7.2 | / 10 |
Users | 4.5 | |
Reviewer | 5.0 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
In 1850 Oregon, when a backwoodsman brings a wife home to his farm, his six brothers decide that they want to get married too. Filmed in both 2.55 and 1.75
Starring: Jane Powell (I), Howard Keel, Jeff Richards (I), Russ Tamblyn, Tommy RallRomance | 100% |
Musical | 70% |
Family | 55% |
Comedy | 55% |
Western | 15% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Adventure | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.55:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.55:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
Alternate "flat" widescreen version is DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (2 BDs)
Region A, B (C untested)
Movie | 5.0 | |
Video | 5.0 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 4.5 | |
Overall | 5.0 |
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers is one of the most popular movie musicals ever made. It was a
sleeper hit for MGM in 1954, which had such low expectations that it repeatedly cut the film's
production budget—only to be shocked when Seven Brides outperformed its prestige musical
release of that year, Brigadoon. Theatrical
reissues, TV broadcasts and home video incarnations
have expanded the film's fandom far beyond its initial reception, and some of its fans are as
fanatical as any Star Wars devotee. In his disc commentary, director Stanley Donen tells the story
of an Englishman whose wife left him because he insisted on playing his VHS cassette of Seven
Brides every night when he got home. Apparently she was tired of competing with the Pontipee
clan for her husband's attention.
Seven Brides has been one of the most requested titles since the Warner Archive Collection
began releasing Blu-rays in 2012. WAC would have been happy to release it sooner, but as is so
often the case with popular titles, there were major obstacles to producing a hi-def version of
sufficient quality to satisfy WAC's high standards and fans' legitimate expectations. For a full
account, please see the "Video" section below.
As compensation for the long wait, WAC has included a special extra with this release: a new
transfer of the alternative "flat" version of Seven Brides that MGM required Donen to shoot as a
hedge against the possibility that theaters might not be able to play the new CinemaScope format.
Little seen until its release as a laserdisc extra, this curiosity has been freshly scanned for its first-ever 1080p presentation. While it hasn't been
restored to the level of the film's scope version, it's
eminently watchable and included at no extra charge. (The two-disc Seven Brides carries the
same list price as WAC's single-disc titles.)
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers was shot by George J. Folsey (Meet Me in St. Louis), whose
widescreen cinematography was nominated for an Oscar, one of thirteen that Folsey amassed in
his distinguished career (though he never won). Folsey shot the film on the finicky stock known
as Ansco Color, which was much admired for its chromatic intensity but was ultimately
supplanted by Kodak's products. Seven Brides' journey to Blu-ray was hampered by the fact that
the negative was severely damaged—"shredded" was how one person familiar with the element
described it—in the late Sixties, when MGM used it to make 70mm blowups. Even now, with
today's sophisticated digital tools, it is uncertain whether the negative could ever be restored (and
even if it could, the cost would be prohibitive).
All current broadcast and streaming versions of Seven Brides, as well as previous home video
versions, have been based on an interpositive created photochemically in the mid-Nineties by
YCM Laboratories, which cobbled together elements from a variety of sources to generate a
complete IP. The quality was variable, and comparison to an archival dye-transfer Technicolor
print confirmed that the colors were far from accurate, but for over twenty years, YCM's creation
was believed to be the best available source. After reviewing that element, WAC determined that
it was simply inadequate by current Blu-ray standards. (A less exacting publisher might have
simply cleaned it up and slapped it on disc, as Universal did recently with For Whom the Bell Tolls.)
An exhaustive search was undertaken for an alternative source—a lengthy process, because each
potential element has to be retrieved from far-flung archives and minutely examined. Eventually
an IP was found in a Pittsburgh storage facility that, when the film cans were opened and the
contents reviewed, was revealed to date from the period before the negative was damaged.
Having never been properly catalogued, this IP had apparently sat in storage for over fifty years,
untouched until WAC pulled it for examination. Warner's Motion Picture Imaging facility has
scanned this newly unearthed IP at 2K, followed by color correction using the dye-transfer print
as a reference and WAC's usual thorough cleanup (even an unused element picks up dust and
minor damage).
The resulting 1080p, AVC-encoded Blu-ray is a presentation of Seven Brides that amply rewards
fans' wait for this beloved film. The colors are eye-popping, whether it's the bright shades of the
shirts that differentiate the brothers after Milly has finished their makeover, or the intense hues
of the flowery field where she picks sorrel (and sings about the thrill of being newly married), or
the cheerfully bright household into which she transforms the Pontipee farmhouse. Color
unavoidably shifts during dissolves, but MPI has managed to minimize the disruption. The
whites of the snow that blanket the countryside are suitably bright, even though the snow itself is
mostly fake. (According to Donen's commentary, the miniature avalanche engineered for the film
was so good that it was reused in many subsequent films. It still looks convincing.) Blacks are
appropriately dark. Detail and sharpness are consistently superior, a quality that is all the more
noteworthy because Seven Brides was shot with some of the earliest CinemaScope lenses, which
were notorious for softening whatever they photographed. The film's grain field is visible but
finely rendered, although it unavoidably coarsens in scenes involving opticals (e.g., the opening
titles).
WAC has formatted Seven Brides at the original CinemaScope aspect ratio of 2.55:1, and it has
given the disc its usual careful mastering, with an average bitrate of 34.99 Mbps.
(Note: The final seven screenshots accompanying this review are from the "flat" version
discussed in "Supplements".)
Seven Brides was originally released in both mono and four-track stereo. For the film's DVD
release, the Warner sound department created an entirely new 5.1 mix using the original music
stems, as well as dialogue and effects tracks from a variety of sources. The four-track stereo
version served as a reference for the positioning of voices and effects between left and right. That
same remix appears on the Blu-ray, but now encoded in lossless DTS-HD MA 5.1.
The disc's sonic experience is as richly rewarding as its visual presentation, with an exquisite
reproduction of the mammoth studio orchestra from MGM's golden era (celebrated in the MGM
Jubilee Overture extra) and superb fidelity for the vocal performances. The effects editing is
detailed and precise—listen to the barn-raising sequence for a fine example—and the dialogue is
always clear and correctly positioned. Music supervisor Saul Chaplin (West Side Story) oversaw
the transformation of Gene de Paul's melodies into orchestrations that are as lovely as the songs
themselves.
The extras have been ported over from Warner's 2003 DVD and 2004 two-disc DVD special
edition of Seven Brides. The only dropped extra is the trailer gallery for additional Stanley Donen
musicals. (Preliminary cover art erroneously listed the trailer gallery as an extra, and some copies
of that mistake may have slipped into retail product.)
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers is a classic demonstration of screenwriter William Goldman's
declaration that, in the movie business, nobody knows anything. The movie wasn't supposed to
succeed, but it did. Audiences weren't supposed to accept backwoods bumpkins singing and
dancing, but they did. Viewers, especially the female ones, weren't supposed to excuse Adam for
lying to his bride and forgive his brothers for abducting theirs by force, but they do. And the
damage to the film's negative meant that there was never going to be a great Blu-ray
presentation—but WAC has made one. Highest recommendation.
Extended Dance Edition
2009
1962
2003
1956
1954
1953
Warner Archive Collection
1955
1971
1953
1945
Limited Edition to 3000 - SOLD OUT
1975
Warner Archive Collection
1948
BD is Bonus Features
1964
1947
1942
1944
Warner Archive Collection
1949
1957
Warner Archive Collection
1960
Limited Edition to 3000
1967