There’s been a long history of non-singing actors being cast In musicals. Some fair pretty well (Clint Eastwood in “Paint Your Wagon”, Daniel Day Lewis in “Nine”) and some not so well (I’m thinking of you Pierce Brosnan in “Mamma Mia” and Rex Harrison In “Doctor Dolittle”).
You can color me surprised by how well Marlon Brando delivers in 1955’s classic GUYS AND DOLLS.
Brando would seem an odd choice to play smooth gambler Sky Masterson. The part seems much more suited to co-star Frank Sinatra, who was relegated to the much smaller singing role of Nathan Detroit. At the time, Brando was cast as the number one box office star after “On The Waterfront” the previous year.
Sinatra couldn’t stand Brando and their on-set lack of friendship during filming is now part of film legend. It’s said that Brando’s final singing performance seen on screen was cobbled together from many takes in which he got parts of the song right. Whatever it took, the final version is more than fine.
Sinatra called Brando “mumbles” due to Marlon’s line delivery. Frank should have seen Brando in the eighties!
In the end, Brando is slick, suave and charming as Sky.
Nathan has bet Sky that he cannot take any woman Nathan chooses to Havana the next day. Nathan is on a losing streak and likes to bet on anything he can, so he chooses prim and proper Sarah Brown, a Salvation Army evangelist who seems to be constantly banging the drum around the highly stylized version of Times Square on display.
Jean Simmons (The Big Country, Spartacus) is terrific as Sarah. Prim, proper and committed, she’s hilarious after a couple Cuban “milks” when they land in Havana. Her voice is surprisingly good for an amateur singer.
Vivian Blaine rounds out the couples as Nathan’s long suffering 12 year fiancé Miss Adelaide. She’s funny in that big, outdated brassy style from an earlier era, but I could never figure out what Sinatra’s Detroit saw in her.
Frank’s in fine form, leading the cast in belting out the classic Frank Loesser songbook that includes “The Oldest Established Crap Game in New York”, “Guys and Dolls”, “If I Were A Bell”, “Luck Be A Lady” and Stubby Kaye’s closing showstopper “Sit Down You’re Rockin’ The Boat”.
They’re all-time classics, staged big and bold by Director Joseph L. Mankiewicz (Cleopatra, All About Eve). He also does a great job adapting the stylized story telling of Damon Runyon, who avoided contractions (all would not’s and no wouldn’ts) in his dialogue at all costs. In combo with the massive New York City sets by Oliver Smith (Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Oklahoma!) the dialogue creates a unique movie version of NYC that’s way more Technicolor than real life.
Filmed in ultra-widescreen CinemaScope, its dazzling for the eyes and the ears and was the #1 box office hit of 1956.
We saw the Broadway revival in 1999 with Oliver Platt as Nathan, Lauren Graham as Adelaide, Craig Bierko as Sky and Kate Jennings Grant as Sarah. Bierko was terrific but Platt and Graham were badly miscast. It was ok at best and closed after only 113 performances.
This classic film version will last forever. GUYS AND DOLLS gets a nostalgic B.
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