New York. Nathan Detroit is a small time crook who organizes mobile gambling, but all of his previous locations were discovered by the police, so he now has to pay a 1,000$ to the owner of the Biltmore garage to use it for a new location. However, Nathan does not have the money, and thus makes a bet with gambler Sky Masterson: if Sky can persuade the uptight Christian missionary, Sister Sarah, to fly with him to Havana. Sky accepts, presents himself as a gambler who wants reform at Sarah's office, and actually manages to talk her into flying to Havana with him, where they fall in love. Nathan is also engaged to nightclub singer Adelaide, but is unwilling to quit gambling and find a decent job, per her demands. When Nathan gets into serious trouble while gambling with Chicago mobster Big Jule, who openly cheats with dice with no spots, Sky saves him and orders all the gamblers to go to the Mission's office for rehabilitation. Ultimately, Nathan marries Adelaide, while Sky marries Sarah.
17 years before he played the mafia boss Don Vito Corleone, Marlon Brando played a small time crook and gambler, Sky Masterson, in this underrated, wonderful little romantic musical comedy, an untypical venture from director Joseph L. Mankiewicz, who nevertheless delivered a charming and competent film. Presented almost as two stories—one showing the relationship between Sky and Sarah, and the other the relationship between Nathan and Adelaide—"Guys and Dolls" displays the former as the more recognizable concept in the vein of "Dangerous Liaisons", in which a guy tries to seduce a girl only to win a bet, but eventually truly falls in love, yet the other one involving Nathan and Adelaide has consistently better and more engaging comic quotes, some of which are a small gem. It already starts off with Nathan complaining that he is short on money, and that he cannot even afford a present for Adelaide, revealing a hilarious payoff: "It is mine and Adelaide's 14th anniversary. We are engaged 14 years today!"
This 'teasing' of their overlong engagement is a huge supply of inspiration for various jokes, from Nathan's associate commenting his infatuation ("I cannot believe that a No. 1 businessman like you could let himself go and fall in love with his own fiancee!") up to Frank Sinatra's comical singing in which he compliments Adelaide ("She wants to have five kids... to start"). However, while Brando is excellent while acting, he is strangely miscast in the musical sequences, since his singing feels strangely stiff and "off". Aggravating the issue is that these musical acts mostly feel dated and kitschy, typical for the era of the 50s, slowing down the narrative instead of enriching it, except in the brilliant choreography of the "fight-dance" sequence at the Havana night club, where Sarah loosens up—symbolically shown in her buttons on her clothes getting torn down—and punches a woman who gets catapulted backwards on a chair, and when a chair stops while hitting the stage, the woman just keeps on sliding on the surface of the stage. Sky occasionally has a few moments of charm, such as when he talks to Sarah at her Mission office ("You know, I imagine there's only one thing that's been in as many different hotel rooms as I have: the Gideon Bible"), yet he is clearly overshadowed by Nathan's and Adelaide's story, who have more snappy dialogue. Unlike many other musicals that have passed their expiration date, "Guys and Dolls" still seems fresh and alive today, speaking about both love and the necessity of people to find a balance between their id and super-ego to enjoy life and undergo a transformation into the best version of themselves.
Grade:+++
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