I credit Howard Keel for getting me into musicals. I never cared for musicals until I saw 7 Brides for 7 Brothers. I always thought musicals were sort of "sissy" until I saw Keel as a burly backwoodsman singing "Bless yore Beautiful Hide" with that bass baritone voice of his. "7 Brides" is still one of the great musicals, IMO. I probably would not have become an opera fan if I had not gotten used to hearing near-operatic voices like Keel's.
The barnraising sequence in 7 Brides is one of the outstanding moments in movie musical history. One of my favorite performers - Russ Tamblyn - does amazing leaps and somersaults. He’s also a pretty good straight actor.