This documentary short was made for TV in 1997, and gives a very interesting background on the making of the MGM hit musical of 1954, "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers." The male lead of the musical, Howard Keel, hosts this look back of more than 40 years to one of the great hits of his musical film career. And with him are the most impressive list of cast, crew and creators of a movie that I have ever seen in a film's follow-up documentary. Interviews here not only have the top leads of the film, but the major crew and production heads.
Thus movie buffs and 21st century audiences can see and hear from a host of the people in and behind the scenes of one of the last great musicals of Hollywood's golden era - the 1930s through 1950s. Director Stanley Donen gives interesting background on how it got started. He told how the MGM front office didn't think much of the proposed project, but that producer Jack Cummings was very earnest about getting it made. Donen was chosen to direct right away, and he and Cummings then went to work assembling the rest of the production team and selecting the cast.
The background on the plot itself was most interesting - especially the source names and how the title came to be. The original source was an ancient Roman legend about a rape of Sabine women. The Sabines were an ancient mountainous tribe in central Italy that warred with the early Romans. They were eventually defeated and assimilated into the Roman populations in the third century B. C.. Well, an American author and Pulitzer Prize winner, Stephen Vincent Benét ("John Brown's Body" of 1928) wrote a short story on the Roman legend and, in a play on words, entitled it "The Sobbin' Women."
The film writers, Albert Hackett and wife Frances Goodrich were joined by Dorothy Kingsley, and based the screenplay on the Benét short story And, Cummings and Donen decided to set the story in the wilds of Oregon around 1850. So, it would have an Old West and pioneer setting in some very scenic country. Although, for a time they still used the title "Sobbin' Women" during the early stages of production.
Keel says, "the MGM music department was legendary... extraordinary gifted musicians working with the tops of their field.... Conductor Adolph Deutsch and arranger Saul Chaplin." Chaplin was musical supervisor weighs in on the musical score and more. Deutsch was musical director for the film and talks about their work that won them the Oscar for best music. Chaplin says that he, Donen and Deutsch worked together so much that "we know things before we even said so to each other."
Michael Kidd, tells how he got hoodwinked into doing the choreography for the film - by a double-cross from his good friend, Donen. Kidd said he had always liked Johnny Mercer's music, because it was written in the vernacular. Donen says, "Michael Kidd did an indescribable job of choreography - a spectacular job...."
Cummings and Donen wanted to take a year to film the movie because they wanted to get all the seasons in and film it on location in Oregon. Keel says, "MGM responded by cutting the budget, giving the money to "Brigadoon," and pointing Mr. Donen to the sound stages." So, all of the filming was done instead on sound stages and the back lot at MGM. The only place where the stage setting was obvious - which really stood out to me in the movie, was a song scene with the mountains backdrop clearly a painting. They had tried to overcome that by having some birds fly through the scene and they released some birds for shooting but they hit the backdrop.
Several members of the cast are interviewed and all commented on the warmth and camaraderie in working on this film. It was unlike anything they had encountered elsewhere in their career. This film brought together some super talented people. The barn-raising scene and town dance scenes are among the greatest choreographed numbers in film or on stage. Kidd needed seven brothers plus seven townsmen to do the dance competition, and the seven women to dance with them. A couple of the brothers weren't dancers and were steered into different rolls. Two were acrobats and did some phenomenal feats in the dance scenes.
Among the cast who comment on the project, besides Keel and Jane Powell, are Russ Tamblyn, Tommy Rall, Jeff Richards, Julie Newmar, Virginia Gibson and Ruta Lee.
Tommy Rall says, "The characters in that particular film became us. And we had so much fun. That's why it appears true."
Virgina Gibson says, "Everybdy got along. Everybody was working for the same thing - a great film."
Keel says, "As you know, we had a hit." Powell says, "They called it a sleeper. It wound up at Radio City Music Hall, and they thought that 'Brigadoon' was going to go to Radio City Music Hall, but it didn't." And, Keel adds, "Even President Eisenhower urged his fellow Americans to see 'Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.'"
The movie got 5 Oscar nominations and won for best musical. Ruta Lee says, "It still hods up." Keel closes this documentary, saying that "'Seven Brides for Seven Brothers' represents the combined talents of a spectacular group of artists working at top form in the best studio in the world. We were spectacular." He says, "it has become an American musical classic. You now know half the reason why. The rest is magic."
Thus movie buffs and 21st century audiences can see and hear from a host of the people in and behind the scenes of one of the last great musicals of Hollywood's golden era - the 1930s through 1950s. Director Stanley Donen gives interesting background on how it got started. He told how the MGM front office didn't think much of the proposed project, but that producer Jack Cummings was very earnest about getting it made. Donen was chosen to direct right away, and he and Cummings then went to work assembling the rest of the production team and selecting the cast.
The background on the plot itself was most interesting - especially the source names and how the title came to be. The original source was an ancient Roman legend about a rape of Sabine women. The Sabines were an ancient mountainous tribe in central Italy that warred with the early Romans. They were eventually defeated and assimilated into the Roman populations in the third century B. C.. Well, an American author and Pulitzer Prize winner, Stephen Vincent Benét ("John Brown's Body" of 1928) wrote a short story on the Roman legend and, in a play on words, entitled it "The Sobbin' Women."
The film writers, Albert Hackett and wife Frances Goodrich were joined by Dorothy Kingsley, and based the screenplay on the Benét short story And, Cummings and Donen decided to set the story in the wilds of Oregon around 1850. So, it would have an Old West and pioneer setting in some very scenic country. Although, for a time they still used the title "Sobbin' Women" during the early stages of production.
Keel says, "the MGM music department was legendary... extraordinary gifted musicians working with the tops of their field.... Conductor Adolph Deutsch and arranger Saul Chaplin." Chaplin was musical supervisor weighs in on the musical score and more. Deutsch was musical director for the film and talks about their work that won them the Oscar for best music. Chaplin says that he, Donen and Deutsch worked together so much that "we know things before we even said so to each other."
Michael Kidd, tells how he got hoodwinked into doing the choreography for the film - by a double-cross from his good friend, Donen. Kidd said he had always liked Johnny Mercer's music, because it was written in the vernacular. Donen says, "Michael Kidd did an indescribable job of choreography - a spectacular job...."
Cummings and Donen wanted to take a year to film the movie because they wanted to get all the seasons in and film it on location in Oregon. Keel says, "MGM responded by cutting the budget, giving the money to "Brigadoon," and pointing Mr. Donen to the sound stages." So, all of the filming was done instead on sound stages and the back lot at MGM. The only place where the stage setting was obvious - which really stood out to me in the movie, was a song scene with the mountains backdrop clearly a painting. They had tried to overcome that by having some birds fly through the scene and they released some birds for shooting but they hit the backdrop.
Several members of the cast are interviewed and all commented on the warmth and camaraderie in working on this film. It was unlike anything they had encountered elsewhere in their career. This film brought together some super talented people. The barn-raising scene and town dance scenes are among the greatest choreographed numbers in film or on stage. Kidd needed seven brothers plus seven townsmen to do the dance competition, and the seven women to dance with them. A couple of the brothers weren't dancers and were steered into different rolls. Two were acrobats and did some phenomenal feats in the dance scenes.
Among the cast who comment on the project, besides Keel and Jane Powell, are Russ Tamblyn, Tommy Rall, Jeff Richards, Julie Newmar, Virginia Gibson and Ruta Lee.
Tommy Rall says, "The characters in that particular film became us. And we had so much fun. That's why it appears true."
Virgina Gibson says, "Everybdy got along. Everybody was working for the same thing - a great film."
Keel says, "As you know, we had a hit." Powell says, "They called it a sleeper. It wound up at Radio City Music Hall, and they thought that 'Brigadoon' was going to go to Radio City Music Hall, but it didn't." And, Keel adds, "Even President Eisenhower urged his fellow Americans to see 'Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.'"
The movie got 5 Oscar nominations and won for best musical. Ruta Lee says, "It still hods up." Keel closes this documentary, saying that "'Seven Brides for Seven Brothers' represents the combined talents of a spectacular group of artists working at top form in the best studio in the world. We were spectacular." He says, "it has become an American musical classic. You now know half the reason why. The rest is magic."
