Review of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954) by Ben L — 25 May 2012

This is probably one of the strangest stories ever used to create a musical. Seven guys abduct seven girls and yet they're still supposed to be the good guys? I find the story to be nearly intolerable, and yet I still enjoy watching the film from time to time. The fact that this movie has that much positive to outweigh all the negative, makes me think this could have been a classic with a better script.

The positives are the 2 things you absolutely have to get right in order to make a decent musical. First of all they have superb songs. These are the kind of songs I find myself humming days after watching. The tunes are so contagious, and I am excited each time the next song starts. Likewise the dancing is remarkable. They made a good choice casting some singing brothers and some dancing brothers, because they nail some very intricate dance routines.

As I said at the outset, it is the awful story that makes this movie less than spectacular. First they start with Adam who behaves like the ultimate male chauvinist, and yet he still gets his bride. Then we meet a cabin full of filthy, lazy, good-for-nothing brothers. These guys clean up, go to town, and all fall in love instantly. The guys decide they're miserable without the women, so they kidnap them thinking the women will get some Stockholm Syndrome. Sadly this movie then decides to condone abducting women, because their plan works! I swear I want to be offended and say that Seven Brides for Seven Brothers is a terrible film. However, I just can't get "Sobbin' Women" out of my head right now. It works as a farcical musical, but it's far from great.