Guys and Dolls
Composite Score: 82.07
Starring: Marlon Brando, Jean Simmons, Frank Sinatra, Vivian Blaine, Robert Keith, Stubby Kaye, B.S. Pulley, Johnny Silver, Sheldon Leonard, Danny Dayton, George E. Stone, Regis Toomey, and Kathryn Givney
Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Writers: Joseph L. Mankiewicz and Ben Hecht
Genres: Comedy, Crime, Musical, Romance
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Box Office: $6.88 million worldwide
Why should you Watch This Film?
Guys and Dolls is the 1955 musical about street gamblers and their complicated love lives. It features Marlon Brando and Frank Sinatra as the male leads, Sky and Nathan, and Jean Simmons and Vivian Blaine as the female leads, Sarah and Adelaide. The film was nominated for Oscars for its cinematography, set direction, costuming, and musical score, all categories that it was exceedingly deserving in. The film’s story follows Nathan Detroit (Sinatra) as he tries to set up a big-time underground crap game in New York City as the police are cracking down, limiting his venue choices to a garage that he needs $1000 up front for. To come up with the money, he makes a bet with Sky Masterson (Brando), a high roller back in town from Vegas, that Sky can’t get the local uptight missionary lady to go with him to Havana on a date within the next day. The bet throws Sky into an attempted whirlwind romance with Sarah Brown (Simmons) and carries the story forward. By the end of things, the guys have gotten themselves some “dolls” and learned a thing or two about people, themselves, and women.
Why shouldn’t you Watch This Film?
The film’s story is by no means the most straightforward, jumping from location to location and introducing major shifts in plot with very little lead-in. Nathan’s extended relationship with Miss Adelaide is never really fleshed out beyond his continued deception and regret every time she threatens to leave. Most of the romantic moments between Sky and Sarah also take place while Sarah is severely inebriated, which Sky is very aware of and attempts to mitigate to some extent (good for him for a 1950s protagonist). Though the crap game supposedly cannot go on without a venue, they manage to host the crap game in the mission while everybody is gone before moving it to the sewers, which raises the question of why Nathan was so desperate for that thousand dollars in the first place. Even the film’s conclusion – a double wedding – comes a little bit out of left field. Nathan marrying Adelaide is well-established and makes sense, but again, Sky marrying Sarah feels remarkably hasty for both characters and feels more like a convenient ending than true to the film’s story.
Also, I have to mention that Brando cannot sing. The man’s musical numbers are the most underwhelming parts of the film, despite the relative fame of some of the songs. He sings “Luck Be a Lady” at the climactic moment of the film, but the moment loses any kind of weight because Brando’s vocal talent is so incredibly lacking, especially up against Sinatra (whose version of the same song is much more well-known). It hurts the film to have so talented an actor play a role that simply does not fit. I think Marlon Brando is probably one of the top five actors of all time, but even he can’t do it all. The choice to go with his vocals and not dub them, as is often done in musicals, was a mistake in my opinion.
So wait, why should you Watch This Film?
Aside from Brando, the musical numbers in the film are fantastic. Sinatra, Simmons, Blaine, and even Stubby Kaye deliver some powerhouse vocal performances in this film that provide plenty of entertainment. Songs like “Adelaide”, “If I Were a Bell”, “Sue Me”, and “Sit Down You’re Rockin’ the Boat” make the film’s soundtrack incredibly catchy and help remedy some of the story’s weak points. Dance numbers and quality instrumentals to accompany the songs make it a standby in the classic musicals department.
Costuming and set design are two aspects of production that can make or break a film and especially a musical, and Guys and Dolls does both beautifully. The film was shot on a decorated sound stage, which gives the sets the feel of a live musical, allowing them to be over-the-top and brightly painted rather than real locations like Times Square and Havana (also beautiful in their own right but a bit too raw for a lighthearted musical). The costuming, as well, is slightly off from reality, displaying character choices and truths through their designs. The skewed reality of the sets and costumes helps deliver the film’s message in a way that is also skewed, pointing to a relatively easy read of it as a critique of such gender roles as are presented in the film.
High production value and solid musical quality (excluding one performance) are the pieces that help Guys and Dolls claim a spot among the Greatest Films of All Time. Questionable storytelling and a potentially miscast lead keep the film lower down in the ranks, but its overall quality is unquestionable. Streaming now on Amazon Prime Video, check it out if you have not.
