\u201cGuys and Dolls\u201d is a film at odds with itself. Most of the footage is a pleasant distraction when it should be an invigorating entertainment, and the peak moments are strangely few and far between. At two-and-a-half hours, it constantly runs the risk of wearing out its welcome. And by the closing credits, it leaves the viewer serenely amused rather than knocked out by the greatness it should have achieved.
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From a style viewpoint, there are two films going on. The depiction of New York\u2019s Times Square is blatantly stagey, giving the impression of a filmed played, while other sequences \u2013 particularly the detour to Havana \u2013 give the impression of real life rather than the proscenium-framed version. Complicating matters was a strenuously reworking of the source material to accommodate Marlon Brando as Sky Masterson and Frank Sinatra as Nathan Detroit. Brando was no song-and-dance man, so several of the character\u2019s musical numbers in the stage production were scrapped. And Sinatra was no one\u2019s idea of a bumbling New York Jewish second banana, so his role was expanded and reconceived while he gained more time for on-screen singing. <\/p>\n
The unlikely casting could be blamed on producer Samuel Goldwyn, who wanted Brando\u2019s box office draw despite his lack of musical experience, which is obvious. But Goldwyn didn\u2019t want Sam Levene, the character actor who originated the Nathan Detroit role on Broadway, illogically arguing to director Joseph L. Mankiewicz that \u201cyou can\u2019t have a Jew playing a Jew, it wouldn\u2019t work on screen.\u201d More likely, Goldwyn believed Sinatra\u2019s presence would double the box office on \u201cGuys and Dolls\u201d \u2013 and he was right, as the film was a major commercial success.<\/p>\n
Further confusing the situation was giving the directing duties to Mankiewicz, a two-time Oscar-winning director who never helmed a musical before. Outside of the lively and imaginative opening segment with Michael Kidd\u2019s frenetically choreographed interpretation of a typical day in Times Square, most of Mankiewicz\u2019s direction is flat and observational. He also has trouble calibrating the performances of the leading ladies, with Jean Simmons (as the object of Brando\u2019s affection) coming across as flat while Vivian Blaine (recreating her Broadway role as the too-patient fianc\u00e9 of Nathan Detroit who has been waiting 14 years for their wedding) playing the part as if she was still on the stage selling the show to the last row of the balcony.<\/p>\n
The only time \u201cGuys and Dolls\u201d soars comes near the film\u2019s end, when Stubby Kaye\u2019s character Nicely-Nicely Johnson \u2013 up until then, a peripheral figure to story \u2013 suddenly steps forward in the climactic mission house prayer scene to deliver \u201cSit Down, You\u2019re Rockin\u2019 the Boat.\u201d Kaye, who also repeated his Broadway role, make a subtle use of his rotund body language and his character\u2019s sympathetic mien to launch into the song\u2019s religious-fueled imagery of an unrepentant gambler and hedonist coming to a too-late realization of his reckless behavior. It is a startling presentation that steals the show \u2013 even Sinatra recognized it, staying in the background amid the extras while Kaye took the spotlight for his late chance to shine. The segment is sharp, funny, stylish and surprising, keeping in spirit to raffish Damon Runyon humor that inspired the musical. It\u2019s a shame that the rest of \u201cGuys and Dolls\u201d never matched that brief burst of energy.<\/p>\n