Guys and Dolls movie storyline. In New York, the smalltime gambler Nathan Detroit has been eloping from getting married with his girlfriend Adelaide 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 and Benny Southstreet can afford. Nathan decides to bet against the gambler Sky Masterson, 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, 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 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 1955 American musical film starring Marlon Brando, Jean Simmons, Frank Sinatra, and Vivian Blaine. The film was made by Samuel Goldwyn Productions and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). It was directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, who also wrote the screenplay. The film is based on the 1950 Broadway musical by composer and lyricist Frank Loesser, with a book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows, which, in turn, was loosely based on “The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown” (1933) and “Blood Pressure”, two short stories by Damon Runyon. Dances were choreographed by Michael Kidd, who had also staged the dances for the Broadway production.
At Samuel Goldwyn and Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s request, Frank Loesser wrote three new songs for the film: “Pet Me Poppa”, “(Your Eyes Are the Eyes of) A Woman in Love”, and “Adelaide”, the last written specifically for Sinatra. Five songs in the stage musical were omitted from the movie: “A Bushel and a Peck”, “My Time of Day”, “I’ve Never Been in Love Before” (although portions of these three songs are heard instrumentally as background music), “More I Cannot Wish You” and “Marry the Man Today”.
About the Production
Robert Alda had originated the role of Sky Masterson on Broadway in 1950. For the movie, Gene Kelly at first seemed a serious candidate for the part, but it went to Marlon Brando, partly because Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer would not loan Kelly for the production, but also because Goldwyn wanted to cast Brando, the world’s biggest box office draw by a wide margin at that time. Ironically, the film ended up being distributed by MGM, Kelly’s home studio.
Frank Sinatra had coveted the role of Sky Masterson, and his relations with Brando were strained. Hollywood critic James Bacon quotes Sinatra telling director Joe Mankiewicz, “When Mumbles is through rehearsing, I’ll come out”. Sinatra had also been considered for the role of Terry Malloy in On the Waterfront; both roles went to Brando.
Since Betty Grable was not available to play Miss Adelaide, Goldwyn cast Vivian Blaine, who had originated the role onstage.[5] Marilyn Monroe had wanted the part of Adelaide, but a telephone request from her did not influence Joe Mankiewicz, who wanted Blaine from the original production.
Goldwyn wanted Grace Kelly for Sarah Brown, the Save-a-Soul sister. When she turned the part down because of other commitments, Goldwyn contacted Deborah Kerr, who was also unavailable. The third choice was Jean Simmons, who had recently played opposite Brando in Désirée. Goldwyn was surprised by Simmons’ sweet voice and strong acting and ultimately believed the love story worked better in the film than onstage. “I’m so happy” he said after seeing the rushes one day “that I couldn’t get Grace Kelly”.
Director Joe Mankiewicz later called Simmons “the dream… a fantastically talented and enormously underestimated girl. In terms of talent, Jean Simmons is so many heads and shoulders above most of her contemporaries, one wonders why she didn’t become the great star she could have been.” The producers removed the stage’s two biggest songs, “I’ve Never Been in Love Before” and “A Bushel and a Peck,” and replaced them with “Adelaide” and “Pet Me Poppa.”
The musical numbers performed by Jean Simmons and Marlon Brando were sung by the actors themselves, without dubbing by professional singers. In addition to Blaine, Stubby Kaye, B.S. Pully, and Johnny Silver all repeated their Broadway roles in the film.
Guys and Dolls (1955)
Directed by: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Starring: Marlon Brando, Jean Simmons, Frank Sinatra, Vivian Blaine, Stubby Kaye, B.S. Pully, Johnny Silver, Robert Keith, Sheldon Leonard, Danny Dayton, George E. Stone, Kathryn Givney, Veda Ann Borg, Kay E. Kuter, Renee Renor
Screenplay by: Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Ben Hecht
Production Design by: Oliver Smith
Cinematography by: Harry Stradling
Film Editing by: Daniel Mandell
Costume Design by: Irene Sharaff
Set Decoration by: Howard Bristol
Art Direction by: Joseph C. Wright
Music by: Frank Loesser
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release Date: November 3, 1955
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