Somebody Fade Me!

We spent part of our recent vacation with our friend Mr. Schprock. We watched 1917 with him - I may or may not blog. But he did give us his extra copy of Guys and Dolls (1955) to take home. We put it on the day we got back but fell asleep due to jet lag. So we restarted it the next time we were well rested. It's a fave. 

I will not retail to you the plot of this famous musical, except to say that Nathan Detroit (Frank Sinatra) bets Sky Masterson (Marlon Brando) that he can't take Salvation Army girl Jean Simmons on a date to Havana. That, to us, is the least important part of the film. What, you ask, is the most important part?

We would respond, Stubby Kaye as Nicely-Nicely Johnson. Stubby Kaye singing "Sit Down You're Rocking the Boat". Vivian Blane singing "Adelaide's Lament". Sheldon Leonard playing Harry the Horse. The ensemble singing "The Oldest Established Permanent Floating Crap Game in New York". Sinatra singing "Sue Me". And all the grandiloquent, contraction-free Runyonesque dialog. 

I am afraid that I am not much of a Brando fan, and I do not see much chemistry between him and Simmons. So we like the first half of the movie more than the second (which might be why we dropped off watching it the first time around). But he does all right as the fabled Masterson. Sinatra I like better as Detroit, since he can easily play a skunk. But the smaller roles, the Big Jule, the Benny Southstreet, they are what does it for me. And you can take that to the bank.