Of Course They Can Dance.
DVD: Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
I was more than a little depressed to read that a classically trained dancer is appearing in a "reality" program called So You Think You Can Dance. Does a man who performed with the American Ballet Theater and at the Metropolitan Opera really want to be trotted out before a panel of judges for ritual humiliation? Perhaps we'd all be better served with something along the lines of What Qualifies You to Be a Pundit? or Saints Preserve Us! You Want to Be President.
It seems a lifetime ago that we saw our singing and dancing on the variety shows airing on the three major networks, or in the big-screen musicals at the movie house or drive-in -- Paint Your Wagon, for instance, or Oliver! I doubt kids today see many musical films, aside from some recent and vintage Disney classics or the odd screen adaptation of a Broadway musical. The jungle telegraph has it that the movie version of Mamma Mia! is on its way to theaters in 2008, and for all we know, a musical revival may ensue.
While the singing and dancing drought lasts, DVDs offer some respite, with 1954's Seven Brides for Seven Brothers among the irresistible options.
I can hear the grumbling already. What business do I have recommending something that scores off the charts on the political incorrectness scale? "Stockholm Syndrome: The Movie," opined Joe Murphy when we took in a screening of Seven Brides at the AFI Silver Theatre. I can't say I blame him. Look at the description! Six randy frontiersmen kidnap prospective brides after their recently married brother tells them the legend of the Sabine women, and it's all set to hummable Gene de Paul-Johnny Mercer tunes.
But oh, how those brothers dance, and that's the wonder of the movie for several reasons. For starters, when Stanley Donen set out to make a musical version of Stephen Vincent Benet's "Sobbin' Women" and enlisted Michael Kidd as choreographer, the battle lines were already drawn. Choreographing numbers for the backwoodsmen -- or, as Kidd translates into New Yorkese, "these seven slobs" -- seemed a thoroughly stupid idea.
How they wheedled the recalcitrant Kidd into creating the knockout dance sequences is a story by itself, told in the documentary Sobbin' Women: The Making of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, included with both the regular and special editions of the DVD.
Several of the film's dancers show up in the documentary to share their recollections, among them Jacques d'Amboise, who came to the production from the New York City Ballet; Russ Tamblyn, who of course went on to play another dancing tough guy in West Side Story; and Tommy Rall, who nearly stole Seven Brides with his daredevil athleticism in the film's key dance sequences.
Mr. Tamblyn was a gymnast, not a dancer, when he won the role of Gideon, the youngest of the seven Pontipee brothers. He makes the most every one of his scenes, though, especially with some acrobatic machismo in the barn-raising dance, and just watch what he does with his body in the "Goin' Courtin'" number.
But of course Tamblyn's on-screen brothers Rall, d'Amboise, and fellow dancers Marc Platt and Matt Mattox are utterly glorious to watch, especially once things really get rolling in the big barn-raising dance. When it's not a guys' rumble (and remember, this was before the choreographed gangs of West Side Story), it's a riot of color and energy as the dancing ladies pair off with the various men.
And I mustn't overlook film's leads, singer-dancer Jane Powell, here playing a big-hearted but indomitable frontier bride who almost single-handedly civilizes the entire Pontipee family, and her on-screen spouse, baritone Howard Keel. The "Sobbin' Women" number, in which Keel hands out a little dating advice to his brothers via Plutarch's Lives, is priceless.
Among the women, Virginia Gibson and Norma Doggett, as prospective brides Liza and Martha, are particular standouts in the barn-raising and "June Bride" numbers. Ms. Gibson in particular shows a dancer's grace in every move, whether she's leaping into the arms of her partner, sulking during a snowstorm, or picking a fight with one of her girlfriends.
Julie Newmar, Ruta Lee, Betty Carr, and the thoroughly adorable Nancy Kilgas round out the group of brides, and yes, that is a very young Sheila James (now Sheila Kuehl) playing Ms. Newmar's kid sister.
Speaking of beauty, the story is told in costume as well as dance. Observe how the men are dressed during the barn-raising sequence: boxy, unflattering jackets and trousers for the guys from town, who dance in a stiff, inhibited style; and bright shirts and body-flattering pants for the lithe, athletic Pontipee brothers, who have just the moves to whisk the town's beauties off their feet.
Speaking of costumes, if you watch too few classic movies or missed fashion before the low-rider and flip-flop era, the female dancers, boasting the tiniest waists this side of Scarlett O'Hara, will be a revelation. The only muffin tops in this movie are the ones eaten at breakfast, and those calories obviously burned off during dancing.
I was more than a little depressed to read that a classically trained dancer is appearing in a "reality" program called So You Think You Can Dance. Does a man who performed with the American Ballet Theater and at the Metropolitan Opera really want to be trotted out before a panel of judges for ritual humiliation? Perhaps we'd all be better served with something along the lines of What Qualifies You to Be a Pundit? or Saints Preserve Us! You Want to Be President.
It seems a lifetime ago that we saw our singing and dancing on the variety shows airing on the three major networks, or in the big-screen musicals at the movie house or drive-in -- Paint Your Wagon, for instance, or Oliver! I doubt kids today see many musical films, aside from some recent and vintage Disney classics or the odd screen adaptation of a Broadway musical. The jungle telegraph has it that the movie version of Mamma Mia! is on its way to theaters in 2008, and for all we know, a musical revival may ensue.
While the singing and dancing drought lasts, DVDs offer some respite, with 1954's Seven Brides for Seven Brothers among the irresistible options. I can hear the grumbling already. What business do I have recommending something that scores off the charts on the political incorrectness scale? "Stockholm Syndrome: The Movie," opined Joe Murphy when we took in a screening of Seven Brides at the AFI Silver Theatre. I can't say I blame him. Look at the description! Six randy frontiersmen kidnap prospective brides after their recently married brother tells them the legend of the Sabine women, and it's all set to hummable Gene de Paul-Johnny Mercer tunes.
But oh, how those brothers dance, and that's the wonder of the movie for several reasons. For starters, when Stanley Donen set out to make a musical version of Stephen Vincent Benet's "Sobbin' Women" and enlisted Michael Kidd as choreographer, the battle lines were already drawn. Choreographing numbers for the backwoodsmen -- or, as Kidd translates into New Yorkese, "these seven slobs" -- seemed a thoroughly stupid idea.
How they wheedled the recalcitrant Kidd into creating the knockout dance sequences is a story by itself, told in the documentary Sobbin' Women: The Making of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, included with both the regular and special editions of the DVD.
Several of the film's dancers show up in the documentary to share their recollections, among them Jacques d'Amboise, who came to the production from the New York City Ballet; Russ Tamblyn, who of course went on to play another dancing tough guy in West Side Story; and Tommy Rall, who nearly stole Seven Brides with his daredevil athleticism in the film's key dance sequences.
Mr. Tamblyn was a gymnast, not a dancer, when he won the role of Gideon, the youngest of the seven Pontipee brothers. He makes the most every one of his scenes, though, especially with some acrobatic machismo in the barn-raising dance, and just watch what he does with his body in the "Goin' Courtin'" number.
But of course Tamblyn's on-screen brothers Rall, d'Amboise, and fellow dancers Marc Platt and Matt Mattox are utterly glorious to watch, especially once things really get rolling in the big barn-raising dance. When it's not a guys' rumble (and remember, this was before the choreographed gangs of West Side Story), it's a riot of color and energy as the dancing ladies pair off with the various men.
And I mustn't overlook film's leads, singer-dancer Jane Powell, here playing a big-hearted but indomitable frontier bride who almost single-handedly civilizes the entire Pontipee family, and her on-screen spouse, baritone Howard Keel. The "Sobbin' Women" number, in which Keel hands out a little dating advice to his brothers via Plutarch's Lives, is priceless.
Among the women, Virginia Gibson and Norma Doggett, as prospective brides Liza and Martha, are particular standouts in the barn-raising and "June Bride" numbers. Ms. Gibson in particular shows a dancer's grace in every move, whether she's leaping into the arms of her partner, sulking during a snowstorm, or picking a fight with one of her girlfriends.
Julie Newmar, Ruta Lee, Betty Carr, and the thoroughly adorable Nancy Kilgas round out the group of brides, and yes, that is a very young Sheila James (now Sheila Kuehl) playing Ms. Newmar's kid sister.
Speaking of beauty, the story is told in costume as well as dance. Observe how the men are dressed during the barn-raising sequence: boxy, unflattering jackets and trousers for the guys from town, who dance in a stiff, inhibited style; and bright shirts and body-flattering pants for the lithe, athletic Pontipee brothers, who have just the moves to whisk the town's beauties off their feet.
Speaking of costumes, if you watch too few classic movies or missed fashion before the low-rider and flip-flop era, the female dancers, boasting the tiniest waists this side of Scarlett O'Hara, will be a revelation. The only muffin tops in this movie are the ones eaten at breakfast, and those calories obviously burned off during dancing.
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