Seven Brides for Seven Brothers

That's a little over 10 pounds.

How much is beaver worth this year?

$6.00 a pound.

Well, I'll trade you for a new plow,

two tubs of lard,

a barrel of molasses,

25 pounds of chewing tobacco...

And you wouldn't have a wife under the counter there?

I'm looking for a wife.

Any special brand?

Well, yes. I'd like best a widow woman

that ain't afraid to work.

There's 7 of us men, me and my 6 brothers.

The place is like a pigsty. The food tastes worse.

So I made up my mind.

Next time I come into town to trade

I'm gonna bring me back a wife.

Well, that's a fine thing I must say,

thinking you can come here and trade for a wife

like she was a bag of meal.

Oh, no, ma'am. I wouldn't say that, ma'am.

Let me tell you,

none of our gals is going to go off

with you to bear country

to cook and clean

for 7 slumocky backwoodsmen.

There's 10 men for every woman out here.

If you want a wife, you'll have to go back east and get one.

You mean, there's no unmarried females in this town?

Good morning, Mrs. Bixby.

We're having a quilting bee.

We thought you might have some odds and ends.

Mrs. Bixby: I'll see.

- How about these? - Now, just a minute.

What's the matter? They married?

They're spoken for.

Oh, just spoken for. You had me scared.

I tell you, they're promised.

Oh, a lady can change her mind, can't she?

Pay no heed, girls.

Fred, put his things in the wagon. Don't keep him waiting.

Oh, I'm in no hurry. I got all afternoon.

You're wasting your time.

You won't find a girl in this town to marry you.

Never set my mind to something yet for what I got.

Whether it's plowing 20 acres in a day

or dropping a tree within an inch of where I want it.

I'm here today to get me a wife.

I don't aim to go back home empty-handed.

You're all pretty, fresh, and young.

I'll keep you in mind.

But I ain't deciding on nothing

until I look them all over.

- Good morning, ma'am. - Good morning.

Mamma, mamma, papa wants you.

Ha ha ha!

Thanks, Adam.

Good morning, ma'am.

Good morning, backwoodsman.

Nice day for marrying.

That's a right good idea.

Oh, Lem, I thought you'd never ask me.

Milly where are you? A dozen men in here

bellering for vittles and you're chopping wood!

I'm coming!

- Milly, Milly, let's eat. - Yeah, let's eat.

Come on. I'm dying of hunger.

You'll all eat now, don't fret. Just give me time.

Ah, nobody can cook like Milly, huh?

When you gonna marry me, Milly?

Oh, next week, Sam.

She's gonna marry me, ain't ya, Milly?

What would your wife say, Tom?

Anything you'd like?

Could be, but first,

I think I'd better sample that cooking.

- Oh, oh, oh! - Oh, Harry!

Oh, I am sorry.

That's all right, Milly.

Awfully sorry.

That smells good enough to eat.

Tastes good, too, so they tell me.

Got any ketchup handy?

My stew can stand on its own feet.

Good?

Good.

My name's Adam Pontipee.

Odd name, I must say.

I live up the mountain. I got a farm up there.

Have you?

Good farm and a house on it.

There's timberland,

high grazing meadows,

sheep, milk cows, 50 acres of wheat.

Only thing it ain't got. It ain't got a woman.

How about it?

How about what?

I just told you.

How about marrying me?

Oh, I know it's kind of short notice.

Back east, we would have met

on a Sunday leaving church.

Six months later, I would have asked you,

could I walk you home?

Next 2, 3 years, I would have set

in your front parlor every Wednesday night.

And finally, I would ask your father. Could I marry you?

But here, there's not time.

I've got to be home tonight to tend to my stock.

It'll be another 5 months before I get down again with my grain.

You going to keep me waiting all that 5 months

just for your pride?

I'd have to finish my chores.

I knew it the minute I set eyes on you.

You're the gal for me.

I'll go get cleaned up a bit and root out the preacher.

Uh, where's the preacher's house?

Down the street, next to the church.

Thanks, pop.

I'll say it plain, Milly, and to your face.

- I don't like this marriage. - Oh, reverend...

I don't know you or anything about you,

and I feel responsible.

Milly's like a daughter to us.

We're her only family.

But reverend, ever since I came here,

you've been after me to marry.

"A girl had no right to stay single," you said.

The country needed to be settled.

We meant for you to marry one of our young men, Milly.

You had your pick with them.

I tried.

Again and again, I tried.

I'd say yes to one of them,

and an awful sinking feeling would strike me right here,

and I couldn't do it.

When I said yes to him,

I waited for that feeling,

but it didn't come.

I feel just fine.

I feel so good I could cry.

Oh, I think it's wonderful...

love at first sight.

Alice, what kind of talk is that?

You're determined, Milly?

Yes, reverend.

Then step forward.

Take her hand in yours.

Repeat after me... I, Adam Pontipee.

I, Adam Pontipee.

Take this woman to be my lawfully wedded wife.

Take this woman to be my lawfully wedded wife.

Where's she going?

Never did like them Pontipees.

Now I know why.

Maw, maw, he done it!

He got a wife!

It's Milly. It's indecent, if you ask me...

one lone woman with 7 scroungy backwoodsmen.

I'm not much of a bride, with only this for an outfit.

You'll find a trunk in the attic belonging to my mother.

There's things there, if you're handy with a needle.

I'd like that.

I'd like to be wearing something that belonged to your mother.

My mother left me these...

they're packets of seed for a flower garden

she meant to plant out here.

My father left me these...

Plutarch's Lives and the Bible.

He taught me to read by them.

I hope that maybe someday I can teach our...

how far is it up to the farm?

Oh, about 12 miles.

Imagine... on my way to my own home.

I feel so wonderful I could yell.

Go ahead.

Hooray!