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By
NICK ZEGARAC
"Seven Brides for Seven
Brothers" is the story of Adam Pontipee (Howard
Keel), the eldest of a rough and tumble breed of
backwoodsmen living in Oregon. When Adam returns
to his dilapidated cabin with Milly (Jane Powell)
as his wife, he sets his brother's minds and
hearts awhirl with convoluted notions of doing the
same. There's just one problem: the troupe is
about as couth and gentle as that proverbial bull
in the china shop. So Milly sets to work on
molding gentlemen out of these ruffians.
MGM, the most lavish purveyor of musical
entertainment, squashed director Stanley Donen's
desire to film on anything beyond a soundstage,
resulting in some pretty obvious looking sets and
very claustrophobic staging. Regardless, the film
abounds with riotous exuberance and rollicking
charm. The outstanding sequence remains the
"Barn-Raising Ballet" -- a fifteen-minute tour de
force in which the brothers -- newly polished up
-- take on the cultured town's men for the
affections of the town's women and come up the
undisputed winners.
So too is Warner Brothers newly minted two-disc
special edition of this classic musical a winner.
Featuring both the Cinemascope original (this time
anamorphically enhanced for 16:9 displays) and a
recently discovered 1:85:1 print, we get to see
twice as much as before. Colors are rich, vibrant
and bold. Contrast levels are bang on. Black
levels are deep and solid. There is only the
slightest amount of age related artifacts and
minor edge enhancement to speak of. Neither will
distract. The audio is dated but features a newly
cleaned up and aggressive 5.1 mix. Extras include
a new audio commentary track, a previously
released documentary on the making of the film and
the film's theatrical trailer.
Bless your beautiful hide! This is one humdinger
of a good show! |
