User Reviews

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.

Along with South Pacific, Guys and Dolls is for grown-ups - - it is sassy, sexy, and full of men being men and women being strung along.

There is an energy and drive that makes this stand out from the pack - the strength of Jean Simmond's performance, and the charm of a young Brando, and an already masterful Sinatra add much to the overall feel and look of the piece.

Guys and Dolls wins as it is unashamedly what it is: an MGM musical.

Still good to look at and listen too with great tunes and dance numbers - it will remain one of the classics of 20th Century cinema and be watched with pleasure for years to come.

Warmly recommended.

I'm intrigued by the strong sense of favour towards (or sympathy for!) Sinatra in the other reviews here. I've read elsewhere that Sinatra never seems to have forgiven anyone for *not* being cast as Sky Masterson.

OK, so who wouldn't want to be cast as Sky Masterson? – it's a great part: the charismatic successful gambler who makes a grave mistake when he allows himself to be suckered into a bet, in which he must take Salvation Army Sargeant Sarah Brown on a date to Cuba, or lose. It's not the money – it's the pride, but he and she meet their match. Meanwhile Nathan Detroit must juggle his long-suffering fiancée Adelaide with trying to find a spot for a craps game which will make him rich if it doesn't alienate his fiancée forever first.

The film started life as a series of short stories by Damon Runyon: that's his unique dialogue you hear, and those are his great character names, and that's his horse-racing/nightclub/late night gambling world. Then it became a musical, and you can't help but feel that in film form it never really left the stage. The camera is unusually static and the sets remarkably – and not pleasingly – flat and childlike. Fortunately the music is so great, I don't care that much.

My absolute favourite thing about this film, though, is the singing and acting of the two non-singers, Brando (as Sky) and Jean Simmons (as Sargeant Sarah Brown). Of course, putting pro singers into these roles would have produced better music; but what surely gets forgotten is that two such excellent actors brought something else to the party instead: what they lacked in vocal talent they more than made up for in gusto, acting ability, and pathos, pathos, pathos. You're with Sky as he argues with Sarah against reason, steadiness, pipes and safety. You enjoy Sarah's loosening up under the influence of Cuban "milk". You feel completely the suddenness and passion of their scene in the courtyard with bells ringing and an hour to go before the plane takes them home. As Sky rightly says, it's "chemistry". Pro singers – be they Broadway belters or smooth crooners – can't necessarily be relied on to make this happen. (And they certainly didn't.) I read somewhere that Brando criticised Sinatra for not putting all of himself into his role of Nathan Detroit. Sinatra in turn was infuriated by Brando's four-take acting method. As a Brando fan (does it show?!) I'm bound to take the other side, but I can't imagine that this film would have been the much-adored classic it is today if Brando and Simmons hadn't been in it with their wonderful chemistry; Brando's unpredictability; Simmons' face, all pink cheeks and brown hair, drunk and ashamed in a Cuban bar. Beautiful. I'll always want a copy of this film lying around in case I need to feel good again. You'll forgive me if give some of the Nathan (sleep)talking parts the 100% brush-off though, won't you? You won't? Oh, be quiet and have some more of Mindy's cheesecake!

"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

The opening says it all. Or rather, shows it. A beautifully choreographed piece sets the tone of the film, the city, and the characters. As we follow a watch being stolen numerous times, it shows us the petty crime, and the fun and exuberant dances show us the whimsical nature. Sinatra is great as Nathan Detroit, and Brando shows us a completely new side to himself. Sure, his singing may have been cut and pasted from multiple takes, but cinema is all abut creating illusions. The film may be gentle and obvious, but none can deny the sheer excellence of routines, such as the sewer craps game. Making good use of color, movement, humor, and songs, this is a classically addictive film.

Guys and Dolls really shouldn't have worked. Helmed by a director with no experience with musicals, starring two legendarily feuding leads, neither of whose singing styles (crooning/mumbling-with-notes) fit the piece, it's a testament to the fundamental fun of the Broadway show (faithfully adapted here) that its filmic companion is somehow all the more infectiously charming as a summation of its disparate parts. Call it luck, call it skill, but, over sixty years on, director Joseph L. Mankiewicz's film remains one of the most beloved and enduring movie musicals of all time, and still well worth experiencing for the first or fifty-first time.

It's also somewhat of a time capsule for a genre in the midst of transition. Mankiewicz juxtaposing Michael Kidd's snappy, avant garde choreography with static sequences of the leads singing swooning songs to each other and the camera lands the film squarely betwixt classical and contemporary sensibilities. Amazingly, the duelling styles complement each other perfectly, infusing the seedy gambling sequences with a jazzy excitement, while painting the parallel romantic subplots with a gentle sweetness and elegance. Similarly, Mankiewicz shows a flair for infusing setting with personality, as the New York sequences bustle with a nervy energy, while colouring the dalliance to Havana with a sultry breeziness. At two-and-a-half hours, the film is indisputably overlong, but the gentle, teasing humour throughout, and little touches like the strangely eloquent gamblers and their strangely stilted, contraction-free dialogue make it a thoroughly pleasant romp, antiquated sexual politics and all.

That said, it's the dazzling, star-studded cast who really give the film its unforgettable lustre. As infamous sex symbol Sky Masterson, Marlon Brando is suave, sparkling-eyed charisma personified, practically gliding through his scenes with the lope of a panther. However, Brando is too consummate an actor to deliver a mere caricature, and he weaves his breeziness with a deceptively nuanced undercurrent of brusque pragmatism and soft regret, to better sell Masterson's somewhat forced character arc into decency. Despite his purported distaste at playing second banana Nathan Detroit, Frank Sinatra proves perfect casting, delivering the perfect blend of fast-talking weediness and bombastic romanticism to keep relentless bum Detroit a roguishly irresistible scoundrel. Jean Simmons is a scream throughout, bustling with such gusto and perfect screwball banter to selling her 'adorably corrupted buttoned up prude' schtick as fresh and natural, while Broadway carryover Vivian Blaine is exquisitely sharp and witty as she is shrill, lending her scenes with Sinatra a vivacious energy.

What might have seemed an ambitious gamble at the time now plays as a pair of loaded-ahem-"special" dice, as Mankiewicz's Guys and Dolls bubbles with a perfectly mischievous sense of fun and irresistible heart. It may be simpler, sweeter, and less memorable than other genre-defining classics such as Singin' in the Rain, but if you're seeking out a rollicking, robustly entertaining classical gem, you're in luck. And (you've been waiting for this), luck be a lady tonight.

-8/10

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.

I love this movie. I never realized all of the songs I recognized and sang in school were from this movie. A fantastic mix of singing, dancing and acting. Rich characters that you love from beginning to end. Of course there are better singers than Brando but Brando did hold his own with every tune, and he was the best one for the part with his usual magnificent acting and likability.

Frank Sinatra is in top form and I always love watching the great and stunning actress Jean Simmons. You are in for a great time with this enriching musical. Fun for everyone. Will leave you falling in love with musicals all over again. A Must see!

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-

I love this movie. My only disappointment was that some of the original songs were changed.

It's true that Frank Sinatra does not get a chance to sing as much in this movie but it's also nice that it's not just another Frank Sinatra movie where it's mostly him doing the singing.

I actually thought it was better to use Marlon Brando's own voice as he has the voice that fits and I could not see someone with this great voice pulling off the gangster feel of his voice.

Stubby Kaye's "Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat" is a foot-tappin', sing-a-long that I just love. He is a hard act to follow with his version and I still like his the best.

Vivian Blaine is just excellent in this part and "Adelaide's Lament" is my favorite of her songs.

I really thought Jean Simmons was perfect for this part. Maybe I would not have first considered her but after seeing her in the part, it made sense.

Michael Kidd's choreography is timeless. If it were being re staged in the year 2008, I would not change a thing.

I find that many times something is lost from the stage version to the movie version but this kept the feel of the stage, even though it was on film.

I thought the movie was well cast. I performed in regional versions of this and it's one of my favorites of that period.

Joseph L. Mankiewicz adapted and directed this lavish screen-version of the long-running Broadway hit musical, retaining much of Frank Loesser's fine score in a romantic Damon Runyon story about two gamblers in New York, one trying to stay ahead of the cops and the other trying to stay ahead of a female missionary with the Salvation Army. Frank Sinatra is the proprietor of a floating gambling ring who bets smooth-operator Marlon Brando a thousand G's he can't conquer Jean Simmons, a prude in uniform. As agonizing as it is to hear the men constantly referring to the ladies as "dolls", this is a tuneful, colorful enterprise which includes a fun group of shady characters but ultimately sags from the weight of Mankiewicz's disappointing staging. At one point while singing, Brando's head is framed by the American flag (it looks like he's wearing it as a hat); later, Vivian Blaine is up on stage performing and her head is framed by a neon bird in the background. Trimming might have helped since the show is a good 30 minutes too long, yet the picture has a galumphing rhythm, harmed further by Michael Kidd's comically physical choreography and Brando's too-high intensity. The wordy scenes of Brando attempting to seduce Simmons are rather surprising in this otherwise cartoon-bright setting with attention-deficit disorder, yet his manner and delivery are all wrong (he acts like he's going to belt her). Amusing performances come from mostly from the supporting cast, with Stubby Kaye and B.S. Pully always nice to have around. Sinatra gets the short shrift, but he's in good voice and makes the best of what genuine razzle-dazzle there is. **1/2 from ****

In New York, the smalltime gambler Nathan Detroit (Frank Sinatra) has been eloping from getting married with his girlfriend Adelaide (Vivian Blaine) for fourteen years. Nathan needs one thousand dollars in advance to rent a place for the crap game but neither he nor his friends Nicely- Nicely Johnson (Stubby Kaye) and Benny Southstreet (Johnny Silver) can afford. Nathan decides to bet against the gambler Sky Masterson (Marlon Brando), challenging him to have a dinner in Havana with a woman of his choice. Sky accepts the bet and Nathan chooses the prude Sergeant Sarah Brown (Jean Simmons), who runs a mission for sinners. Sky visits Sarah and invites her to have dinner with him in Havana; in return, he would bring one dozen sinners to the mission. Sarah refuses the deal, but when General Cartwright (Kathryn Givney) comes to New York to shutdown the mission, Sarah feels that the only chance to keep the mission operating is accepting Sky's invitation. They travel to Havana and fall in love with each other; but when they return to the mission, Sarah discovers that Nathan used the place for his crap game. Further, she believes that Sky has plotted the scheme to use her. Now Sky has to convince the gamblers and gangsters that arrived in New York to the crap game that they should go to the mission to help Sarah.

"Guys and Dolls" is a delightful musical version of a Broadway successful play with Marlon Brando, Frank Sinatra and Jean Simmons and directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz. The romantic comedy is highly funny and entertaining with great musical numbers. Marlon Brando dances and sings and the number in Havana with Jean Simmons if one of the funniest moments of this movie. Despite the running time of 150 minutes, the viewer never feels tired or bored. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Eles e Elas" ("They (he) and They (she)")

Guys and Dolls is a famous musical and this version casts a great actor but unfortunately not one known for his singing and dancing abilities.

The story is about two guys who make a bet. Nathan Detroit (himself engaged for many years to a showgirl) who is running a permanent craps game in New York bets top gambler Sky Masterson that he cannot take a doll of his choosing to the then party and gambling capital, Havana. That girl Nathan picks is Sister Sarah Brown of the Salvation Army mission.

Of course in Havana both Sky and Sister Sarah with the aid of sweet milk fall for each other. In New York Nathan is getting pressured to elope with Adelaide.

The film has a stage bound setting with some arch but playful dancing. It was probably regarded as avantgarde and hip at that time, although a few moves were copied many years later by Micheal Jackson in his Smooth Criminal video.

Vivian Blaine, Johnny Silver and Stubby Kaye were in the original Broadway play and its shows in their performance in contrast with Frank Sinatra and Marlon Brando. Sinatra's acting is less convincing although his singing is fine. Brando's Sky Masterson is measured and masterful but of course the singing is average at best with just the dancing in Havana that stands out. Even Jean Simmons who looks beautiful was not that great at the singing and I doubt she was that much stretched with the acting in my opinion.

As for the songs Guys and Dolls has a few signature and now famous songs, but there is also a lot of forgettable filler songs that seems to have always plagued musicals.

Ironically its the casting of Brando that drew me to this version and it is his acting that kept me watching.

The best that this movie could possibly be called is mediocre. After having seen a real theater show of this musical, I found that the movie version wasn't nearly as good. To begin with, neither Jean Simmons nor Marlon Brando are very good singers, and as they have the biggest singing parts, they weren't very good choices. Another part that disappointed me about the movie is that four songs were taken out (I've Never Been in Love Before, My Time of Day, Marry The Man Today, and A Bushel and a Peck) and three songs were written for the movie (Adelaide, Pet Me Poppa, and A Woman in Love). Some parts of the story, such as the end, were changed quite a bit, and some were taken out altogether, probably to make it shorter. There are some good parts of the movie. Frank Sinatra and Vivian Blaine sung very well and added humor to the movie, and You're Rocking the Boat was very well done. I would recommend watching a stage version over the movie version, since it will probably be better.

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"

As a fan of musicals, I saw Guys and Dolls, and was really impressed with it. The film does look great, with elegant set design and cinematography while the scenery and costumes are pleasing to the eye too. The score is outstanding, all the songs are so good and the accompanying music is very energetic, while the choreography just adds to the energetic feel of the film. It is very well-directed, has some great witty dialogue and an engaging story and characters.

Also, although the film is about two and a half hours, it doesn't feel like it. Thanks to the quality of the songs, choreography and performances the whole film whizzes by right up to its conclusion. Marlon Brando just exudes charisma as Sky, and Jean Simmons is a perfect match as Sarah. Even if their singing is not amazing, it is compensated by their acting and the chemistry between them. Frank Sinatra shows a great voice and appealing presence as well, and his acting is reasonable enough. All in all, a hugely entertaining musical with lots to like. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Despite the reported controversy over who played whom in this enjoyable adaption of Damon Runyon's short stories, I reckon they got the choice right. Frank Sinatra is "Nathan Detroit" host of a legendary weekly crap game in New York. Only this week, with some big out-of-town hitters including legend "Sky Masterson" (Marlon Brando) in town - he can't find a venue, unless he can find $1,000. Catch 22? Brando, meantime is bet that he cannot get hoity-toity local Christian mission Sergeant "Sarah Brown" (Jean Simmons) to go to Havana with him. There is a bet riding on just about everything here.... What sets this apart for me, is that it is dominated by the male characters; there are few of the traditionally heavily choreographed dance routines; the characterisations have more punch - especially a slick and suave Brando & Simmons; and the casting is driven by cinema not theatre box office stars. Now nobody will ever be able to say that Brando was a natural born crooner; but that didn't matter - his rendition of Frank Loesser's "Luck be a Lady" has charm and a certain joie-de-vivre that we wouldn't necessarily have achieved from a more professional stage performer. Likewise, Jean Simmons delivers well as the puritanical salvationist whilst charmingly working her way through "A Woman In Love" & "Follow the Fold" (with Brando). Of course Sinatra is in is element with "Adelaide" his ode to Vivian Blaine who is great, reprising her 1950 Broadway performance as Sinatra's frequently put-upon gal, with a super song and dance routine to "Pet Me Poppa", too. In the end, though, I think the plaudits actually belong to Stubby Kaye ("Nicely-Nicely") for his corking ensemble lead of "Sit Down You're Rockin' the Boat". To it's detriment, there is little chemistry between the the two leads and that really does come across - at times like two spatting cats, but generally it is a pacy, stylish spin on spivs and gangsters that certainly made me smile and tap my toes.

I was about 5 to 8 years old when I saw it (shortly after it first came to the theaters), but I was very particular about the kind of movies I liked. I couldn't stand violence, death, scary netherworld creatures of any kind, etc. Those gave me nightmares and made me cry for hours. Guys and Dolls was a gentle, musical story about people falling in love and working things out... I loved it. To this day, over 50 years later, I remember this movie as a rollicking but gentle good time for even a child who couldn't stand to see 'bad things'. Yet, the story itself is not a kid's story - it involves gamblers who skate both sides of the law, and the girls who attempt to tame the wayward men (reaffirming the popular belief that men are naughty and women make something of them!) Hey it was the 1950s, eh? It was a more innocent time, but certainly not sedate -- it was a time of gamblers in tilted fedoras and impressive platinum hairdos...

"Guys and Dolls" is a glitzy production, and another film fresh off of Broadway. The 1950 Broadway show was a hit and won the Tony award for best musical. The plot is based on a couple of short stories by Damon Runyon. The story revolves around Nathan Detroit's (Frank Sinatra) "oldest, established, permanent, floating crap game in New York." A city mission with its staff and a nightclub stage show round out the setting. But the Broadway musical was much better than this movie. In spite of its added name attraction with Marlon Brando in the role of Sky Masterson, this film just doesn't have the punch that the stage show had. Some negative aspects affect the film. The setting with the audience is a major one.

Some Broadway shows just aren't adapted well to the screen, and this is one. It's one thing for an audience to sit in a theater and watch actors performing live on stage - any show from any time or period. The audience is transposed to that time. But not nearly as much so in films which tend to keep the audience in the here and now and looking back. That's okay when the scenes are shot in real locations; but when they're not, they come across as very stagy. So, instead of being immersed in the story (which is the great allure and aim of cinema), the audience is watching a stage show that has been filmed. Then, one doesn't even have the satisfaction of seeing actors performing live.

Even with its burst of choreography in three scenes, the film doesn't have a very strong song and dance thread to hold it together as a musical. It's more like an East Side Kids movie in fancy sets with an occasional song or dance routine thrown in. The story has only one hit tune, "Luck Be a Lady," and two other comical tunes that some may remember. But it doesn't have the smashing music to make it a strong production.

Along with the staginess of the film are some aspects that further degrade it's quality and lasting appeal. The exaggerated characters with their hoodlum and gangster talk might have garnered some laughs in 1955, but probably none just a few years later. It's so overly done that it seems very hammy. It seemed so when I first saw this film on late night TV in the early 1960s. Just watching it again now, I had the same sense. Then there's the gambling venues of the film. Horse racing and betting were very popular through the mid-20th century. But by the late 20th century, racing was almost off the screen in the betting world. And craps, while popular through World War II, was almost dead as a gambling "game" - even by the time of this film. It may still have had a life in some quarters of the Big Apple and some of the other large cities that had a thriving underside But to most people watching this movie after the 1950s, craps would seem strange.

By 1960, playing dice was an antiquated pastime and gambling game. In my 1950s teen years, working in my dad's steakhouse in a typical Midwestern town, I never once heard of a dice game anywhere, or of a reference to craps. I only learned about it from a couple of war movies that showed GIs shooting craps, and then asking my dad about it. While the movies give the impression that all the GIs played dice, my dad said they were occasional pastimes for some of the GIs who liked to gamble. In my early 1960s Army service I never even heard of anyone shooting dice.

The last stagy aspect of the film is its very sets. The small bit of street scenes in the film clearly are shot on a stage. And what caps this aspect is the scene when Adelaide goes out of the side door of her nightclub. Facing the camera across the street is a row of cars as though on a wide street, with a massive painted city background of buildings, neon signs and night lights, It's so obvious that the cars are lined up in front of a backdrop.

Surprisingly, I think Marlon Brando did well with what he had to work with as Sky Masterson. Vivian Blaine was the best of the cast in her reprisal from the Broadway show as Adelaide. The film is fair and somewhat entertaining, but again, modern audiences who are not film buffs will mostly find this film weak on the musical score, very corny and exaggerated in the comedy, and overall very stagy.

Showman and long-time New York entertainment promoter and guru Ed Sullivan did a long plug for this film in the trailers. One can doubt Mr. Sullivan's sincerity when he says it's the greatest musical of all time. Especially as his eyes keep looking away from the camera to read his cue cards.

Here are some sample lines from this film.

Harry the Horse, "I have nothing to hide. I collected the reward on my father."

Miss Adelaide, "Now, Nathan, how could you think I was Lt. Brannigan? We don't eve use the same perfume."

Sarah Brown, "It's so unusual for a successful sinner to be unhappy about sin."

Sky Masterson, "Is it wrong to gamble, or only to lose?"

Arvide Abernathy, "Oh, we can keep you unhappy, son. Give us a chance."

Lt. Brannigan, "Can anybody be missing? Harry the Horse,. Liver Lips Louis, Angie the Ox, Society Max...."

This is what the musical genre was made of. Humor, talent, romance, and action all rolled into one.

Frank Sinatra was wonderful. Nothing else needs to be said. Marlon Brando, although not a singer, did a great job winning the hearts of many with his portrayal of Sky Masterson. The fact that he couldn't sing added to his character. The ladies in the film were alright, but the men in the movie definitely stole the show.

It is a true classic that can be appreciated at any age. It connects with all audiences and makes you smile and laugh.

Definitely a movie to be watched and enjoyed!

For some reason, I've never been a Damon Runyon fan. His characters are almost always cartoon-like (LITTLE MISS MARKER, THE BIG STREET) with odd names usually derived from gambling terms. Here the choreography uses a stylized approach that is probably in keeping with the cartoonish characters involved in the flimsy plot.

A few of the songs are top notch, but the choreography lacks something, even from the opening number. And the songs, in the hands of capable singers, would have been a lot more enjoyable. As it is, MARLON BRANDO was chosen to play Sky Masterson, he with a less than average way of belting out a tune--and prim JEAN SIMMONS plays the pretty Salvation Army miss in bland style (until the Havana nightclub scene) with her own unimpressive singing voice. She and Brando both fling themselves around amusingly for the impromptu nightclub dance number--but it seems totally out of character for her Salvation Army image.

That leaves VIVIAN BLAINE as Adelaide to give some professional polish to her songs (which she does, but in that nasal Adelaide voice that gets irritating after the first half-hour). Then too, STUBBY KAYE ("I've got the horse right here") is right at home with the Runyon material and the songs, as is the always dependable SHELDON LEONARD. And, of course, FRANK SINATRA, as Nathan Detroit (too bad he's not the one who gets to sing "Luck Be A Lady") is equally at home with Runyon's style.

But it's a musical about floating crap games that must have worked much better on the stage. The film is too long, sags in the middle during the Havana sequence, and the entire affair looks artificial and stylized to such an extent that believability suffers. No one sings or acts naturally, which is another big drawback. You almost expect the curtain to fall after certain scenes are played.

Definitely not the kind of musical I'd watch again. Once is enough.

However, I'm sure fans of Brando and Jean Simmons (who think both of them can indeed sing) won't mind watching this one.

As millions of high school productions have proven, the show is nearly foolproof. However, the film is a very mixed bag.

Pissed that he couldn't play Sky Masterson, Sinatra phones in his role as Nathan Detroit like it's a Wednesday matinee.

Much has been said of Brando's attempts at singing, which I will not add to here, except to say that he was miscast.

Vivían Blaine recreates her Broadway performance as Adelaide, with minimal adjustments for the camera.

Jean Simmons is the spot-on standout as Sarah Brown: totally committed to the character, whether in the dramatic scenes, with her strong singing (who knew?), or brawling it out in a Cuban nightclub.

Michael Kidd's lively choreography makes one wish that the whole movie had the same playful energy, but the dialogue scenes often slow the pace to a naturalistic crawl.

And my goodness, it takes a long time to tell this story!

Though Frank Loesser's songs are some of the finest that Broadway has to offer, they're bollixed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz' lethargic staging and uninspired presentation--when it's over it barely feels like you've watched a musical. Mankiewicz doesn't seem to know how to present Loesser's challenging but tuneful melodies for maximum effect: for example, one of the best numbers, the showstopping `Adelaide's Lament', concludes by having Adelaide (Vivian Blaine) belt out the finale while sitting on a chaise lounge; and Stubby Kaye's faux-spiritual `Sit Down, You're Rockin' The Boat' has his backing choir sitting in folding chairs while he simply stands there. Mankiewicz zaps all the fun out of everything by letting static scenes go on too long and his dialogue (adapted from Abe Burrows' stage book) has none of the wit that his films like `All About Eve' have. Part of the blame has to go to the leads, just about all of whom are miscast: Marlon Brando looks bewildered as to why he's in a musical, Frank Sinatra plays way too nice a guy and has none of the edge which makes him so essential (the songs are not tailored to his style) and Jean Simmons barely registers the way a Shirley Jones might. Only Blaine, as the lovelorn showgirl Adelaide, commands our attention like a Broadway pro should. The colorful art direction is by Joseph Wright and Howard Bristol created the flashy sets.