Guys and Dolls
December. 23,1955 NRGambler Nathan Detroit has few options for the location of his big craps game. Needing $1,000 to pay a garage owner to host the game, Nathan bets Sky Masterson that Sky cannot get virtuous Sarah Brown out on a date. Despite some resistance, Sky negotiates a date with her in exchange for bringing people into her mission. Meanwhile, Nathan's longtime fiancée, Adelaide, wants him to go legit and marry her.
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Reviews
Excellent, Without a doubt!!
Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.
It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.
The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.
1955's "Guys and Dolls" was a big-budget musical production that cost MGM Studios $5.5 million.Yes. It was bright and flashy. Yes. It was busy and bushy-tailed. And, yes - It was also a hopelessly boring Rom/Com that ended (after 2.5 hours) on one of the most cringe-worthy bum-notes imaginable.And, speaking about actor, Marlon Brando (aka. "Mumbles") - I cannot figure out, for the life of me, why he would agree to star in this fluffy foolishness.Not only did he come across looking like an utter jackass, singing and dancing - But he was far from being at all convincing as a sweethearted lover-boy in the heat of romance.I mean - Let's face it - Brando was born a bully (of both men and women) and that's the only type of character he's at all suited for playing.Anyway - This film has an interesting behind-the-scenes story involving the strained working relationship, on the set, between Brando (it figures) and Frank Sinatra. (For further juicy details - Check it out on Wikipedia)
This is more than just another one of MGM's musicals of the 50's.(It was released in 1955.) It is, after all, one wonderful story about an obsessed gambler (Frank Sinatra as Nathan Detroit)and another not-as-obsessed gambler (Marlon Brando as Sky Masterson) who want to make a bet on just about anything ever thought of. And so, in New York Nathan Detroit makes a bet with Masterson that he can not take the Salvation Army Sergeant Sarah Brown (played so capably by Jean Simmons)to dinner in Havana. Much to the surprise of both of them, Sky Masterson and Sarah Brown end up falling in love with each other after the dinner date in Cuba. At the same time, Masterson promises the Salvation Army General Cartwright, played by the sometimes-serious-looking Kathryn Givney, that he can keep the Salvation Army mission from an imminent closing by providing several men to attend a midnight prayer meeting thirty-six hours from the present time. But the story does not end there, since something takes place that puts a strain on the relationship of Sky and Sister Sarah. Still, the story is, again, wonderful and heart-warming. Several other actors give support to the movie, such as Regis Toomey as the Salvation Army member Arvaid Abernathy, Vivian Blaine as Sinatra's girlfriend Adelai, B.S. Pully as Big Louie from Chicago, Sheldon Leonard as Harry the Horse, and Stubby Kaye, just to mention a few. Naturally, the Goldwyn Girls add glitter to the movie. Of course too, the musical numbers are entertaining, such as "Guys and Dolls", "I'll Know when My Love comes Along", and the unforgettable song "Luck, Be a Lady tonight". Beautiful color, pretty songs, and an endearing story. A very entertaining movie in many ways.
That musical, if it did not have the music, and I do not say the singing, would be today forgotten. The story is zilch. The plot is null. The drama is hilarious. The suspense is non-existent. The décor is surrealistically realistic. The cops are puppets. The gamblers are marionettes. The guys are caricatures. The dolls are evanescent. And I said, the singing is mediocre, apart from Frank Sinatra who was a singer by profession. The others, particularly Marlon Brando, are hardly good enough for a chorus line. That was 1955. The USA had no competition in the world and they thought at the time they were building the future of the cosmos. So everything they did had to be best, even if it was crap, quite the proper word for it since the main attraction of the film and the main interest of the cops were crap games. Yet the music is innovative and in a way surprising, half Broadway traditional musical and half jazzy, swinging definitely and yet missing the point due to the poor quality of the singing and the very stiff dancing. The choreographer must have been movement-challenged and he was not able to conceive of supple and flexible bodies moving along curves and curbed lines with bodies that should be continuously changing opening and closing arcs. Too bad, because a real musical could be done with some of the elements of the scenario, though there would be a lot of rewriting to do. And I must say that the Salvation Army in disguise in this film is not exactly fascinating, even if the general is a woman and the sergeant is another woman. Apart from the heavy presence of women in this good-doing-or-is- it-doing-good army that wants to save our souls it is talking gibberish most of the time, and that gibberish does not concern us really. It is from another time, another galaxy, definitely another universe.Luckily it was in a box set of five musicals, otherwise I doubt I would spend one dollar to buy it, certainly not a pound, not even a euro. If pirating is stealing, to wrap up this zilch thing between West Side Story and Man of La Mancha is really high way commercial robbery.Dr Jacques COULARDEAU
This movie is terrific. Although shot on an interior set, this movie captures the essence of New York City and contains incredible performances by the the cast who succeed in making this movie work. This movie is character-driven, meaning that if the actors fail to make their characters believable, then the movie fails. This the movie avoids. Instead, what the movie delivers is first rate acting, a wonderful story, and first-rate music. Marlon Brando and Jean Simmons deliver surprisingly strong performances, which include dancing and singing (not dubbed). The chemistry between them is so strong that is it almost palpable. Although the story has an offbeat satirical quality, nevertheless it is strong dramatically. Vivian Blaine is also excellent as frank Sinatra's perennial fiancé, and the other members of the cast, especially Stubby Kaye and Johnny Silver, deliver wonderfully entertaining performances. If you like Hollywood musicals, then this movie is for you. If you don't like Hollywood musicals, watch this movie anyway; it may change your mind.