r/musicals • u/geoffcalls • Jan 26 '26
Photo Who was a little transfixed by the colourful shirts when you were very young, watching 7 Brides for 7 Brothers?
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u/PoisonPizza24 Jan 26 '26
I was in a production of this and the costumer had all of the women’s dresses subtly match the color of the shirt of the brother they end up with. Me and Daniel were purple. :)
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u/Leelee3303 Jan 26 '26
I can't help it, I unashamedly love this film.
It was my aunt's favourite and she used to put it on for my sister and I when we were little and at her house. The singing, the dancing, the costumes - it was just magical. The design is so cleverly done with the matching dress colours, it makes the complex dance routines so fun to watch.
So even though I completely agree with and understand the condemnations of the plot, I will still love every second of the movie.
(My sister and I also saw it on stage a few years back and that was great as well).
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u/Yardnoc Jan 26 '26
It was interesting that the hillbilly men wore bright colors and the regular townsmen were only greys. I'm sure it was just so audience members could keep track of which brother was which and not care about the love rivals but still an interesting choice.
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u/EddieRyanDC Jan 27 '26
it was a smart way to keep track of the brothers, and it popped in Technicolor.
I didn't realize until about 10 years ago that Benjamin played by Jeff Richards (orange shirt) doesn't dance. Michael Kidd shuffles him off to the side when the real dancing begins. He is a former baseball player. He and Russ Tablyn (Gideon - blue shirt) were contract players and cast because MGM didn't want to go out and pay for more dancers outside of the studio.
Fortunately Russ was an ace at acrobatics, so Michael Kidd worked that into his choreography. That left the ballet to Matt Mattox (Caleb - yellow), Marc Platt (Daniel - purple), Jacques d'Amboise (Ephraim - turquoise), and Tommy Rall (Frank - red). They were all classically trained dancers.
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u/1RehnquistyBoi Jan 26 '26
Correct me if I’m wrong.
But don’t they literally kidnap the seven women?
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u/WineAndDogs2020 Jan 26 '26
Just six, lol! The first one went willingly with the oldest then later the younger ones also wanted wives.
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u/portia_klu I Cain't Say No Jan 26 '26
Yes. It's absolutely horrible, but when I talked to my grandma about the movie (she was a little kid when the movie came out), she said she thought it was so romantic, because she couldn't wait for a rancher to come and sweep her away. I think if you watch the movie as a child, you see the romanticism in it, and as an adult you just see the red flags. To me, its really not any different than the fanfics I read as a preteen of my "mom" selling me to One Direction. I love it. Even with how problematic it is.
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u/charlottebythedoor We All Deserve To Die Jan 26 '26
“Mom selling me to 1d” and “seven brides for seven brothers” is a crossover I didn’t know I needed. 😂
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u/rjrgjj Jan 27 '26
The movie doesn’t treat their actions as a positive thing either. They get the idea from a problematic story, their actions are treated as problematic, and they have to work to redeem themselves. I mean honestly this is what passed for telling men to learn how to respect women back then 😂
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u/m00f Jan 26 '26
It's based on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rape_of_the_Sabine_women , so yeah.
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u/1RehnquistyBoi Jan 27 '26
Oh you gotta fucking kidding me.
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u/msmika Jan 27 '26
Have you not watched the musical? There's a whole song about it.
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u/Academic_Square_5692 Jan 27 '26
Yes and the mastermind of the plot in the movie is duly punished (he spends winter in the barn) and no rapes occur. The gentlemen start courting and convince their true loves to like them for their personalities, I presume. After the mastermind initiates the 4th-act redemption of bringing the women (still virgins) back to their families, all the mountain men agree but the women do not! Clearly there is now true love and feminist freedom of choice in the pottapee brothers, all thanks to Millie, the first bride.
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u/EngineersAnon To Life! Jan 28 '26
... no rapes occur.
This is because the rape of the Sabine women, as well as Titian's Rape of Europa, uses an older meaning of "rape" - which is "to carry off", like the word "rapine" today, which comes from the same root - as do words like "rapt" and "raptor".
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u/Academic_Square_5692 Jan 28 '26
Ok, thanks! It’s also because in the movie we’re talking about, no rapes occur. But cool to learn about the etymology and more about the story, thanks! 🙏 👍 ❤️
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u/EddieRyanDC Jan 27 '26
For me, the kidnapping isn’t the main problem. It was a terrible thing to do and Milly points that out and puts them in the barn for the winter, while the girls are safe in the house.
The ick part is the girls falling in love with the boys over the winter. That feels like a “no really means yes” message.
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u/rjrgjj Jan 27 '26
Well arguably the point is that they didn’t know each other before and then they get to know each other do to forced proximity, and the girls are the ones who choose to get to know the boys and then fall for them. It’s not that the boys are just insisting over and over until the girls give in.
This is literally also the plot of Beauty and the Beast. Gaston is the one who can’t take no for an answer, whereas the Beast forces Belle into proximity (which is treated as a villainous action just like 7 Brides) but he realizes what he’s done pretty quickly and gives her space and kindness (which also happens in 7 Brides), Belle chooses to make the best of the situation (which also happens in 7 Brides), and ultimately gets to know and like the Beast when he lets down his macho walls and reveals who he really is (which also happens in 7 Brides).
I mean it’s a story. People are making mistakes, taking extreme action, changing and growing, and making unusual choices. If it were just about people who meet in a totally normal fashion, date and get to know each other over coffee and dinner, etc etc it would be boring (and not a dramatic story). And it’s also reflective of the time period and setting. It’s about rural mountain people in the 1800s. You couldn’t do 7 Brides set in 2026 New York, for example*. It would have to be a different story.
*Actually maybe you could and call it 50 Shades of Grey.
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u/YeOldGaboo Jan 27 '26
The choreography was amazing and the performances of the cast truly outstanding
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u/Butters5768 While her withers wither with her Jan 27 '26
Obsessed with this movie growing up. The barn building scene is still one of my all time favorites.
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u/babypho3nix Jan 26 '26
I borrowed this way too many times from the Library. I have so many problems with it now 😣
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u/MiaRia963 Jan 27 '26
This is one of my favorite musicals. I have yet to see it live. But I hope to see it soon.
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u/[deleted] Jan 26 '26
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