A producer diverted the budget of a movie in production to fund another film which ultimately bombed at the box office, while the low-budget film turned out to be a huge success!
This movie, now 71 years old and considered a classic, had to drain funds from another project to make ends meet. Needless to say, the other film’s team was not too pleased! Dive into one of the most infamous betrayals in Hollywood history.
Battle of Two Musical Films
It was early 1954. Director Vincente Minnelli was working on “Brigadoon” for MGM, a dreamy musical about two Americans stumbling upon a mysterious Scottish village, for MGM.
At the same time, the studio was also producing “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers,” directed by Stanley Donen, a musical western set in 1850s Oregon about a pioneer bringing his young wife home to his six single brothers.
Both films were shot concurrently, but Minnelli underestimated the cost of recreating a Scottish village and its surroundings in California studios—having decided against filming in Scotland due to poor weather. MGM, looking to cut costs, even opted against using Technicolor, settling for a cheaper, lower quality process (Metrocolor).
Still, that wasn’t enough. MGM needed more money, and they found it… in another one of their productions!
In her autobiography, Jane Powell, the lead actress in “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers,” recalls:
MGM bosses were ready to give up
“The studio was pouring all its resources into Brigadoon and felt it couldn’t afford two lavish musicals at once, so MGM bosses were ready to give up [Seven Brides for Seven Brothers]. Luckily, our producer Jack Cummings convinced them to keep it. He offered to slash our budget, to save in every possible way (…).”
Both films were eventually released, but “Brigadoon,” with a budget exceeding $3 million at the time, only grossed $2.25 million and was instantly a monumental flop, while the “smaller” “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers,” with a budget of $2.54 million, grossed $9.4 million and became a spectacular success, generating profits.
It just goes to show that even in Hollywood, betting on the wrong horse can sometimes happen.
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A passionate journalist, Iris Lennox covers social and cultural news across the U.S.