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.

"The dead are not quiet in Hill House..."

To date, one of the scariest films I have ever seen and perhaps the best psychological thriller or "ghost movie" ever made is the 1963 version of The Haunting. The film was based on the novel The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson and was recently remade in 1999, but the 1963 version is better by far. The film itself uses spectacular effects with light, shadow, and mind tricks that make you wonder if you yourself are going insane or if you're just watching other people do so. Director Robert Wise did a magnificent job with this film and it really stands the test of time.

The plot rundown is somewhat basic, but still works. Dr. Markway, played by Richard Johnson, is a paranormal investigator who is trying to prove the existence of spirits and the supernatural by spending the night in a mansion with a history of driving people mad or leading them to cruel and unusual deaths. Accompanying him on this ghoulish sleepover is the heir to the house Luke Sanderson, played by Russ Tamblyn, a mysterious clairvoyant named Theodora, played by Claire Bloom, and an insecure, meek, and lonely Eleanor "Nell" Lance, played by Julie Harris. Nell has strange psychological abilities that give her a close connection with whatever spirits inhabit the house.

Everything starts out simply enough. Hill House has all the ingredients for a spooky haunted house: angry ghosts, creepy house and groundskeepers, people poking their heads the business of supernatural entities that would rather remain undisturbed, screaming, and of course some good old-fashioned psychological terrorism. As the night wears on, the group realizes that the house is much worse than they expected. The house, in fact, seems to come alive, awakened by their presence in it. At one point, Dr. Markway goes so far as to state: "It was an evil house from the beginning - a house that was born bad". Soon it becomes apparent to the group that there is a good chance they will not live through the night.

Typical horror films of today rely on blood and gore to get across their message of terror, but not this film. In The Haunting, not a single drop of blood is shed. The frighteningly unsettling special effects use camera angles, lighting and music to scare the hell out of the audience. This is yet another film that proves you don't need fancy effects or tons of blood and gore to leave your audience unable to sleep with the lights off. Unfortunately, you're going to have to locate a copy of this movie on your own since its not on the internet. However, you can watch a trailer for it from Turner Classic Movies here if you want.

So, if you want to addle your brain a little bit with a movie that will make you afraid of your own shadow, check out The Haunting.