Guys and Dolls (2000, DVD)

GUYS AND DOLLS is the quintessential feel-good movie about gangsters.

The premise is that Nathan Detroit (Frank Sinatra) is operating a losing proposition. Hassled by a local precinct cop (Robert Keith), unable to commit to a wedding date with his fiancee Adelaide (Vivian Blaine, the only original Broadway cast member in the movie) and very nearly broke, Detroit finds himself making a bet with Sky Masterson (a much thinner Marlon Brando). Specifically, Detroit bets that Sky can't take out a member of the local Salvation Army knockoff - a beauty named Sarah (Jean Simmons) - for a date to Havana.

This is fairly standard, predictable 1950s musical fare. One can guess what's going to happen with Sky and Sarah. One can also guess, at times, what's going to happen with Nathan and Adelaide, and even with the cop. The gangsters are the good guys in GUYS AND DOLLS, and in 1950s films, the good guys always win.

Aside from the original Broadway score, I especially appreciated the humor of the film. Frank Sinatra plays Nathan Detroit for laughs - a good thing in a movie like GUYS AND DOLLS - but is regarded by some as being miscast. (This reviewer respectfully disagrees.) Marlon Brando is, fortunately, assigned to do his own singing. The fact that Brando is not a professional singer adds to the credibility of his rendition of Sky Masterson; he sounds more like a gangster trying to sing than a professional Broadway musical-theater actor trying to play a gangster, and that makes his performance worthy of special mention. Even the way in which the dialog is written lends a certain air to the humor; one does not normally hear either gangsters or non-gangsters speak like the characters in GUYS AND DOLLS. (The tapes I've heard of gangsters make them sound like they're speaking in code precisely because they're being taped by law enforcement officials in real life, and few non-gangsters of my acquaintance talk like Detroit, Masterson and their buddies.) I have no idea whether Damon Runyon meant it this way or not (I understand the way the dialog is recited is influenced by the way Runyon wrote it in his original source work), but the way Sinatra, Brando et al sound is just exaggerated enough to be funny without taking things too far over the top.

Those unfamiliar with the score of GUYS AND DOLLS will recognize one song from the end of the movie - Sit Down, You're Rocking The Boat. Sung in the movie by Stubby Kaye (playing Nicely Nicely), this song was used to good effect in the Steve Martin film LEAP OF FAITH (which stars Martin as a greedy "faith healer" who actually ends up healing someone).

Because this is such a feel-good film, youngsters watching it may actually get the wrong impression about gangsters. Therefore, I'd say keep the smallest members of your family away from it when you watch GUYS AND DOLLS. Otherwise, it's fun viewing for older children, adolescents and adults - those old enough to know the difference between pretend gangsters like Masterson and Detroit and the real thing - as long as GUYS AND DOLLS is understood to be a light bit of fluff to kill a few hours.