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33 out of 35 people found the following review useful: "Ummm... Filled with such fun good fellowship..."- Nathan Detroit, "Guys and Dolls", 2 August 2004 Author: allegretto902 from DC
"Guys and Dolls" is a thoroughly enjoyable example of musical comedy at its very best. The acting is impeccable, and what's more, almost believable (for a musical at least), the singing is pretty decent (well, Marlon Brando is another story, but I'll get to that) and the whole thing is just so amusing and entertaining that you'll be singing the tunes and quoting the lines long after you've finished watching it. Critics and viewers seem to sometimes have a difficult time with taking the film too seriously, by this I mean that a) Marlon Brando was not cast because of his singing voice (which was admittedly not good, but bearable), I like to think it was because he had irresistible charm, b) the whole premise is so unbelievable, to which I say, "name me a musical that IS wholly believable", and c) the movie moves too slowly, which is patently absurd, unless one does not have a taste for the slower pace of old movies and long, well articulated dance numbers, and romantic love scenes. This film pre-dates my existence by some 3 decades, but it still manages to rank among my very favorite pieces of movie-making and is an absolute must-see for musical and non-musical fans alike. 10/10
22 out of 24 people found the following review useful: Times Square according to Damon Runyon, 17 February 2005 Author: jotix100 from New York
Damon Runyon's world of Times Square, in New York, prior to its Disneyfication, is the basis for this musical. Joseph L. Mankiewicz, a man who knew about movies, directed this nostalgic tribute to the "crossroads of the world" that show us that underside of New York of the past. Frank Loesser's music sounds great. We watch a magnificent cast of characters that were typical of the area. People at the edges of society tended to gravitate toward that area because of the lights, the action, the possibilities in that part of town. This underbelly of the city made a living out of the street life that was so intense.Some of the songs from the original production were not included in the film. We don't know whether this makes sense, but this is not unusual for a Hollywood musical to change and alter what worked on the stage. That original cast included the wonderful Vivian Blaine and Stubby Kaye, and we wonder about the decision of not letting Robert Alda, Sam Levene, Isabel Bigley repeat their original roles. These were distinguished actors that could have made an amazing contribution.The film, visually, is amazing. The look follows closely the fashions of the times. As far as the casting of Marlon Brando, otherwise not known for his singing abilities, Frank Sinatra and Jean Simmons, seem to work in the film. Sky Masterson is, after all, a man's man, who would look otherwise sissy if he presented a different 'look'. Frank Sinatra is good as Nathan Detroit. Jean Simmons, as Sarah Brown, does a nice job portraying the woman from the Salvation Army who suddenly finds fulfillment with the same kind of man she is trying to save.Vivian Blaine is a delight. She never ceases to amaze as Miss Adelaide, a woman with a heart of gold who's Nathan Detroit's love interest. Ms. Blaine makes a fantastic impression as the show girl who is wiser than she lets out to be. Stubby Kaye makes a wonderful job out of reprising his Nicely Nicely Johnson.The wonderful production owes a lot to the talented Abe Burrows, who made the adaptation to the screen. The costumes by Irene Sharaff set the right tone.
17 out of 22 people found the following review useful: Simply a great screen adaptation of a stage classic!, 25 December 2000 Author: (schuchat@hotmail.com) from Miami, FL.
In 1954 Marlon Brando was THE hot actor after his performances in Streetcar Named Desire and On The Waterfront. Frank Sinatra had yet to re-invent himself on the silver screen. But Sinatra's portrayal as the erstwhile Nathan Detroit, helped re-establish Sinatra with his fans.It is a great screen version of a great play and the choices of leads and support players are terrific. Imagine a movie where Brando sings? This was his one and only singing role as he portrayed Sky Masterson. In addition the female leads, Jean Simmons and Vivian Blaine(replaying her stage role as Nathan's long suffering girlfriend Adelade), put in superlative efforts. Special mention goes to the great Stubby Kaye(as Nicely Nicely), and with all due respect to Eric Clapton, no one's version of Rockin' The Boat even comes close to Stubby's. Sheldon Leonard, who would go on to fame as TV producer of such shows as The Danny Thomas Show and The Dick Van Dyke Show does "Harry The Horse" wonders, B.S.Pulley is excellent as the harsh mannered and rough talking "Big Julie", and even Regis Toomey offers his excellence as "Brother Arvide".It is one of the fun musicals to see, good comedy, and you get Sinatra and Brando. Soooooo "Luck Be A Lady Tonight" and brother..."it's your dice"
17 out of 22 people found the following review useful: the oldest established ..., 29 June 2000 Author: didi-5 from United Kingdom
Yes, its the one where the gamblers find a sort of redemption in their dolls after much singing and dancing and stuff. Maybe. This film seems to have lived alongside me for years - round exam time, through getting ditched, you name it. Sister Sarah and Sky and Nathan and Miss Adelaide and their chums were always there with those great Loesser melodies. Top of the tree is the Luck Be A Lady number which Brando puts across quite nicely, despite hardly being a singer. His great charm makes him a very good Sky. The scenes in Havana are hilarious and Vivian Blaine back at the club gives good value in her two big stage numbers. Looks like it belongs in a theatre, this film, but I bet you remember the tunes and huge chunks of the dialogue for a long time afterwards.
17 out of 23 people found the following review useful: Three for One, 30 August 2001 Author: tedg (tedg@FilmsFolded.com) from Virginia Beach
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
Spoilers herein.Mankiewicz is a film genius, in my mind one of very few intelligent men in the old Hollywood until destroyed by Cleopatra. But here he is in his element.Here's the opportunity: it is as far from Broadway to film as from a book, comic, or TeeVee show. In fact the distance is greater because it is apparently less.And since Mankiewicz is an intelligent writer (who makes up a lot as he goes), he has here devised three films in one: three visions co-existing.We have the Broadway piece, supported by actors from the show. Mostly, this is nicely in the `stage' numbers at the Hotbox plus anything from Adelaide, but there are two male dance set scenes in this vein. And the `siddown you're rocking the boat' number.Then we have the Frankie stuff. Adelaide is played straight -- that is she is played as a stage character, a fiction. Frank plays himself, because he actually is a cheap hood. The director relaxes all these scenes, and the music is allowed to become languid. See how the sets and camera differ for him.But the most remarkable is Brando. He is in his prime here. What he does is act the role of a Broadway actor! Watch him look at the camera in fleeting moments as if to say, watch me do this. I can't sing or dance, but I can become someone who can. As with the Sinatra songs, the musical tone is adjusted for Marlon (and Simmons), to become led by the orchestra rather than the other way around as with `real' Broadwayites.Mankiewicz had just directed Brando in Shakespeare, and knew what he had. Check this out -- it is the first selfreferential film musical, and you can't watch `Dancer in the Dark' or `Moulin Rouge,' without referencing this.
11 out of 13 people found the following review useful: "Still It's Better Than Even Money", 11 September 2007 Author: bkoganbing from Buffalo, New York
As the title song of Guys and Dolls philosophizes what we guys will not do to our dolls to win a bet or get a dice game going. That's the dilemma facing promoter of said dice game Nathan Detroit who can't come up with the $1000.00 for the Biltmore Hotel garage for the what is generally known as the oldest established permanent floating crap game in New York.What to do, bet a reckless gambler Sky Masterson. Sucker him into betting he can't sweep a doll off her feet for a romantic idyll in pre-Castro Havana. The doll you pick for Sky is Sister Sarah Brown of the Salvation Army. Of course Nathan's life is also complicated by his 14 year long engagement to Adelaide of the Hot Box Revue.Considering the resentments that festered between Marlon Brando and Frank Sinatra who played Sky and Nathan, I can't believe this film got made at all. Especially when you consider both these guys never hesitated in walking off film sets if their anger was aroused. In Sinatra's case I can understand since Brando's playing the part he should have done. Proof of that can be found on Guys and Dolls cast album that Sinatra did for his Reprise record label in the early sixties where he shows what he could do with the Masterson songs.Still Brando is not great, but not bad as a singer and Frank Loesser did write the Adelaide song for Sinatra for the film. Unfortunately he also wrote A Woman In Love for the score which Brando sings and which became a big hit. Not for Marlon Brando, but for another Frankie named Laine.Jean Simmons is our Salvation Army Sergeant and she shows once again why was the most under appreciated film star of the fifties. That woman was in so many of the best films of that decade and never got any real recognition for her talent. I like her the best from this movie.Vivian Blaine, Johnny Silver, B.S. Pully, and Stubby Kaye all came over from the original Broadway cast. They all contribute their unique talents to parts that became career roles for them. With some smarter casting it's better than even money that Guys and Dolls would be a great and not a good film.
14 out of 20 people found the following review useful: Has Some Very Good Sequences; A Bit Uneven Overall, 17 December 2004 Author: Snow Leopard from Ohio
Something of a mixed bag, the screen version of "Guys and Dolls" is worth seeing for the cast and for a number of very good sequences. Its main drawbacks are that it is rather uneven, and that there are too many times when the pace slows down, making it somewhat overlong.The cast is good, although the performers do not always get the chance to use their abilities as fully as they could have. Frank Sinatra is always good in any singing role, but his character here does not give him much to work with aside from the songs. Marlon Brando and Jean Simmons were interesting choices. There are times when they work well, and other times when the material really doesn't suit them all that well.The story is entertaining, yet slight, and is certainly not meant to be taken as anything more than a pretext for the musical numbers. The songs are good in general, with "Luck Be a Lady Tonight" as the highlight. Yet not all of them quite reach that standard, for one reason or another.Overall, the movie is not bad, just not as much as you might hope for given who and what went into it. It's possible that this is simply a show that works better on stage, or it's possible that the movie could have been even better with a few improvements here and there.
8 out of 12 people found the following review useful: Couldn't be better!, 11 June 2004 Author: Kate Fox from Boise, Idaho
Guys and Dolls is a unique play based on the characters. Sky Masterson(Marlon Brando) is a high-class gambler who takes up a bet with Nathan Detroit (Frank Sinatra) for one-thousand dollars. Nathan needs the money so he canrun his usual crap game and make a fortune. The bet was that Sky wouldn't be able to take just any girl to Havana, Cuba and the "doll" he chose was SarahBrown (Jean Simmons) who was in charge of a missionary. Sky finally bribesSarah enough to go to Havana with him. They end up falling in love with each other, but later she accuses him of something he had no part in. Nathan ran a crap game in the missionary the night they were gone. Nathan's 14 year fiancé Adelaide (Vivian Blaine) disapproves of Nathan's gambling and tries to stop him from doing it. However, when the movie ends it all ends happy with a doublewedding.The songs in this movie are just wonderful no matter who sings it. MarlonBrando has no singing voice at all and true they could have dubbed him but it didn't really matter. He did a wonderful acting job (obviously seeing as it's Brando) and played his character very well. I have seen a few movies with Jean Simmons and thought that this movie was her weakest one, she also couldn'tsing at all. However, the singing is made up by Frank Sinatra, Vivien Blaine, and Stubby Kaye. Vivien Blaine and Stubby Kaye was also in the originalBroadway production of Guys and Dolls. Vivien Blaine had a terrific voice and was the perfect Adelaide. If you like musical, and even if you don't, i advise you to watch this.
13 out of 22 people found the following review useful: The Best Parts Still Shine, 4 September 1999 Author: Eric-62-2 from Morristown, NJ
It almost seems like they went out of their way to muck up this film as best they could. First they dropped several great songs from the original score ("Bushel And A Peck", "I've Never Been In Love Before", "More I Cannot Wish You", "Marry The Man Today") and replaced them with songs that are distinctly inferior. Then they badly miscast Marlon Brando in the lead (his one great moment in the film is when he delivers the line, "Dad, I've got cider in my ear!") and tampered with the ending, in effect eliminating the final punchline of the show.But what makes "Guys And Dolls" ultimately different from other Broadways shows mucked up by the movies is that the parts that are great elevate the film so much that you can be charitable for the mistakes made. Jean Simmons' lack of vocal training hurts "I'll Know" but she redeems herself wonderfully on "If I Were A Bell" and gives a great performance overall as Sister Sarah Brown. And thank goodness Stubby Kaye's memorable "Sit Down You're Rocking The Boat" was transferred intact. Great sets and other supporting characters also help too.
4 out of 5 people found the following review useful: A Disappointing Adaptation of a Nearly Perfect Musical, 2 August 2006 Author: brocksilvey from United States
I saw the 1992 revival of "Guys and Dolls" on Broadway when Nathan Lane and Faith Prince were playing the roles of Nathan Detroit and Miss Adelaide. That show was so colorful, vibrant and pulsing with energy, that it made Joseph L. Mankiewicz's screen version pale greatly in comparison.Mankiewicz replaces Damon Runyon's cartoon world of stylized sets and goofy gangsters with what passed for realism in the 1950s. Much of the original musical's score is gone (even the well-known "A Bushel and a Peck"), in some cases replaced by forgettable tunes written expressly for the film. The stunt casting of Marlon Brando in the role of Sky Masterson works better than you might expect; Brando displays a humorous and charming side to his personality that he hadn't yet shown on screen. Frank Sinatra is too smooth and collected for the addled Nathan Detroit; Jean Simmons is bland as missionary worker Sarah Brown. Vivian Blaine nails the role of Adelaide -- every ditzy blonde role since owes at least a trifle to her performance.The film never comes alive. You would think Mankiewicz would be a perfect choice for directing screen adaptations of stage material; his films always felt more like plays anyway, and his strength lay in directing actors through long passages of witty dialogue. But he's not up to the task of directing a musical -- the numbers just sit on the screen; there's no snap to them.A worthy effort, but one that doesn't meet its potential.Grade: B-
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