Guys and Dolls

This 1955 film began life as two Runyon short stories, the most prominent of which was "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown." This material was fleshed out into a 2-act libretto by Abe Burrows and Jo Swerling, then set to music by Frank Loesser and directed by George S. Kaufman. Opening late in 1950, Guys ...more

Frank Sinatra, who had lost the starring role in On the Waterfront to Marlon Brando the year before, was irate over losing the Sky Masterson role, for which he believed he was better suited. He was probably right. Joseph Mankiewicz's screen version of the classic musical is solid entertainment, but doesn't nearly rise to the heights of its stage source. Damon Runyon's highly stylized version of the New York 1920s demimonde of gamblers, touts, and bookies is the setting for this tale of the ...more