I had the distinct pleasure of catching the second half of Guys and Dolls during my channel flips last weekend. I had forgotten how delightfully singable and thoroughly romantic that movie is.
A bold choice was made in the casting of this film, namely choosing two non-singers (Jean Simmons and Marlon Brando) as the singing leads. The risk paid off in spades! Jean Simmons is captivating as the beautiful, well-intentioned missionary thrust into the gritty New York underworld of colorfully dressed gamblers. Marlon Brando is perfect as the rough-hewn gambler with whom she falls in love. The cast is aptly completed by the energetic performances of Frank Sinatra as the commitment-phobic Nathan Detroit and Vivian Blaine as the long-suffering Miss Adelaide, and by a bevy of cameos from character actors like Sheldon Leonard - always a sentimental favorite due to his resurrection of the "Dick Van Dyke" show.
The Lerner and Loewe music of Guys and Dolls is some of their best, including the title song, the snappy "Fugue for Tinhorns" and the heartfelt "Luck Be a Lady." In its adaptation to the screen, the songs "Adelaide" and "A Woman in Love" were added, respectively, to showcase Frank Sinatra and to compensate for the minimized vocal range of the two leads. Both are excellent and are perfectly complemented by Michael Kidd's dazzling, yet daring, choreography which used the assets of the Goldwyn Girls to their fullest capacity.
The one weakness of the movie (and, indeed, of the play itself) is that the audience is not permitted to see the moment when Sarah reunites with Sky after the "mission doll's cabaret." But perhaps it is better to leave such things to the imagination...
Conclusion: See this movie - if only to experience the sexiest on-screen kiss of all time.