Backwoodsmen, Barn Raising, and Shotgun Marriage

When the 1954 classic musical Seven Brides for Seven Brothers came on TMC tonight, I knew I had to watch it. I am one of those people that falls into the category of musical-lovers. This is a film I have heard a lot about but never personally seen until tonight.

Adam Pontipee (Howard Keel), a backwoods lumberjack, comes to town in the spring for supplies and to bring home a wife/maid to help take care of him and his six brothers. He finds and meets Milly (Jane Powell) in town and then brings her home to meet his brothers. Milly is startled to meet Benjamin (Jeff Richards), Caleb (Matt Mattox), Dan (Marc Platt), Ephraim (Jacques d'Amboise), Frank (Tommy Rall) and Gideon (Russ Tamblyn). Milly straightens the boys out and then they fall in love with six girls at a barn raising. The boys realize how lonely they really are and its up to Milly and Adam to help the boys win the girls over by kidnapping them. Interwoven in the plot are timeless songs and energetic, acrobatic dance numbers.

The artistry, talent, and importance of this film has been widely recognized. The National Film Registry selected the film for preservation in 2004. It was ranked #21 on AFI's list of best musicals and made Entertainment Weekly's list of Top 25 Musicals.

MGM released Seven Brides and another musical Brigadoon both in the same year, 1954. MGM thought that Brigadoon would be the commerical success and relegated Seven Brides to b-movie status. Vincent Minelli's Brigadoon was given the money and the real location sets while Seven Brides was given only painted backdrops and limited funding. Ironically for MGM, Brigadoon became technically a commerical flop whereas Seven Brides was a commerical success.

Personally, I found the film to be full of talent with great muscial numbers, a great cast, and amazing dance routines. The dancing in particular use a plethora of equipment and props to enhance and make the moves seem more difficult. All of the dances are very acrobatic in nature as well as fast paced. The entire film is extremely colorful, from the costumes to the scenery. Despite the plot device of women being kidnapped, the film actually gives more power to the women in the film. Milly is the boss and what she says goes.

The film was based on Stephen Vincent Benét's short story "The Sobbin' Women", which was based on the Plutarch myth "The Sabine Women". For a history of this film, you can read here or you can read more history and a history of how the movie was made here. History and synopsis of the film can also be found here, courtesey of Classic Film Guide. You can read reviews of this movie here, thanks to rambles.net, here thanks to This To Say blogspot, and this one thanks to the BBC.

Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo

This afternoon on Turner Classic Movies, I managed to catch most of Alfred Hitchcock's 1958 psychological thriller, Vertigo. Though criticism was mixed when it opened, Vertigo has gone on to be one of Hitchcock's most famous and critically acclaimed films. And if you want to know about the Hitchcock cameo in this film, it's eleven minutes in at Gavin Elster's shipyard. Hitch is the man wearing a grey suit. The film is listed as #9 on AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies list and #1 on its list of 10 Greatest Films in the mystery genre. It was chosen for preservation by the National Film Registry in 1989 and in 1996, it was restorted and re-released in theatres.

In the movie, John "Scottie" Ferguson (James Stewart) is an ex-detective in San Francisco dealing with extreme fears of heights after watching a fellow officer plummet to his death. Scottie is now so paralyzed by heights that he cannot even stand on a stool in the apartment of his friend and ex-fiancée, Midge (Barbara Bel Geddes). He is hired as a P.I. by old college buddy Gavin Elster (Tom Helmore) to spy on Elster's wife Madeline (Kim Novak), who seems to be suffering from a mental illness where she believes she is Carlotta Valdes, a woman who committed suicide a hundred years before and who's painting currently hangs in at the Legion of Honor. When Madeline plummets from the tower at the Mission San Juan Bautista, Scottie Ferguson becomes increasingly troubled and suffers a nervous breakdown. Then he meets Judy Barton, a woman who perfectly resembles Madeline. Scottie's obsession with Madeline grows and he does everything in his power to make Judy become Madeline. I won't give away the ending, but it does conclude with a tense confession and one of Hitchcock's classic ending twists you didn't see coming.

The effects in this movie are absolutely spectacular. Though the movie was made in 1958, a lot of the effects seem like something out of the late 60s. The "contra-zoom" shot was invented for this movie, which recreates the feeling of vertigo Scottie experiences for the audience. The films lighting changes for important events in the plotline and there is a recurring theme of repitition and reflection through the course of the movie.

Vertigo is a classic Hitchcock suspense with twists and turns you have to pay attention to. Like all of Hitchcock's movie, it requires you to think and to put together the pieces of the mystery that Hitchcock so expertly lays out. I would definitely recommend this thriller, not just for Hitchcock or thriller fans, but for anyone who wants to see a good film that will keep you on the edge of your seat the whole time.