the pace of the film about right. It wouldn’t work as a new movie today, but considered as a classic to watch from nearly 70 years ago, it’s an interesting, light-hearted way to spend an evening. There are a few country music interludes; Virge likes playing the guitar and organising sing-songs. But it's not a musical as such. 

The rating is U, probably because there’s no overt nudity or intimacy (though much is implied), and I don’t recall any bad language. But the subject matter certainly isn’t appropriate for children; I would have thought at least PG would be more appropriate, and wouldn’t personally show it to anyone under the age of about fourteen or fifteen at the youngest.

Review copyright 2024 Sue's DVD Reviews