I have to admit a certain amount of curiosity about Guys and Dolls. Why this one over all the other musicals I have, for one reason or another, never seen? Oddly enough, it’s because of The Simpsons, notably an episode where guest star Mark Hamill, as himself, was performing in the Springfield Dinner Theater’s production of that same show, but his costuming and the songs were rewritten to make him into Luke Skywalker instead of Nathan Detroit. Obviously, that wasn’t how the real show goes, something Hamill’s fictional self even says out loud before being pushed on stage. So, how does the real thing go?
You know, besides how there’s a complete lack of Jedi Knights while having a much higher percentage in Marlon Brando appearances.
Dice promoter Nathan Detroit (Frank Sinatra) has the hottest game in New York. All he needs to do is find a new location for the game every night. That’s getting harder and harder with Lt. Brannigan of the NYPD breathing down his neck. Nathan needs $1000 to get a game going, and he knows the best way is to make a bet with Sky Masterson (Brando), a man who will bet on anything and do whatever it takes to win. The wager? Can the love skeptic Masterson convince any woman of Nathan’s choice to go out to dinner with Sky in Havana? Sky’s up for it, and Nathan selects Salvation Army Sergeant Sarah Brown (Jean Simmons), a woman about as far from Sky’s usual circle as its possible to get.
Besides, Nathan really needs this money. His own love life isn’t exactly going as he wants it. He’s been engaged for 14 years to chorus girl Miss Adelaide (Vivian Blaine), and she’s tired of waiting and she disapproves of Nathan’s lifestyle. Will Nathan settle down? Will Sky fulfill his bets? Will he and Sarah fall in love?
OK, this is a musical, and these aren’t generally known for either deep plots or unhappy endings, so I think the questions aren’t so much “will they?” as “how do they?” The sets for this movie are clearly sets, and it’s really, really weird seeing Marlon Brando in a musical. Apparently, he was the biggest box office draw at the time, and Gene Kelly was contracted with a different studio and impossible to get. Oddly enough, even though dubbing over actors was not uncommon back then, it does sound like Brando’s singing his own songs, and even if he isn’t, he can dance very well in the scenes that require it. He likewise sings what is probably the show’s best song, “Luck be a Lady,” even if his co-star Sinatra actually had that as one of his own standards. Again, assuming that is Brando’s singing.
But was this show a particular standout? I would actually say no. It has a lot of nice moments. Sky and Sarah’s dinner in Havana. where Sky introduces Sarah to alcohol and she slowly gets drunk, does end with a particularly slapstick barroom brawl that works pretty well, and the comedy, while over-the-top and cartoonish for the entire movie, does fit in with the rest of the show. Now, I wouldn’t call it bad, but as someone who isn’t really into musicals, I also wouldn’t call it a favorite or anything I would go out of my way for.
Now, add a couple lightsabers, and I might change my mind there.
Grade: B-
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