Trivia

Reportedly Howard Keel's personal favorite of his movies.

For the brides' costumes, designer Walter Plunkett went to the Salvation Army, found old quilts and turned them into dresses.

Because there was no way of distinguishing between them and the Town Suitors, MGM decided to make all the Pontipee Brothers red-headed.

Of the brides and brothers, only Virginia Gibson sang for herself, which made her the logical choice to lead "June Bride." The remainder of the actors' singing voices were dubbed: Matt Mattox's singing was dubbed by Bill Lee, Nancy Kilgas's singing was dubbed by Marie Greene, Julie Newmar's singing was dubbed by Betty Allen, two of the brothers had their singing dubbed by Allan Davies and Charlie Parlota, Ruta Lee had her singing dubbed by Betty Noyes, and Betty Carr had her singing dubbed by Norma Zimmer. Ironically, Tommy Rall had a voice that approached operatic proportions, and he had sung for himself the previous year in Kiss Me Kate (1953). Rall's baritone would be put to extensive use in the coming decade in Broadway's "Milk and Honey" and "Cry For Us All."

Howard Keel called this film "one of my happiest filmmaking experiences at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The cast was magnificent, and the chemistry irresistible. Jack Cummings had his stamp on the whole picture. Jane Powell, as Milly, was perfect, and I loved working with her. She was cute and persnickety and a multi-talented pro. It truly was one big happy family." In an interview for TNT's "Our Favorite Movies" series, Keel said, "A 'Seven Brides for Seven Brothers' doesn't come along too often. I remember thinking, 'If this isn't a hit, I give up,' because it was so much fun to make."

Director Stanley Donen said that producer Jack Cummings originally planned to use existing American folk songs for the film's musical numbers. After months spent searching in vain for the right music, Donen recalled, the decision was made to commission an original score.

The censors weren't too happy about the line in the song "Lonesome Polecat" where the brothers lament "A man can't sleep when he sleeps with sheep". By not showing any sheep in the same shot as the brothers, the film-makers were able to get away with it.

Stanley Donen always saw this film as one of his fondest memories as well as was quick to always point out the enormous contribution by choreographer Michael Kidd to the overall success of the film. "I enjoyed Kidd enormously," said Donen. "His contribution to the film was gigantic."

Michael Kidd initially turned down the project. He had just come off a show on Broadway and wanted a rest. He changed his mind after hearing the score.

Rehearsals for the barn-raising sequence took 3 weeks.

The story of the Sabine women referred to in the film came from Plutarch's 'Life of Romulus'.

Jacques d'Amboise's credit includes the acknowledgment "Courtesy New York City Ballet", but he still had to leave before filming was finished because he was under contract with them. A stand-in for him was used during the last few days of filming. You can see someone else playing Ephraim as the brothers are pacing downstairs during the baby's birth.

Opened at New York's Radio City Music Hall in a slot originally intended for Brigadoon (1954), the final bit of proof that MGM had backed the wrong horse in its slate of 1954 musicals.

At the beginning of the song "Wonderful Wonderful Day", a bunch of birds fly onto the screen. One of them flies to the back and into the backdrop, then bounces back off.

On the 2004 DVD commentary, Stanley Donen claims that there were two versions made of the film: one in CinemaScope and another in the standard screen ratio of the day. Each scene shot in CinemaScope had to be re-shot for the standard version. This was out of MGM's concern that not all theatres had the equipment to screen films in CinemaScope. Although the standard version was more expensive than the CinemaScope version, it was never released theatrically. However, it did play on Turner Classic Movies in the late 1990s and is featured as a special feature on the 2004 DVD.

Scenes for the widescreen version were shot in the morning and, for the normal ratio, in the afternoon.

Stanley Donen--who dearly wanted to make the film on location all year round to show the changing of the seasons--was heartbroken by MGM's slashing of the budget. For years after, he was unable to watch the film because he hated the painted backdrops that they ended up using.

MGM had waited five years to acquire the rights to Stephen Vincent Benet's short story, because Broadway producer Joshua Logan had optioned the story as a potential stage musical.

The shirt colors worn by Adam's six brothers during the barn-raising and final scenes are: Benjamin--orange; Caleb--yellow; Daniel--purple; Ephraim--light green; Frank--red; and Gideon--blue. Adam wears an emerald green shirt.

When Adam first goes into town, at Bixby's general store he sees four "spoken for" women that will later become his sisters-in-law: Ruth (bonnet with blue ribbons), Sarah (hat with black band), Liza (bonnet with pink ribbon), and Dorcas (hat with brown band).

The dress colors worn by the six prospective brides during the barn-raising scenes are: Dorcas--mauve/white checked ; Ruth--blue; Martha--green; Liza--pink/white checked; Sarah--yellow/white checked; and Alice--salmon.

A 1982 Broadway incarnation--with Debby Boone in the lead--lasted all of five performances.

Average Shot Length (ASL) = 12 seconds (CinemaScope version)

In the late 1960s the original CinemaScope camera negative was damaged when the film was blown-up to 70mm for a theatrical re-release. This, along with the problematic Eastmancolor stock, which tended to fade, made a restoration impossible for many years. The current restoration of the film was transferred from a clean interpositive. Meantime, the standard, non-anamorphic version remained in pristine condition through the years from disuse, and was frequently leased for television broadcast. This is the version most people were familiar with until the advent of home video.

According to studio head Dore Schary, the idea for turning Steven Vincent Benet's story into a screen musical originally came from director Joseph Losey.

Final film of Anna Q. Nilsson.

Original literary source: "The Sobbin' Women", short story by Stephen Vincent Benét, published by Farrar & Rinehart, New York & Toronto, 1937.

With the passing of Tommy Rall in October 2020, Russ Tamblyn (Gideon), and Jacques d'Amboise (Ephraim), are the only 'brothers' still alive.

The working titles of this film were Sobbin' Women and A Bride for Seven Brothers. The story of the Sabine women referred to in the film came from Plutarch's Life of Romulus. The cast is listed in different order in the opening and closing credits. In the opening credits, the actors are listed in the following order: Jane Powell, Howard Keel, Jeff Richards, Russ Tamblyn, Tommy Rall, Howard Petrie, Virginia Gibson and Ian Wolfe. According to a 25 Nov 1951 LAT news item, M-G-M had waited five years to acquire the rights to Stephen Vincent Benét's short story, as Broadway producer Joshua Logan had optioned the story as a potential stage musical. In an interview published in a modern source, director Stanley Donen said that producer Jack Cummings originally planned to use existing American folk songs for the film's musical numbers. After months spent searching in vain for the right music, Donen recalled, the decision was made to commission an original score. According to a biography of Donen, composer Harold Arlen was chosen to collaborate with lyricist Johnny Mercer on the songs. However, Donen said, "Johnny Mercer told me he wouldn't work with Harold Arlen. Johnny said, 'He's too picky about the words that go with his music.' Gene de Paul did the music, and the score suffered." A 28 Nov 1951 item in HR's "Rambling Reporter" column stated that composer Harry Warren would be Mercer's song-writing partner. According to a 13 Aug 1953 HR news item, Steve Forrest was cast, but he was not in the film. Dec 1953 HR news items add the following actors to the cast: Regis Parton, Leroy Johnson, Saul Gorss , Carl Pitti, George Paul, Tom Steel, Frank McGrath, John Daheim, Henry Wills, Fred Kennedy, Johnny Indrisano , Hazel Burgess, Betty Graeff, Jerry Martin and Clint Sharp. The appearance of these actors in the final film has not been confirmed, however. According to a modern source, star Howard Keel attempted to have Donen replaced by director George Sidney. Although some location shooting took place at Tioga Pass in the High Sierras, the film was shot primarily on M-G-M's back lot. According to modern sources, Donen wanted to shoot the film on location over the course of a year, "because we were covering events in our story that required all four seasons," but the studio refused to grant the film such a high budget. Modern sources contend that M-G-M did not have high financial expectations for the film, and chose instead to allocate its resources to Rose Marie and Brigadoon (see entries above)--films that never matched the commercial and critical success of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. With full location shooting no longer an option, Donen was forced to rely on painted backdrops for the outdoor scenes. "The backdrops always hurt the picture," Donen asserted in a modern source, "less when it came out than now, because then people were used to seeing pictures shot in studios. But it breaks my heart to look at the picture." Donen added that he had hoped to film "Spring, Spring, Spring" as a lavish production number, complete with footage of chicks hatching, fish spawning and snow melting on a mountainside. According to a Jul 1953 memo in the M-G-M Collection at the USC Cinema-Television Library, A. J. Reilly, head of the studio's film library, contacted Ohio filmmaker Karl H. Maslowski, whose material had been incorporated in the 1951 M-G-M film Across the Wide Missouri (see entry). Reilly explained that the studio was making a film containing a "spring awakening montage" and needed footage of various nature scenes. Reilly requested a viewing print of Maslowski's film Under Ohio Skies, but it has not been determined whether any of Maslowski's footage was used in the final film. Correspondence in the Collection indicates that M-G-M also considered using footage from some of Walt Disney's nature films, but rejected this plan when it became clear that Disney would insist on screen credit. An 18 Dec 1953 HR news item reported that Donen was planning to shoot the brawl in the barn-raising sequence with four cameras simultaneously. Although a 1 Dec 1953 news item noted that the production would mark the first time that the Ansco Color process was used in conjunction with CinemaScope, they were also used in tandem on The Student Prince, an M-G-M film shot almost simultaneously to Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and given its premiere a month prior to it. Donen stated in a modern biography that because many theaters were not equipped to exhibit CinemaScope pictures, he was required to make the film both in CinemaScope and in a flat version. "I had to shoot and cut everything twice--restage scenes, put in a different set of marks, light it differently, loop it," he recalled. "We had two cutting rooms going, and it cost the studio another $500,000, which was a lot for then." Seven Brides for Seven Brothers was enormously popular with both audiences and critics. The HR review proclaimed the film "historic for being the first completely successful marriage of ballet and movie comedy," and Time called it "the liltingest bit of tunesome lollygagging to hit the screen since the same studio brought forth An American in Paris" (See Entry). Michael Kidd's athletic choreography received considerable notice, and the barn-raising sequence is frequently included in documentaries about dance in film. The film received an Academy Award for Best Scoring of a Musical Picture, and was nominated in the following categories: Best Picture, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography (Color) and Best Film Editing. The film loosely inspired the television series Here Come the Brides, which ran on ABC from 1968--1970 and starred Joan Blondell and Bobby Sherman. In 1978, a stage version of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, adapted by Al Kasha and David Landay, with additional songs by Kasha and Joel Hirschhorn, toured the southern United States. Keel and Powell reprised their film roles in the musical, which closed before reaching Broadway. The production was later revived with Debbie Boone in the lead role, and lasted five performances on Broadway in Jul 1982. In Sep 1982, CBS produced a television movie-of-the-week based on the film, with a script by mystery writer Sue Grafton and her husband, Stephen Humphry. The television version, which starred Terri Treas and Richard Dean Anderson, changed the story's setting to a modern-day cattle ranch in Northern California and omitted all but one of the brothers' brides. In 1996, a newly restored print of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers was released by Turner Entertainment. The 20 Jun 1996 "Rambling Reporter" column in HR noted that M-G-M had accommodated the unexpectedly high demand for the film in 1954 by mass-producing release prints from the original camera negative (rather than copying the duplicate negative, as is customary). Columnist Robert Osborne reported that the original negative was left badly damaged, and was difficult to repair because the obsolete Ansco Color process did not match the newer color film stock. In his 12 Sep 1996 column, Osborne stated that only forty percent of the original negative was usable for the restoration, and that the remaining sixty percent was created by combining elements from duplicate negatives and other sources. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers was ranked 21st on AFI's list of the 25 Greatest Movie Musicals. (AFI Catalog)

Legendary Indian actor Amitabh Bachchan's 1982 film ' Satte Pe Satta ' ( Eng : Seven On Seven ) was based on this film. They copied the story , sets , hairstyles dialogues and costumes.

At the end of the barn-raising dance, four of the six prospective brides jump into the arms of their future grooms. The other two couples are interchanged: Liza goes to Frank instead of future groom Ephraim, and Sarah goes to Ephraim instead of future groom Frank.