For this Movie Musical Challenge I’m using the AFI’s 25 Best Musicals List to try and work my way through. The challenge is throughout the year and once watched I’ll put my thoughts up on the blog.
The third movie for the challenge is Guys and Dolls (1955), starring Marlon Brando, Jean Simmons, Frank Sinatra and Vivian Blaine.
Having watched this last year as part of my 2016 Musical Challenge I wasn’t sure if I really wanted to watch this musical all over again. Yes I loved the music and the stylised dancing. All the songs in this show are pretty catchy, including ‘A Bushel and a Peck’, ‘ Luck Be a Lady’ and ‘Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ the Boat’.
And I thought that the casting was pretty perfect, Vivan Blain is perfect as Adelaide, and paired with Frank Sinatra as Nathan the duo are unstoppable. But it is Marlon Brando and Jean Simmons, for me, as Sky and Sarah who steal the show. Theirs is a relationship I actually root for, and enjoyed more than Adelaide and Nathan, I wish there had been more of Sky and Sarah.
I loved and hated this film at the same time. I loved the film because of the music and for Sky and Sarah’s relationship. I hated the film because I felt at times it was too stylised and I missed some of the ‘moments’ because I was still deciphering what those moments meant.
For me this is a film that just drags despite being spectacular and despite being listed as one of the great musicals. There are heaps and heaps of musicals I’d rather watch than this ever again! Somehow, even with all the razz and style this is a musical that is hard to concertrate on.
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