Seven Brides For Seven Brothers (DVD)

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Well, my quibbles are but minor notes in an otherwise happy and spirited production. "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" is a big, brawling, rollicking movie that, old-fashioned or not, helped to open up the movie musical to widescreen singing and dancing. It remains a pleasant experience.

Video:
Because not all theaters in 1954 were equipped to display a super-widescreen Cinemascope production, MGM filmed "Seven Brides" in two different aspect ratios, 2.55:1 and 1.77:1. Both screen sizes are presented in this two-disc set, one version per disc, along with an assortment of extras. The 2.55:1 version of the movie is here rendered at about 2.30:1, anamorphic, across my standard-screen HD television, given my set's small degree of overscanning. The colors are a bit dull and faded, despite the transfer being newly created from what I suppose to be a pristine print. Certainly, there are no other age markings of any kind, no scratches or flecks to be seen. Worse, though, the color flickers on occasion, what should be the pure whites of snow, for instance, alternating between a clean white and a slightly pink. Definition, too, is only average, delineation a touch blurred.

The picture quality in the alternate 1.77:1 version of the film is actually a tad better, overall, the colors seeming a little brighter and more solid, with the appearance of sharper definition. However, the soft flutter of the colors remains. Incidentally, the announced 1.77:1 version measures across my TV, surprisingly, at exactly 1.77:1. I suspect this is because the alternate version was actually filmed at 1.85:1, as the Internet Movie Database lists it, and MGM decided for whatever reason to announce its size on the keep case as it might appear across a modern television. I don't know.

Audio:
The movie was originally shown in two-channel stereo where possible and monaural everywhere else. For all intents and purposes, the Dolby Digital 5.1 remix created for the DVD remains mostly a narrow, front-channel stereo. A bit of musical ambiance reinforcement has been added to the rear channels to open up the listening area, and the result is not at all unpleasant. It's not the equivalent of modern 5.1 sound, but given the movie's fifty-year-old origins, it can be forgiven any minor shortcomings. I was especially happy with the smoothness of the sound, too, no hardness or pinched nasality as one sometimes finds in older soundtracks.

Extras:
Disc one contains the 2.55:1 version of the movie; English and French spoken languages, with Dolby Digital 5.1 for English; an audio commentary by director Stanley Donen; a gallery of Donen musical trailers; thirty-one scene selections; and English, French, and Spanish subtitles.

Disc two contains the alternate 1.77:1 version of the film. In addition, it contains an excellent, newly made, behind-the-scenes documentary, "Sobbin' Women: The Making of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers," lasting forty-two minutes, hosted by star Howard Keel, and including interviews with the director, the stars, and others of the filmmakers, all of them alive and well here fifty years later. Finally, there are two vintage newsreels, a two-minute New York première and a two-minute MGM 30th-Anniversary Celebration; plus a short subject, "MGM Jubilee Overture," nine minutes of famous tunes from MGM movies, remixed in Dolby Digital 5.1; and thirty-one scene selections. English is the only language available for the 1.77:1 version, in Dolby digital 2.0 stereo, again with English, French, and Spanish subtitles. Both discs are housed in a slim-line keep case, but no booklet was included with my copy of the set.

Parting Thoughts:
When I finish a film, my first thought in evaluating it is, "Would I want to watch it again anytime soon?" Oh, a few movies fail to pass this test even though they are great films, mostly serious things like "Schindler's List" or "The Pianist." But a pure entertainment film like a comedy or a musical should be one you'd like to replay, just as you'd like to hear a favorite song over again. "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" doesn't quite pass the test, even though I enjoyed this revisit to an old friend on DVD. The movie hasn't quite enough good music (despite its winning an Academy Award for Best Music Scoring), enough good humor, or enough good characters to interest me in watching it again any time soon. But insofar as musicals are concerned, this one is still fun, still agreeable.

If you enjoy musicals or you already love this one, "Seven Brides" is probably a must-buy. If you don't enjoy every musical that comes along but think this one might show promise, a rental is probably in order.

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