Guys and Dolls

The songs are a huge mixed bag, and they make the film unreasonably long, but it's otherwise quite fun. It's such a strange world that even the oddly formal dialogue works in its favour.

I don't care how much better it is on stage, this version of Guys and Dolls still does it for me. Marlon Brando may not have the best singing voice, but he's exactly the kind of guy I picture when I think of the super cool Sky Masterson, and Frank Sinatra gives Nathan Detroit the perfect amount of weaseliness. Really good!

The songs aren't good. Which is, of course, a problem. But Brando, Sinatra and Simmons make this work anyway.

For a late-period movie musical starring Marlon Brando with no literary or stagebound roots, "Guys And Dolls" works ridiculously well.

A Bushel and a Peck makes me want to hurt people.

It's only appropriate that Joseph Mankiewicz, the most analytical and insistently self-aware of classic Hollywood directors, would make a romantic musical that feels almost relentlessly ironic about it's own status as a romantic musical. This gives the film a somewhat schizophrenic feel that might be offputting to some but which i absolutely love. If Singin' in the Rain subtly drew attention to it's own artifice and construction, here Mankiewicz revels in it.

It all comes together fine on the screen. If Sinatra is upset, it doesn't translate to the screen. Brando's songs work (they are stitched together from a lot of takes), and he's well cast, having especially strong chemistry with Simmons (not exactly known for her singing either). The deliberately artificial sets do a great job of invoking Damon Runyan's fanciful version of New York.

It's got some really great parts, but it's far too long.

Tuneful musical is a lot of fun, especially in Brando's unlikely but highly amusing lead (singing) performance, and incomporable Blaine as drama queen Miss Adelaide. Sinatra is an unexpected weak link; fine when singing, but his performance doesn't quite hit the mark that it should. Blatantly stagy sets are an asset, and Kaye's "Sit Down..." is an incredible show stopper.

Viewed February 11, 2017.

The plot is bare and boring, the song and dance is good, but ALL of the dance routines seem to have no purpose. I was actually impressed with Brando's voice. it really irks me, though, that not a single person in this movie uses contractions, it's really unfathomably annoying.

Mmm Marlon Brando....

Decent musical with a young Marlon Brando in an unusual role.

Standard musical story, but for some reason the songs just strike the wrong chord with me.

Brando's singing isn't bad, but this is kind of blah

Star Rating: ★★★★

84.50

What kind of musical sticks both of its best numbers in the last half hour? Up until 'Luck be a Lady', the songs are forgettable but the wit and charm of its stars carries it pleasantly enough. It's too long, though. Ten minutes from the end comes Stubby Kaye's 'Sit Down You're Rocking the Boat', one of the greatest showstoppers in musical cinema.

80.000

I enjoy a good musical, but I didn't enjoy "Guys and Dolls."

The verbosity here is a bit of a turn off. I appreciate it as some kind of idiosyncracy, but ultimately it just doesn't work for me. Brando is quite good though. Might have worked better as a non-musical. (though, then, is there really anything to set it apart?)

I can't say "this is so bad, it's good" -- but there were far too many times I thought "I'm turning this off," and then it just pushed so far over the top that I couldn't stop laughing (most memorable: the Havana dinner/dance and the sewer dancing). It's a top-tier cast; it's everything else that doesn't quite come together: the too-proper diction, the too-long songs and dances, the sprawling storyline that tacks on a silly ending.

79.625

Some elements I found Irritating.

As this is considered one of the great classical musicals, I gotta say that I was underwhelmed by the music; both the tunes (with the exception of "Luck be a lady") and the singers. The plot is nonsense but enjoyable enough if you ignore sexual assault being played as romance and the women wanting nothing but to reform the men though marriage. If you don't like musicals this will do nothing to change your mind, but it's watchable.

The casting of this musical is perfect even if Brando can't really sing and dance. He does, however, convey a bit of menace that is kind of thrilling in the midst of all the silly fun.

Seems more like a series of scenes made for songs with a plot added on than the other way round.Great actors and some well-known tunes save it.

Really disliked this, which I suppose I should have guessed based on the title. Sinatra and Simmons both have pleasant voices, the dance-off craps game is pretty great, and Stubby Kaye offers a great and entirely unexpected finale. But mostly, the film drags along with me wondering whether Brando knows he's in a musical.

It's quite fun, if a bit long

One of the only musicals I can't really get into.