Well, I wanted to show a musical to my critical viewing class but knew it would be difficult since the boys were the most unlikely candidates for liking musicals that I'd ever seen. I chose this because of the outstanding dance sequence and because the DVD had such an excellent "making of" which I showed first. It was wonderful to realize at the end of things that they totally got into it, even confessing that they were predisposed against it when I made my intentions known. They found the action funny, the dancing riveting and found lots to comment on in the growth of the relationship between Adam and Millie. One of my reluctant students even confessed to me that he'd found himself singing "Bless Your Beautiful Hide" in the shower one morning! This is a wonderful film for teens today and has the ability to draw them in. While they are totally aware of the sound stage sets and how "stagey" it looks, they also realize why it was filmed that way and manage to get past it. I showed this film only weeks after Howard Keel had died and was so glad that he had done the documentary, which is outstanding because all of the original cast were available to comment. It was charming to see them and how well they had aged.
Review of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
