Hello, and welcome to the Draelin Forgot To Watch The Movie On Time Show.
Of course, I’ve seen it many times, so I can fake my way through.
Guys and Dolls has always been one of my absolute all-time favorite movies. Probably the first non-animated musical I can recall seeing–before I knew Marlon Brando wasn’t supposed to sing in anything.
One of the things I love about musicals from that era is that one didn’t have to be perfect. Brando isn’t the greatest singer in the world, but what he lacks in talent he makes up in enthusiasm. The Goldwyn Girls aren’t exactly the every-move-the-same dancers we see in movies anymore. They had the chance to be individuals, and anybody with a little bit of natural talent and a whole lot of drive could be one of them.
I knew this movie by heart by the time I was eight, probably. And when I was older, I heard the original Broadway soundtrack, which has some different songs and some different lyrics. What never fails to amuse me now that I’m older and at least moderately jaded is that they changed a line in “Adelaide’s Lament” (which I totally kick ass at when singing in the car, by the way) from “A female remaining single/Just in the legal sense” to “Constantly in suspense”–yet they took out an innocent song like “A Bushel and a Peck” and replaced it with the rather racy “Pet Me, Papa.” I’ll just never understand.
And in my teenage years, when I’d gotten used to the Godfather, this movie reminded me that Marlon Brando–and Sinatra, too–was once sexy as all hell.
I want to say more, but my boss is looking at me like she knows I’m not working. Let the discussion begin!
A great version of one of my favorite stage plays! Marlon Brandon was really cooking with his career back then, attempting a broad variety of roles from Marc Antony is *Julius Caesar * to Sky Masterson in this film, etc.
Stubby Kaye is very good as Nicely Nicely Johnson (I love that name!), especially with the show stopper “Sit Down, Yer Rockin’ The Boat”.
I took my family to see the stage version but, unfortunately, they just did not get as much enjoyment out of it as I did. Sigh Not MTV enough for my kids, I guess.
I find the opening tune sticking with me for days: " I got a horse right here, his name is Paul Revere…"
I always find myself singing “The Oldest Established” for at least a week after watching it. In fact, even though I didn’t watch it, I’ve thought about it, so I’m doomed for the rest of the day.
Sweet Lord do I love this movie. Makes you long for the days when people knew how to gracefully talk around a subject in an intelligent manner, hit you with a zinger that had not a single curse word, and make both look effortless.
*Skye Masterson (After the slap): Well, that makes it necessary for me to stop in again. Matthew 5:39. Don’t bother looking it up–it’s the bit about the other cheek. *
I worked on the WWII Memorial Inauguration, and all the gentlemen with hats and the ladies in their tailored suits reminded me of this movie, and the fact that I was born in the wrong era.
One of my favorite musicals, despite the singing of Brando and Simmons being more earnest than good. I think the song, um, oh dear, I don’t know the name. The “If I Were a Bell” song? is one of the very best moment-of-falling-in-love songs ever.
So many songs that stick in my head for days, but the most taffy-like for me is always “Adelaide’s Lament.” “La grippe, la grippe. La post nasal drip. With the wheezes and the sneezes and the sinus that’s really a pip. From the lack of community property, and the feeling she’s getting too old, a person could develop a bad, bad, a really bad, bad co-oooooold!”
I saw “State Fair” again for the first time in a while and got to compare the younger Vivian Blaine with the elder. Looked her up on imdb and found that she was only 34 in this one. I always thought she was older!
My middle school was supposed to put on a production of Guys and Dolls, unitl the director realized we didn’t have the money. That wasn’t so bad for me because I didn’t get any of the big parts. At the audition, we could choose either “Day by Day” or “Sing”; I knew the latter but chose the former. I probably ended up singing worse than Brando.
Sigh … all that, plus this movie has Frank Sinatra … pure heaven!
My favorite exchange in the movie is the bit in Havana:
Sarah Brown: (sipping her dulce de leche) This is delicious! What’s in it? Skye Masterson: Milk … and a kind of native flavoring. Sarah: What’s the name of the flavoring? Skye: … Bacardi. Sarah: (taking another sip) This would be an excellent way to get children to drink their milk!
Also, I love, love, LOVE! “Sit Down, You’re Rocking The Boat.” I’ve always found that song to be very Cole Porter-esque, as though it should follow “Blow, Gabriel, Blow” at a revival somewhere.
I can’t y’all are getting so distracted by the singing – what makes this movie so much fun is the dancing! I esp. love the street scene at the very front, with the real angular, stylized, zoot-suity postures – and the fact that the same dancers reappear in Havana to do a totally different (but equally stylized, and equally '50s-evocative) style of dancing.
I saw this about a month and a half ago, but am planning to watch it again this weekend so I can add some erudite commentary to this thread. Damn you all for forcing me to do so!
I’m going to try to watch it this weekend…I’d even put it on my Netflix queue…but I’d forgotten what day we were discussing it. So now, I’ve got to find a copy.
Still, love this musical. I was actually a Hot Box dancer in college. Though I miss “Marry the Man Today” from the stage version, I’m willing to let go of it so I don’t have to hear “More I cannot wish you” (which is draggy and annoying). And like twickster, I could watch the dancing over and over and over again (esp the Crapshooters’ dance)
As this is a(nother) musical that I first was exposed to in my youth, the thing that really struck me was the large number of people involved in it. The live production I saw had about four Hot Box dancers (not counting Miss Adalaide). Also, the furs the ladies wore I also, for whatever reason, thought that it took place in Chicago. I don’t know why. But when I watched the movie a year ago, I was startled to realize that it actually takes place in New York. I was disappointed that “A Bushel and a Peck” was not in the movie. Also, the crowd scene at the end had so many people in it. Now, that part made sense, even if it seemed different than I remembered from the live show(which was enough years ago that I don’t feel badly for not remembering how it did end.)
There is something fascinating about a story which encourages one to cheer for people whose behavior would usually appall one. I don’t understand what motivates people to gamble, fly to Havana, or many of the other actions which the characters take.
It annoyed me that they dumbed down “then you get off at Saratoga for the fourteenth time” to “Yonkers Raceway” for the fourteenth time. Give the audience a little credit; no one was going to assume the guy wanted to visit Yaddo Gardens or the battlefield. Also, Yonkers isn’t 5% of the way there.
I didn’t know there was a racetrack in Saratoga. But my great-grandparents and grandparents used to go to Yonkers Racetrack all the time. So, to me, this wasn’t a dumb substitution.
One of my favorite shows - especially since I played Nicely Nicely, back in High School (that high note in Sit Down can be a real bitch to hit - especially when you’re more a baritone than a tenor).
I like the musical, but the biggest flaw is that Sinatra is miscast. Remember that the role of Nathan Detroit was written for an actor who could not carry a tune (the runup on “Sue Me” was added because Sam Levinson couldn’t sing “Sue Me” on key without a few notes before it). It would have made a lot of sense to switch both Brando and Sinatra’s roles.
In addition, they cut out “Bushel and a Peck” (the song had been played to death, so they asked for something new) and “More I Cannot Wish You,” a wonderful song.
But Brando and Simmons acquitted themselves well, and the songs and story were strong enough to survive the minor issues. It could have been done a littel better, but it also could have been a hell of a lot worse.
