Seven Sweethearts

1942 "It's A SWEETHEART Of A Picture!"
6.5| 1h38m| en
Details

Little Delft, Michigan follows the customs of old-world Holland and is known for its Tulip Festival. The owner of the hotel insists that his seven daughters marry in order, from eldest to youngest.

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Reviews

AnhartLinkin This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.
Sharkflei Your blood may run cold, but you now find yourself pinioned to the story.
Leoni Haney Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.
Staci Frederick Blistering performances.
HotToastyRag 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.
bkoganbing Seven Sweethearts has Van Heflin as a news reporter sent on a puff assignment to cover the famous Tulip Festival in Delft, Michigan. Then as now Michigan has a large Dutch population, at the time it was represented in the US Senate by Arthur Vandenberg. But this particular town has turned into a veritable Dutch Theme Park.All presided over by the local innkeeper S.Z. Sakall whose hotel staff includes his seven lovely daughters and Louise Beavers. All have some kind of talent, but Sakall wants to keep them near. The oldest daughter is Marsha Hunt and Sakall if he has to lose them wants them married off in descending order. He pushes Heflin and Hunt together who just wants to get out of Delft and go on the stage.But Heflin has eyes for Kathryn Grayson. The plot premise is the same as in the Fred Astaire/Rita Hayworth classic You Were Never Lovelier being done the same year at Columbia. It's a much better film than Seven Sweethearts, having those two as leads and a Jerome Kern score give it an insurmountable boost over this film.Not that Seven Sweethearts isn't bad. It's the kind of romantic tale that Frank Borzage loved and while this isn't one of his classics it's passable enough entertainment. Kathryn Grayson sings some nice melodies nothing special though. And Van Heflin is a favorite.Seven Sweethearts is old fashioned, but still good entertainment.
dbdumonteil An American man from NYC arrives in a small town where Dutch people live.This is a very strange place to be ,predating Minnelli's "Brigadoon" .A place where time stood still:you do not pay when you are staying at the hotel,the girls all bear boys' name -cause dad wanted boys-and they can 't get married till the eldest does.By no means one of multi-talented Borzage's greatest achievements (most of them were behind him at the time),his movie retains freshness , a "Carpe Diem" spirit ,a good antidote to stress .My favorite scene takes place in the church.Good performances by the whole cast,particularly Van Heflin who learns to like another way of life.
Rwwood48 I helped restore a boat that Van Heflin,and Kathryn Grayson were on.The movie was made in Saugatuck,Michigan.This boat was named the "Karab" at the time.Was owned by Karl Irwin. In 60 yrs this boat has only had 4 owners ! It is listed as the third oldest boat still on the Great Lakes. The picture shows the movie crew on the boat,and the other sisters that were in the movie when it was docked at the "Badlands" hotel which burned down. This boat was a 1923 Defoe built in Bay City,Michigan. I looked for over a year to find the movie.Didn't know it was a musical. I had to get help from MGM to find out what type of movie it was. I have a poor quality of the movie,and the boat was not seen in the movie. I like good musicals with a good story line,and this was done just right.