Movie · 1955 · Comedy, Crime, Romance · 2h 29m · NR · English
Curator score: 8.0/10 (21K ratings)
It's a living breathing doll of a musical!
Overview
In New York, a gambler is challenged to take a cold female missionary to Havana, but they fall for each other, and the bet has a hidden motive to finance a crap game.
Ratings
Curator score: 8.0/10
IMDb: 7.1/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 91%
Metacritic: 77
TMDB: 6.5/10
Director
Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Production
Samuel Goldwyn Productions
Cast
Marlon Brando, Jean Simmons, Frank Sinatra, Vivian Blaine, Robert Keith, Stubby Kaye, B.S. Pully, Johnny Silver, Sheldon Leonard, Danny Dayton, George E. Stone, Regis Toomey, Kathryn Givney, Veda Ann Borg, Mary Alan Hokanson, Joe McTurk, Kay E. Kuter, Stapleton Kent, Renee Renor, Virginia Aldridge
Where to watch
Amazon Prime Video, BroadwayHD, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
Curator Review
Verdict
A glossy, big-studio musical comedy with enough wit, color, and star power to outweigh its famously uneven singing and dancing. The chemistry, production design, and comic energy make it a lively watch even when the casting choices feel perverse on paper.
Best for
classic musical fans
viewers who enjoy lavish Technicolor production design
fans of screwball romance with a criminal edge
people curious about star-driven Hollywood oddities
audiences who like campy, high-energy studio spectacles
Skip if
you need flawless vocal performances
you dislike long classic musicals
you want a tightly paced story
you are allergic to old-Hollywood theatricality
Overview
Guys and Dolls is one of those studio musicals that survives partly by sheer force of style. The colors are exuberant, the sets are enormous and playful, and the whole thing has a buoyant, comic confidence that keeps it moving even when the casting is doing something deeply strange by modern standards.
Worth noting
What makes it memorable is the collision of polished Hollywood craftsmanship with a slightly unhinged sense of fun. The romance is breezy, the gambling-world banter is sharp, and the film keeps finding excuses for big, elaborate numbers that feel designed to overwhelm any objections about who should or should not be singing them.
Bottom line
It is not the most elegant adaptation, and its runtime can feel indulgent, but it has a real old-school spectacle value. If you like musicals as maximalist entertainment rather than pristine vocal showcases, this is a rewarding, very watchable artifact of the era.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Julia (3.5★) · 984 likes
my favourite part is imagining what sinatra was thinking when brando was singing luck be a lady
sarah (4★) · 538 likes
Marlon Brando can’t sing, but who cares! The set design! The COLORS! Jean Simmons getting into 30-person brawls in Cuba! What a film!!
sarah (3.5★) · 478 likes
📢📢📢 JEAN SIMMONS GETTING DRUNK IN CUBA AND FIGHTING EVERYONE ON SIGHT
james (4★) · 383 likes
Sinatra can't dance, Brando can't sing, I couldn't give less of a shit! Spectacular.
1959 · Comedy, Romance, Crime · 2h 3m · NR · Curator 9.7/10 (658.9K ratings) · Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video, MGM Plus, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
A fast, funny, stylish comedy with musical performance, gender play, and classic Hollywood sparkle.