MovieChat Forums > Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954) Discussion > Are Daniel and Ephraim twins ?

Are Daniel and Ephraim twins ?

posted 15 years ago by tufreeh
37 replies | jump to latest

Are Daniel and Ephraim nonidentical twins because most of time they are shown together.

[–] beverlym-76105 9 years ago

After reading all of the battles concerning this, I have to jump in with my proverbial 2 cents:

In the short story by Stephen Vincent Benet, nobody mentions "twins."

Now, we can all make up our own minds about what this means. :)

[–] cobnut 9 years ago

Wow some people are taking this way too seriously, haha. I think the short answer is: maybe, but there is no way to obtain a concrete answer because all four of the screenwriters are deceased, and at age 94, it's extremely unlikely that the director remembers one way or the other.

I will say that in such a large pool of children, the odds are higher than in a smaller family. My father is one of 9 (including 7 brothers!) and there are a pair of fraternal twins in the mix, despite no other family history of twins.

However I see no solid basis for that one guy's insistence that the Pontipee mother would definitely have given twins two names beginning with 'D'. As a filmmaking device or otherwise. If anything it would have gone against their father's naming plan. Remember that it was their father who wanted the alphabetical system in order to remember their names easily, their mother only decided upon Biblical names. Two 'D's' would have rather defeated his point since he'd mix them up all the time.

The shared mannerisms between Daniel and Ephraim could be explained logically as them being non-twin brothers who happened to be born very close together and so were raised in the way twins would be. Sharing clothes and development stages (beard growth, getting taller, voice breaking etc.,), teaming up to scuffle with their elder brothers and pick on their younger brothers, playing and working together most of the time during their youth and adolescence due to their matched strength, size and age. You can get pregnant less than a month after giving birth, so there could be less than 1 year between them especially if Ephraim was premature.

The mirror... it's broken.
Yes, I know. I like it that way. Makes me look the way I feel.

[–] murph24 8 years ago

However I see no solid basis for that one guy's insistence that the Pontipee mother would definitely have given twins two names beginning with 'D'. As a filmmaking device or otherwise.

It's so hilarious to come back to these threads (after a few years have passed) and discover the debates that are still going on, and to see the misconceptions that people are laboring under.

First of all, I'm "that one guy," and I'm more than happy to answer any questions you may have about what I've written.

I always took it as a given that everyone was aware there was nothing in the "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" script that suggested Daniel and Ephraim were twins. For example, when Adam introduces his brothers to Milly, he doesn't say "And these are the twins, Daniel and Ephraim." Now, since there's nothing in the screenplay to indicate they're twins, was there anything else to suggest they were? Did the scriptwriters give them the type of names that were often given to twins in entertainment works of that era - in other words, names that both began with the same letter, or were sound-alikes names? No. But I never "insisted" this was the ONLY reason they weren't twins; it was just one of many I put forth. And I mentioned it at the outset because, as I pointed out earlier, I assumed everyone was aware of the fact there was nothing in the script's dialogue to indicate they were twins.

We're not discussing the overall likeliness of twins occurring in families across the world; we're talking about a specific motion picture written about specific characters. And the script isn't irrelevant; as any actor or director will tell you, the script is the key to both plot and character. And just because two brothers give the same answer at the same time doesn't automatically make them twins. Besides, would a director as smart as Stanley Donen have cast two people as twins who had a twenty-year difference in their ages? Marc Platt (Daniel) was born in December of 1913; Jacques d'Amboise (Ephraim) was born in July of 1934.

But I certainly agree with you about one thing - people are taking this way too seriously.

[–] cobnut 8 years ago

You speak as though I was arguing that the two characters ARE supposed to be twins, when in fact my entire post was about the fact that it's likely that they AREN'T supposed to be twins. Rather bizarre post you've made there bro.

The mirror... it's broken.
Yes, I know. I like it that way. Makes me look the way I feel.

[–] murph24 8 years ago

Rather bizarre post you've made there bro.

Bizarre? Why? I was addressing two specific passages that appeared in your post - the first of which referred directly to something I'd written. I just wanted to point out that the statement you took issue with wasn't something I'd "insisted" upon; it was just one of many reasons why there was no reason to assume Daniel and Ephraim were twins.

And this is what you'd written -

However I see no solid basis for that one guy's insistence that the Pontipee mother would definitely have given twins two names beginning with 'D'. As a filmmaking device or otherwise.

Otherwise, I simply stated that a particular statement of yours about the occurrence of twins in families had little to do with the specific material found in "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" -

I will say that in such a large pool of children, the odds are higher than in a smaller family. My father is one of 9 (including 7 brothers!) and there are a pair of fraternal twins in the mix, despite no other family history of twins.

If you're going to make a post, and specifically address something that someone else has written, you shouldn't be surprised or consider it "bizarre" when that person responds to your post.

Everything else I've written relates directly to the subject being discussed in this thread.

[–] cobnut 8 years ago

Jesus effing Christ mate, get a second hobby! You're arguing with me when we are actually in agreement. That is what I found bizarre.

The mirror... it's broken.
Yes, I know. I like it that way. Makes me look the way I feel.