Guys and Dolls (1955)

Brando completely outclasses Sinatra in this film. Perhaps credit should go to their supporting actresses: Brando plays opposite a very likable character in Sarah Brown whereas Sinatra's "doll" is naive bordering on bimbo-ish with an irritating spoken voice (despite excellent singing and dancing skills). Perhaps credit should go their roles. Brando has much more screen time; Sinatra fills a supporting role.In truth, throughout the film, Brando excels at singing to the best of his natural ability, dancing--a little stiff, but he tries--and acting. Whenever he appears in a scene, the audience knows that Brando is an actor whose legacy will live far beyond this one film.Sinatra, by contrast...only momentary glimpses of his famous crooning voice. Does he ever dance in this film? If yes, the performance was obviously not memorable. His acting lacks distinction from the other gambling thugs.WHO WON? WHO'S NEXT? YOU DECIDE (I say "Brando")

Guys and Dolls is one of the most famous of the 1950s, but IMHO it has dated more badly than most of its contemporaneous pieces, at least as far as the film version goes. The reason, I think, is down to 3 things: characters, plot and music (in other words, basically everything).The best moments in the film are the musical numbers, although these are hardly the equal of say West Side Story. There are a lot of dated songs, either what might be described as patter or list songs or else sickly sentimental romantic ballads. The songs given to the "Dolls" are forgettable and quite tedious despite being quite short. There are a few interesting ensemble piece for the "Guys" such as Fugue for Tinhorns, The Oldest Established and mostly memorably the title Guys and Dolls. Of the solo songs, the only two of note are "Luck Be a Lady", unfortunately "sung" by Brando (Couldn't a way be found to have contrived Sinatra to sing it?) and "Sit down you're rocking the boat".Although these songs are good they are short, lasting usually less than 2 minutes. In total I would say that the musical numbers add up to less than 40 minutes (probably less) of the film's 150 minutes, and as stated, many of these are substandard. But that leaves well over an hour of film, made up of a silly plot and badly drawn caricatures, and it is for this reason that Guys and Dolls is a failure.The characters are broadly drawn even by the standards of the time. In keeping with the convention of making gangsters non-threatening, they all talk in a comically over precise and genteel way always saying "I do not" rather than "I don't". Now this would be fine if it was limited to short bursts or to one or two characters, but most of the male characters talk this way for most of this (lengthy) film. It gets old very quickly and actually becomes annoying.As far as the females goes, there are only two of note. One talks in a "comical" broad New York accent and the other, more serious one, is depicted as a sexually repressed spinster eager to become wild. This is greeting card level psychology. As to why Sinatra and Brando, two serial womanisers, would suddenly both be overcome by urges to marry these women is never seriously explained. It simply happens because that's what happens in a romantic comedy.This is not the only aspect of the plot that is weak. One gangster, Big Juli, is depicted as being feared yet Brando knocks him out with a single punch at one point without there being any ramifications. And why is the crap game being held in a sewer? Is it believable that extremely rich men would travel great distances to play a high stakes game to walk 10 minutes in a stinking sewer? Maybe it was a crap game in more senses than one.The Police Chief walks in and out of scenes with all the realism of a character in a bad sit-com. He just walks in, speaks a few lines, then walks out again. I could give many more examples of the weak and contrived plotting, and of course the counter would always be "well its just a piece of light hearted entertainment, not to be taken seriously." But even the light hearted must be competently constructed in order to be enjoyable. Things simply can't happen one way at one point because the plot demands it, and another way at another point because the plot demands it.Despite several numbers being cut, the film seems all of its 150 minute length. There are many longueurs, the most interminable being the scenes with Brando and Simmons in Havana, with the implausible seduction of Simmons by Brando which is really the seduction of Brando by Simmons. Despite her handing herself to him on a plate and him previously telling us his easy conquests of women, he declines and acts like a gentleman. One might argue that her purity appeals to his jaded sensibility; however, inexplicably, he starts to fall for her AFTER he has seen her act like a totally selfish and violent drunken tart.Verdict: watch the best bits on youtube and give the film a miss.

While I'm not a gambler in the sense of rolling dice or pulling slot machine levers, I do gamble in life, as we all do, and in moving to New York, it is agreeably one of the biggest gambles you can take in life. To see the New York of "Guys and Dolls" is to see one that probably only existed in the mind of its sources' author, Damon Runeyon, but it is one that makes the shady gamblers of New York (and their molls) a delightfully cartoonish fable. "A Musical Fable", this was called, and that it remains, one perfect in story, songs and dances, and to do "Guys and Dolls" successfully is a difficult task. A recent Broadway revival (2009) failed as it was literally flat; The 1990's revival practically jumped off the stage with the greatest production a Broadway revival can, a dream cast that is equal to that of its earlier movie version.Take two talented actors who really can't sing (Jean Simmons and Marlon Brando), pair them with two who can (Frank Sinatra and Vivian Blaine), and you have a criss-cross of metaphors to discuss almost 60 years after the release of this movie. Metaphorically, a "mission doll" probably can't sing, so Jean Simmon's somewhat raspy voice is a perfect choice for Sister Sarah, and Brando's practically whispered singing is actually very charming for the role of Sky. The more colorful Nathan and Adelaide are characters who do sing, so their performers need to have a streetwise but pleasant sound to them. Vivian Blaine proved in Fox musicals of the 1940's that she wasn't the nasally voiced singer of "Take Back Your Mink", and she gently pokes fun at nightclub dames of the 1940's and 50's with a "Dumb Dora" spoof that really isn't as dumb as she looks to be. Sinatra, back on top after an Oscar win, shares the spotlight, and his comic timing here is perfect, contrasting nicely with Brando's suave lover who has a force-to-be-reckoned with reputation.A dance lover's delight, this has several hot production numbers, starting with a jazzy ballet right in Times Square which shows off every kind of character who had been there long before Ruby Keeler sang of sexy ladies from the 80's who are indiscreet. Going from Manhattan to Havana, Cuba erupts into another hot dance sequence that seems straight out of a modern music video. Stubby Kaye steals every moment he's on as Nicely Nicely, repeating his Broadway role, and shooting the roof off of the mission house with "Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat". In fact, it is this song that gets a Tony number every time the show is revived. (For a nice contrast to Kaye's Nicely Nicely, see Eugene Palette's take on the character in "The Big Street" opposite Lucille Ball and Henry Fonda.) Hard-as-nails Adele Jergens gets some wry commentary as Blaine's chorus girl pal, and Robert Keith takes on the law as the Lieutenant who declares to one of the gambler, "Don't ever help my mother across the street" when he claims to be a boy scout master.No review of "Guys and Dolls" could be complete without mentioning the brilliant score (Broadway's best, perhaps?) by Frank Loesser, combining sardonic comments on New York life, romantic idealism and even how the common cold can take over when love steps out. I quibble a little about the deletion of "A Bushel and a Peck" for the inclusion of the new "Pet Me, Papa" (as far as I'm concerned, there was room for both of them), but the addition of "A Woman in Love" over "I've Never Been in Love Before" was certainly acceptable.As for the art direction, no other musical (except perhaps "Li'l Abner" or the made for film "Red Garters") utilized the cartoonish color so vividly. There is not one disappointing moment in the film, so many high points (Simmons' obvious recovery from getting sick from too many Bacardi's before breaking into "If I Were a Bell") that when you ask whoever you watch this with for the first time, "Ask Me How Do I Feel", the only answer can be "Wonderful!".

Joseph Mankiewicz's 'Guys and Dolls' is a funny musical comedy based on the famous musical play. Colourful and full of energy, filled with songs, dance and gambling, the pacing does occasionally stumble as it sometimes feels as though the songs overshadow the story. In my opinion, some of the songs could have been left out, like the pussycat number. The overall dance numbers are very well choreographed. Hats off to the art department for making the film look so beautiful and vibrant with different colours. The cinematography is brilliant.I never thought I'd see Brando sing and dance. It wasn't something I'd even imagined but he does a decent job. Sinatra is already familiar with this genre. However, his role is barely developed. Of the women, Vivian Blaine and Jean Simmons do a fine job using their comic flair. Stubby Kaye provides fine support as Nicely.Finally, in my opinion, 'Guys and Dolls' is among the better musical of the 50s. Amusing, entertaining, energetic and (at the very least) foot-tapping, just what a musical should be.