Seven Sweethearts (1942)

I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

Very well executed

Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Reporter Van Heflin travels to a small town to write about their annual tulip festival, but as soon as he gets there, he's greeted with nothing but strangeness from the town's residents. First, the head honcho, S.Z. Sakall, sits in the middle of the square and plays the oboe, the local hotel is full of colorful characters, and S.Z's seven daughters all have boys' names! Since all seven daughters are beautiful, Van has a difficult choice on his hands. The oldest, Marsha Hunt, and the youngest, Kathryn Grayson, are the highest contenders for his affections, and it isn't long before the audience finds out the reason for Marsha's heavy come-on. According to tradition, the oldest daughter has to get married before any of the others can-and S.Z.'s very old fashioned!Most people probably aren't going to choose to sit down and watch this obscure old movie, but for the few of you out there who remember Kathryn Grayson and love listening to her beautiful voice, she's given plenty of songs to show it off. Her beautiful coloratura soprano voice shines, but if you don't like opera singing, this movie will probably drive you up the wall. I'm the first to admit I don't usually like Van Heflin, and I usually get him confused with Van Johnson and Arthur Kennedy, but in this movie he's actually a lot more likable than he usually is! I've never seen him in a romantic comedy before, and when he smiles and jokes around, he doesn't seem as grumpy as he normally does. Kathryn is also very sweet and likable, so once again, if you're looking for a film of hers to watch-she didn't make too many unfortunately-you could do a lot worse than Seven Sweethearts. One more compliment for this light-hearted B movie: S.Z. Sakall, usually cast as a laughable foreigner, was given the opportunity to actually act in this movie, and he did a very good job. As a father terribly attached to his daughters, when he learns they're considering marrying and leaving him, he gets very hurt. If you watch this movie, you'll find out how effective his pouts can be.

A wonderful film to sit back and simply ENJOY---no pretense, no attempts at greatness...just a chance to escape and enjoy the world as it was once-upon-a-time in Hollywood.This despite a few references to WWII and even the term "goosestep" used in the lyrics to "You and the Waltz", sung by Kathryn Grayson and accompanied on the piano by Carl Esmond's character. And HEY---why were those five strapping young male suitors always hanging around the hotel, instead of off fighting the war?? But...as one reviewer said, this film was meant to take the viewer away from the overseas hostilities during the very dark and turbulent year of 1942.I would agree that Miss Grayson's singing can be a distraction, but her light, rather quivery ("tremolo" as it's called in the film), somewhat shrill and brittle sound was the taste of the day....and she WAS in fact a very capable coloratura soprano. I wish she would have sung something other than the big "Mignon" aria at the Festival's concert scene...something more in tune with the film itself, more folksy and romantic. Loved the big outdoor Festival scene (the kind which MGM always did so well), the kitschy all-girl orchestra number as dinner music, and the singing of the moving hymn "We Gather Together" in the church; it's so refreshing and touching to see the sincerity of a scene like that appearing in a mainstream film of that bygone era.SK Szakall is wonderful in this film; a first-rate, substantial performance, requiring lots of humor, split-second timing, and some very tender pathos. Marsha Hunt is stunningly gorgeous as always, even though her role requires that she play a pain-in-the-neck.And where did the main pair of lovers decide to settle down? One would hope that they chose to stay right there in Tulip Town.A delightful precursor to "Brigadoon", with certain similarities to "Seven Brides", both of which MGM would be hard at work on a decade later, during the sad decline of the Hollywood musical.

This is one of those films that is best enjoyed by just turning off your brain and letting yourself get into the film despite a very silly and impossible plot. Considering the film has considerable charm (and Cuddles Sakal), I could do this quite easily--at least until Kathryn Grayson sang too many songs that it spoiled mood! While I am not a huge fan of musicals, this isn't exactly a musical as all the numbers are strictly Grayson singing in a very operatic style that you either love or hate--guess which category I fell into! The silly plot is about the fictional town of New Delph, Michigan--and I assume it's a thinly disguised version of Holland, Michigan, as this town is famous for their bulbs and Dutch heritage. The town is like a little piece of Holland transported to America, as the homes look very Dutch and they keep alive their heritage through cultural festivals.Van Heflin is a reporter and arrives for the annual Tulip Festival. The first person he meets is the odd but very sweet Cuddle Sakal who runs the local hotel. The hotel is staffed by his seven daughters--all who have boys' names! And, of course, all are very beautiful and charming (with one exception). Van falls for the youngest one (Grayson) but the family tradition is that none of them can marry until the oldest marries (Marsha Hunt). Unfortunately, Hunt is a rather vain and obnoxious lady and Heflin is stuck because he wants to wed Grayson and break the very strong family tradition.The whole contrived plot works because of the charming nature of the film. Sakal, as usual, is a cute and endearing character and the film is well-written (at least when it comes to dialog). About the only deficits are the silliness of the plot and the over-abundance of singing by Grayson. Without the singing, this film would have earned at least a 7!

Yikes! Sixty-some years after first seeing this movie as a child, I remembered only how cool I thought the bed in the wall was. Now that TMC is recycling it, no other positive memory comes to mind. I regret in a way having to rate it so low, but this really is a very flaky production even for the desperate years in which it was made.The first and most important fact to keep in mind if you have the good fortune to view it is that it is a turkey masquerading as a fantasy. It cries out for deconstruction. Giving boys' names to the seven eponymous knockout beauties is a Freudian howler. Especially when the gals are matched with an odd assortment of young male actors who had somehow avoided the draft long enough to appear on this 1942 set. And the real Holland, Michigan today is to a large extent a Spanish-speaking community that reflects how quickly times change in the real world -- not that it ever was in the first place anything close to what this film fantasy conjures up. Indeed, the image of tulips and windmills seems calculated to stand in stark relief to the reality that was the Netherlands under the Nazi heel in 1942, ironically demonstrating that the generally pro-German neutrality in that country and in the real Holland, Michigan during the years between WWI and WWII was a fool's paradise.But enough of that. Baby-faced Van Heflin in his over-sized fedora playing the role of a hard-nosed photo-journalist seems in any event miscast. His best role would come a decade later in the movie Shane. And warbler Kathryn Grayson would later stand out in the classic 1951 movie version of Showboat.Even as sheer entertainment in its own time, this film is unadulterated escapism, worthy of no more than a glance by film historians.