The Department of Film and Video of The Museum of Modern Art will present the
New York premiere of a newly restored print of Seven Brides for Seven
Brothers, MGM's classic 1954 CinemaScope musical, on September 12. Directed
by Stanley Donen, scored by Gene de Paul and Johnny Mercer, and choreographed
by Michael Kidd, this wonderful musical will air on the Turner Classic Movies
channel in October.
When MGM released Seven Brides in Ansco Color in 1954, the film proved
so popular that the studio rushed out many more release prints than it had
first anticipated it would need. Contrary to customary practice, MGM
mass-produced these prints from the original camera negative rather than a
duplicate negative, and, over time, this original negative deteriorated
drastically. By the late 1960s the problem was further compounded when the
damaged portions, re-created using Kodak's Eastman Color process, did not match
the original Ansco colors.
Using the improved color film stock of the 1990s, Turner Entertainment has
restored Seven Brides to resemble its original 1954 look as closely as
possible, and has also produced a modern stereo track from the film's original
stereo master recordings.
This screening is made possible thanks to Roger L. Mayer, President and Chief
Operating Officer, and Richard P. May, Vice-President, Preservation and
Distribution Services, Turner Entertainment Co., Los Angeles.
