1h 42min | Comedy, Drama, Musical | 15 July 1954 | Color, WS
Director: Stanley Donen
Stars: Jane Powell, Howard Keel, Jeff Richards, Russ Tamblyn, Tommy Rall, Marc Platt, Matt Mattox, Jacques d'Amboise, Julie Newmar, Nancy Kilgas, Betty Carr, Virginia Gibson, Ruta Lee, Norma Doggett.
Michael Kidd ... dances and musical numbers staged by / choreographer (uncredited)
Alex Romero ... assistant choreographer (uncredited)
The poster here, with its announcement of stereo, was for the 1968 re-release; it's on the dvd.
Songs performed (31 chapters with menu):
- ch3. Bless Yore Beautiful Hide, Sung by Howard Keel
- ch6. Wonderful, Wonderful Day, Sung by Jane Powell
- ch10. When You're in Love, Sung by Jane Powell
- ch13. Goin' Co'tin', Sung by Jane Powell, danced by JP & 6 brothers.
- ch15. House-Raising Dance, Danced by Brothers, Girls, and City Boys
- ch17. When You're in Love, Sung by Howard Keel
- ch18. Lonesome Polecat, Sung by Matt Mattox (dubbed by Bill Lee) and Brothers
- ch19. Sobbin' Women, Sung by Howard Keel and Brothers
- ch25. June Bride, Sung/danced by Virginia Gibson and other 5 brides-to-be
- ch26. Spring, Spring, Spring, Sung by the 6 brides-to-be and the Brothers.
The Stanley Donen commentary track is a big disappointment, because he speaks very seldom. So I don't know if he had anything significant to say; I fell asleep. The disc 2 featurette on the making of the film is fine, and includes some of the same soundbites as I heard on the c.track.
The film was shot twice: in Cinemascope (disc 1) and in a "flat" size. Disc 2 has an alternate size, but I don't believe it's the second shoot. The scenes look like cropped edits of the Cinemascope version, and it fills my screen comfortably (which is set to display anything not 16:9 in letterbox).
Because he was taking advantage of the widescreen format, the second version meant not just reshooting with a different camera, but different blocking too.
This is a marvelous film, and would make a good solid musical without the dancing. It's an integrated musical, with custom songs written for the film, and they describe what the singer is thinking/feeling.
The dancing is spectacular. I started crying in the barn-raising dance even before we got the show-off athletics, because the actual dancing of the Brothers and the city boys with the 6 brides-to-be (they just met) is amazing, athletic and beautiful.
The story of the kidnapping of these women prevents it from being a 10. JP was rightly angered by the brothers' actions, and shielded the women from the brothers once they were stranded at the farm. The idea that MGM thought this story was good fodder, and the Breen office (Production Code enforcement) didn't object, shows a lot of misogyny.
I was glad to hear this was a big financial success because Donen, Kidd and the dancers (and many others involved in creating this) deserved it. But not the original story writer or the producer who green-lit this. I realize that, without this rustic setting, we'd never have gotten these MK dances.
MGM, dir. Donen; 9
