Seven Brides For Seven Brothers (1954)
Stanley Donen directed this rough and tumble highly acclaimed musical, set in Oregon in 1850. It was adapted from Stephen Vincent Benet's story The Sobbin' Women (based on Plutarch's The Rape Of The Sabine Women), and perfectly integrates song, dance and storytelling.

This rather implausible story describes the lives of Adam (Howard Keel), a bold mountain man living in the Oregon woods with his six brothers Ben, Caleb, Dan, Ephraim, Frankincense and Gideon. One day, Adam brings home a plucky bride Millie (Jane Powell). Millie seemingly gets more than what she bargained for when she is expected to cook and clean for the seven barbaric men. Eventually, she tames them. Soon enough, the six brothers decide they too want wives and kidnap six other young ladies.

Michael Kidd's brilliant choreography apart, cinematographer George Folsey's cinemascope photography captured both the grandeur of the land (shot on MGM's back lot) and the brilliant and bawdy dance numbers.

Highlights of the film include the barn scene where the brothers compete for the attention of the ladies with one of the most acrobatic square dances ever conceived. One of the great MGM screen musicals, the film inspired the 1982 Amitabh Bachchan-Hema Malini starrer Satte Pe Satta.

Email this page to a friend