Seven Brides for Seven Brothers

Details

Get ready for one of the liveliest, leaping-est, sassiest and happiest musicals ever, as Warner Home Video presents the Two-Disc Special Edition DVD release of the classic Seven Brides for Seven Brothers on 16th May 2005.

Directed by Stanley Donen (Singin' in the Rain), and starring Jane Powell (Royal Wedding, Hit the Deck) and Howard Keel (Annie Get Your Gun, Kiss Me Kate), Seven Brides for Seven Brothers was nominated for four Academy® Awards and won for Best Scoring of a Musical Picture. This Western musical is distinguished by a soaring score by Saul Chaplin (Kiss Me Kate, West Side Story) and Gene de Paul (Alice in Wonderland) with lyrics by Johnny Mercer ("Moon River"), and brilliant, acrobatic dancing scenes choreographed by Michael Kidd (Band Wagon, Guys and Dolls).

Presented for the first time on DVD in new anamorphic 16x9 format transfer, enhanced for widescreen and with new Dolby Digital 5.1 surround audio, the Seven Brides for Seven Brothers Two-Disc Special Edition DVD has extras to please every mountain man or woman. Included is the newly remastered original CinemaScope (2.55:1) version as well as the rarely-seen alternate widescreen (1.77:1) version, director Stanley Donen's commentary, a newly updated cast & crew documentary, vintage featurettes and premiere newsreel, and a Donen musicals trailer gallery.

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers is a landmark in motion picture history. It was a surprise smash at the box-office when it first opened in 1954, and its popularity has only grown in the ensuing years. The sparkling performances, clever screenplay, and ingenious choreography and direction of this film make it as fresh and vital today as it was 50 years ago. Warner Home Video is proud to add this enduring classic to our series of prestigious Two-Disc Special Editions.

Interestingly, two versions of the film exist, one in CinemaScope and the other in traditional widescreen, due to fact that in 1953 Cinemascope was brand new. MGM was concerned that if it was a fad they would have an unusable film in the long run, so for protection they shot the film twice. Two different takes of each shot with different staging was filmed which reflect the different frame size of traditional widescreen (which is less wide and more rectangular) and CinemaScope. By the time the film was released, CinemaScope had proven a huge success and the alternate version has rarely been seen, making this its home video premiere.

In Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Adam (Howard Keel), the eldest of seven brothers, goes to town to get a wife. He convinces Milly (Jane Powell) to marry him that same day. After they return to his backwoods home she discovers he has six brothers -- all living in his cabin. Milly sets out to reform the uncouth siblings, who are anxious to get wives of their own. Then, after reading about the Roman capture of the Sabine women, Adam develops an inspired solution to his brothers' loneliness…kidnap the women they want from the surrounding villages!