''Seven Brides for Seven Brothers'' is a classic 1950s MGM musical, and whenever it's on TV, I can't resist watching Michael Kidd's incredible and athletic choreography, especially in the brilliant Barn Dance. Plus, it's got terrific tunes by Gene de Paul and Johnny Mercer. It was a Best Picture nominee at the 1955 Oscars. But yeah, its gender politics are definitely dated and cringey. In fact, Turner Classic Movies just showed it last Thursday as part of its monthlong ''Reframed: Classic Films in the Rearview Mirror'' series. TCM's hosts re-examine movies with ''problematic'' treatments of sexism, racism and gender identity, and aim to offer historical perspective. Among them: ''Gone With the Wind,'' ''Psycho,'' ''The Jazz Singer,'' etc.
I've never seen the stage version of ''Seven Brides,'' but a quick glance on YouTube shows that it's been done regionally and in high schools. |
