Editing Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (section)

===Brothers===
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To perform the dance numbers and action sequences, choreographer [[Michael Kidd]] wanted dancers to portray all six of Adam Pontipee's brothers. Kidd said that he "had to find a way to have these [[Rural poverty|backwoods]] men dance without looking ridiculous. I had to base it all around activities you would accept from such people&nbsp;– it couldn't look like [[ballet]]. And it could only have been done by superbly trained dancers." However, he was able to integrate into the cast two non-dancer MGM contract players who were assigned to the film, Jeff Richards, who performed just the simpler dance numbers, and [[Russ Tamblyn]], using him in the dance numbers by exploiting his talents as a gymnast and tumbler.<ref name="Variety 1997">{{cite news | title=Kidd embraced by the Academy | work=Variety | date=March 3–9, 1997 | author=Gilbert, Tom | pages=54}}</ref><ref>[https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/16147/seven-brides-for-seven-brothers#articles-reviews ''Seven Brides for Seven Brothers''] TCM.com</ref>

The other four brothers were portrayed by professional dancers&nbsp;– Matt Mattox, Marc Platt, Tommy Rall, and Jacques d'Amboise.  All four balanced on a beam together during their barn-raising dance.

The wood-chopping scene in ''Lonesome Polecat'' was filmed in a single take.<ref>Silverman, 1996, p.194</ref>

* '''Adam''' (''light green shirt''): Howard Keel, a professional singer, appeared as the eldest of the seven brothers. He also appeared as ''Petruchio'' in [[Kiss Me Kate (film)|the film version of ''Kiss Me Kate'']], and appeared in leading roles in other musical films including ''[[Calamity Jane (1953 film)|Calamity Jane]]'', ''[[Rose Marie (1954 film)|Rose Marie]]'' and ''[[Show Boat (1951 film)|Show Boat]]''.<ref name="Howard Keel Calamity Jane">{{IMDb title |0045591 |Calamity Jane}}</ref>
* '''Benjamin''' (''orange shirt''): Jeff Richards was a former professional [[baseball]] player who topped out at [[Minor League Baseball|the AAA level of the minor leagues]]. Although obviously athletic, he is noticeably in the background, seated, or standing during the dance numbers so as to not expose his lesser dancing skills. This often relegated his partner, the classically trained ballet dancer [[Julie Newmar]], to the background as well.<ref>Filming notes in the DVD anniversary edition</ref>
* '''Caleb''' (''yellow shirt''): Matt Mattox, a professional dancer, appeared on stage on Broadway and also danced in many Hollywood musical films. His singing voice for the film was dubbed by [[Bill Lee (singer)|Bill Lee]].
* '''Daniel''' (''mauve shirt''): Marc Platt, a professional dancer, danced the role of ''Chalmers / Dream Curly'' in the original 1943 Broadway production of ''[[Oklahoma!]]''. He also had a dancing/speaking role in [[Oklahoma! (film)|the 1955 film version of ''Oklahoma!'']], as Curly's friend who buys his saddle at the auction and complains about Ado Annie's pie.<ref>{{cite news|author=Moira Macdonald|url=https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/dancer-reflects-on-legendary-career/|title=Dancer reflects on legendary career|work=The Seattle Times|date=20 November 2005}}</ref>
* '''Ephraim''' (''dark green shirt''): Jacques d'Amboise, a principal dancer with [[New York City Ballet]], was given special leave for the filming of ''Seven Brides for Seven Brothers'' (although he was recalled before filming was completed).<ref>[http://www.the-ballet.com/damboise.php Jacques d'Amboise] ''Ballet Encyclopedia''</ref>  He also danced in other musical films, including the ballet role of the ''Starlight Carnival'' "[[barker (occupation)|barker]]" in the film ''[[Carousel (film)|Carousel]]'' (in which he partnered [[Susan Luckey]] in ''Louise's ballet''). D'Amboise's work as a dance teacher for children was featured in the documentary film ''[[He Makes Me Feel Like Dancin']]'', which won an [[Academy Awards|Academy Award]] and [[Tony Award]].
* '''Frank''' (''red shirt''): Tommy Rall, a professional dancer and singer, appeared on stage on Broadway and in many musical films. His roles included Bill Calhoun (Lucentio) in  [[Kiss Me Kate (film)|the film version of ''Kiss Me Kate'']], and one of the Gallini brothers in the film ''[[Merry Andrew (film)|Merry Andrew]]'' (in which he was one of the three featured [[Acro dance|acrobatic dancers]] in the circus engagement scene&nbsp;– Rall is the dancer in the center wearing the red shirt). He appeared in the film ''[[Funny Girl (film)|Funny Girl]]'', as the Prince who partnered [[Barbra Streisand]] in a [[parody]] of the ballet ''[[Swan Lake]]''.
* '''Gideon''' (''blue shirt''): Russ Tamblyn was cast in the role of youngest brother Gideon. Tamblyn showcased his gymnastics training throughout the action sequences. He also had a starring role in the musical ''[[West Side Story]]'' as Riff. As of 2021, following d'Amboise's death, Tamblyn is the last surviving actor who played a brother.