One of my must-see TV series as a young teen was Here Come the Brides. It aired for two
seasons (1968-69 and 1969-70), each episode airing again during summer repeats
and then forgotten. It didn’t even hit syndication until January 2011. By then,
the first season had already been released on DVD for five years; the second
season didn’t release until April of 2012.
I, of course, bought both seasons.
So what it is like, watching a beloved favorite of one’s
youth, through the prism of time? Both fun and embarrassing. The show promoted
the drinking of whiskey (often), gambling (occasionally) and fighting as a way
to solve one’s problems (once in a while). It also promoted no sex before
marriage, racial equality and women’s rights at a time when all the norms of
modern American society were in flux.
Today I’ll cover the inspiration for the show, the show’s
creators and the brothers (each of whom could get a post all by himself – and
may yet!).
The Basics
Jason, Joshua and Jeremy Bolt (played by Robert Brown, David
Soul and Bobby Sherman, respectively) own a logging camp just outside 1860’s
Seattle, Washington. The small town has an overabundance of men, so these three
stake their family property, Bridal Veil Mountain, as collateral on a bet that
they can go East and bring back a hundred women as brides. Aaron Stemple is set
up as the “villain” – the man on the other side of the bet who will gain the
mountain if they don’t succeed.
Inspiration
This part began as a
sidenote but I when I went to cite my sources, I discovered there was far more
to where this show came from than a casual glance revealed. Hence, it deserves
it’s own section.
There seems to be some disagreement as to whether or not
this premise was taken from the musical Seven
Brides for Seven Brothers. IMDB says it was
and I’ll admit, I worked from the same idea for years. Then I read Gangway,
Lord! (The) Here Come the Brides Book by Jonathan Etter and discovered
not everyone believed that.
Bridget
Hanley (who played Candy Pruitt, the spokesperson for the brides) is
originally from the Seattle area and makes mention of the “Mercer Girls” (Etter
180). A little further digging tells us about real-life Ada S. Mercer who went
to Lowell, Massachusetts and brought back eleven ladies to level-out the
male/female ratio in that part of the Washington territories.
So the show was (loosely) based on historical facts. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers also
used the Mercer girls as inspiration. So did Calico
Cargo, another musical treatment of the same event (Etter 419 and Kitsap Forest Theatre). It is also
worth noting that the more famous musical spun off its own television series
that aired in the early 1980’s (IMDB).
Something tells me Hollywood is not done with this idea yet!
(Note: There is a website devoted to the stories of these individual
women. Unfortunately, many of the links off that main page are broken.)
Creator(s)
So who was it who said, “Let’s take the idea of the Mercer
girls and turn it into a TV series? Well, that’s harder to answer than you
might expect.
The credits in the opening for the show feature a slide with
two statements: “Developed for television by N. Richard Nash” and “Based on a
story by Alan Marcus”. Jonathan Etter makes note of the fact that Mr. Nash was
working on a made-for-film musical of Here
Come the Brides as early as 1960 with some of the same characters that
later appear in the television series (although the musical was much rougher in
both characterizations and language) (Etter 49-50).
So at first glance, one would assign Mr. Nash the lion’s
share of the credit, especially when, according to IMDB, Mr. Nash worked on all
52 episodes as writer (developer), if it were not for one thing: neither Mr.
Nash’s official biography page, nor his Wikipedia page mention
this television series at all. Why? Was he ashamed of it? Or did he really only
come up with the idea and then turn it over to others for implementation?
I then turned my attention to Alan Marcus, who, according to
that title slide, wrote the story the series was based on. I first found him as
a member of the Board of Directors for the Duende players, an acting
company that brings theatre into schools. His biography refers to him
as the creator of Here Come the Brides.
Wait. Creator? Two creators? Knowing Hollywood and how
convoluted writing credits can get, I almost stopped there. But I persisted,
returning again to Etter’s history of the series for information.
There wasn’t much. Two references only. One in a story told
by Robert Brown (Jason Bolt) who was friends with Mr. Marcus. According to Mr.
Brown, he told Alan Marcus to make sure he put his name on a story he’d written
and still had rights to. As a result, Mr. Marcus received royalties each time Here Come the Brides played on
television (Etter 138).
The second reference was one made by Bridget Hanley
basically stating that she thought it was Nash who came up with the character
of Jeremy (Etter 180), not Mr. Marcus.
Two sources now claiming Alan Marcus as the creator, two
sources claiming N. Richard Nash as creator, with Etter’s book as a source for
each, giving credit to both (although Nash gets an entire chapter to himself
and Marcus only gets two one-liners*).
My conclusion? As often happens, two separate people came up
with the same idea pretty much at the same time. This time, instead of making
competing projects (which often happens), both men ended up at the same studio,
working on the same project.
And I, for one, am glad they did. :)
The Brothers
You’ve got to love the very names of the characters,
starting with the Bolt brothers. The
strong alliteration formed when they are referred by that moniker (and they
often are) immediately plants the idea that these are powerful men. Their
surname sounds similar to the word “bold” and, when spoken quickly, the words
can be jumbled together, further deepening our understanding that these are men
to be reckoned with.
In addition, the word “bolt” stands for an object that holds
things together, that’s dependable; its a fixed point in a moving world. Giving
the brothers this surname gives them all those same traits. Remember, in the
late 1960’s, America was a country in turmoil with an unpopular war, sexual and
drug experimentation gone rampant, and feminists pushing for more equality. The
Bolt brothers serve as a constant amid the chaos; they are strong men of
principle the people of Seattle (and the viewers) can count on each and every
week.
The brothers’ first names, however, provide a contrast to
all that testosterone: Jason, Joshua and Jeremy all start with a soft sound.
The “J” sound makes them human, willing to listen. It brings out the side of
men many women want to see: the sensitive, caring side.
Jason Bolt is
played with gusto on the part of Robert Brown. The character is
larger-than-life, bold, a leader of Seattle as well as of his brothers. Other
characters warn of his honey-tongue that can charm the birds out of the air and
the fish out of the sea.
Unfortunately, his strength becomes his brothers’ weakness.
Neither Jeremy nor Joshua can make a single decision without running to big
brother Jason. Small problems or large, off they go, tracking Jason down and
asking, “What do we do?”
Jason, of course, has the answer. He always does. He’s
wiser, more experienced, trusted.
That’s not to say he doesn’t make mistakes. He does that,
too. But he always owns up to them, taking blame when it belongs to him,
showing everyone (including the viewers) what it means to be a Real Man.
Apparently, being a Real Man doesn’t include taking a wife. While
Jason has his share of romances throughout the two seasons of the show, each
time the two part (with regret, of course), leaving Jason free to flirt again
in the next episode.
Joshua Bolt is played
by David Soul (who would go on to play Hutch in the cop show, Starsky and Hutch).
As the middle brother, Joshua has trouble fitting in and finding his place.
Eventually, he’s established as the financial wizard of the brothers Bolt.
Jason occasionally bows to Joshua's expertise on buying and selling, but, even
here, the hierarchy is firm. Joshua gives input to the decision—Jason, however,
is the ultimate decider, Joshua is simply a giver of information. He is, after
all, the ultimate middle child.
Like Jason, Joshua has his affairs of the heart that come to
a close by the end of the episode. Unlike Jason, Joshua wears his heart on his
sleeve and love often makes him rash and foolish. He’s the quintessential Man
in Love, which works because of David Soul’s real-life heartthrob status.
Female viewers want to be on his arm and looking into those dreamy blue eyes as
they walk into the pines together.
Which brings up his physical appearance. David Soul has the
stereotypical Aryan look: blond hair and blue eyes. The producers knew they had
to appeal to as wide an audience as possible, so cast the part of Joshua to
pull in a specific segment of the population: women who like tall, blond men
and gentle blue eyes. He certainly wasn’t cast for any physical resemblance to
the other actors playing Bolt brothers (both of whom have dark hair although one does have blue eyes).
Jeremy Bolt is
played with coyness by Bobby Sherman, a singer who brought with him a built-in
fan base of teen-age girls. Jeremy is the youngest brother, the one who never
seems to do things right, the one the other two are afraid to trust because of
his age and inexperience. That said, the older brothers are very protective of
Jeremy, and are leery of putting him in harm’s way—because they understand harm
often comes for the youngest and smallest.
Jeremy has another trait that sets him apart from the
others, not only his brothers, but from the others in town—he stutters. This
was an interesting choice on the part of the writers because recurring
characters with disabilities were mostly ignored by American TV in the 1960’s (Ironside
being the notable exception). What is laudable about this choice for the
character is that the disability wasn’t played for comedy. No one laughed at
Jeremy when he had trouble speaking. Instead, they showed patience and
understanding – one of several ways this show bridged the roles of TV as pure
entertainment and of social responsibility.
Jeremy has something to prove to the world. He occasionally
whines when Jason chooses Joshua over him to go on an errand or do something
dangerous and so, when he does get
the opportunity, he is determined to make sure it goes right so Jason will see
he’s a grown man and can handle the responsibility. Of course, whatever the
task, it usually does not go right
and big brother Jason has to get him out of the scrape.
Jeremy, however, the only brother who has a steady romantic
relationship. While he and Candy have their share of arguments, the two always
make up and serve as role models to American traditional marriage. There is no
hanky-panky before the wedding (which we never get to see—the series was
cancelled before the writers could get to that point).
Height
I cannot end this discussion of the brothers and their roles
without a nod to their respective heights.
An actor’s height often influences the way an audience
reacts to the character he/she plays. While we all know, for example, that Tom
Cruise is on the short side (5’7”), he is often filmed in such a way that he
appears taller. Taller men get more respect and the casting directors of Here Come the Brides were well-ahead of
the studies that prove it (you can read those studies here,
here and here).
Until I started writing this paper, I truly thought Jason
was the tallest of the brothers, followed by Joshua in the middle and Jeremy as
the shortest. While that is true of the real-life actors, it isn’t true by as
much as you might think.
As the eldest brother, Joshua tends to tower over the other
two and Robert Brown, the actor who plays him, is broad-chested and six-foot two,
a respectable height for any man. Joshua, as the middle brother, is the middle
height—but David Soul, who plays him, is six-foot one—not a whole heck of a lot
shorter than his character’s older brother.
Yet look at publicity stills from Here Come the Brides and you will see, in every case, Joshua
appears MUCH shorter than Jason. For one thing, Soul is thinner than Brown,
which helps force the perspective. For another, he’s often shown seated when
next to the eldest Bolt brother, or when filmed, standing lower on the hill.
The viewer is helped along with the idea that Jason is the more powerful by use
of height.
Jeremy, of course, is the youngest brother and therefore,
the shortest. Bobby Sherman clocks in at a respectable 5’9” tall – a scant
three inches shorter than David Soul. Yet here, too, the filmmakers “force” the
idea that younger is smaller with camera angles and actor placement.
The second season DVD has a publicity shot on the
cover that perfectly shows this artifice: Jason stands tall in the center
between Candy and Lotte, his arms crossed and his body leaning back as if he is
the master of his domain. Joshua and Jeremy are seated below, Joshua to the
right with his shoulders slightly slumped and Jeremy to the left, leaning in.
The positions of these two imply a height difference closer to a half a foot
rather than a scant three inches.
LOL! Okay, okay...I'll stop here for now. I could write on this forever, but will settle for this much today. Look for more Here Come the Brides posts in the future!
Edited to make correction: Bobby Sherman has gorgeous blue eyes as well. See here if you need proof.
Part II can be found here.
*I have some issues with the balance of reporting in Etter’s
book that I’ve blogged
about here. He has definite biases toward some of the characters and actors
and favors them with more detailed accounts and a more thorough investigation.
Because his book shows favoritism in some areas, I cannot be sure that the
matter here between Nash and Marcus isn’t more of the same.
Edited to make correction: Bobby Sherman has gorgeous blue eyes as well. See here if you need proof.
Part II can be found here.
1 comment:
Nice analysis...looking forward to the next installment!
Post a Comment