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“Guys and Dolls”

“Guys and Dolls”

Last updated on: July 2, 2016 at 8:38 am by Dan Peterson

“Guys and Dolls” 2016-07-02T08:38:13-06:00 Dan Peterson

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A publicity poster from the film
(Wikimedia CC fair use)

On the way back to the States yesterday, I watched a number of movies — flights are by far my best opportunity to watch films — and one of them was the old Guys and Dolls, with Marlon Brando (as Sky Masterson), Frank Sinatra (as Nathan Detroit), and Jean Simmons (as Sarah Brown, a “sergeant” in a missionary organization plainly modeled on the Salvation Army). Truth be told, I developed a crush on Jean Simmons when, as a young boy, I saw her with Kirk Douglas in Spartacus. I’ve had a soft spot for her ever since.

Here are some of the good lines from the film (and, I presume, from the musical play, which I think I’ve seen only once and don’t remember in precise detail):

Sergeant Sarah Brown: You want to take me to dinner in Havana, Cuba?

Sky Masterson: Well, they eat in Cuba the same as we do.

Sky Masterson, after the naïve and unworldly Sarah orders milk in a Havana nightclub: Now, don’t make a spectacle of yourself. . . . You are a United States citizen in a foreign country, have you no pride in what the rest of the world thinks about Americans?

So he orders milk for her, laced with Bacardi rum. With predictable results:

Sergeant Sarah Brown: That bacardi flavor, it certainly makes a difference, doesn’t it?

Sky Masterson: Oh, yeah. Nine times out of ten.

Sergeant Sarah Brown: You know, this would be a wonderful way to get children to drink milk!

Nathan Detroit (Frank Sinatra) is an impresario of illegal gambling, always trying to avoid Lieutenant Brannigan, who has promised his fiancé of fourteen years, Miss Adelaide, that he will give it up and go legit. Except that he hasn’t. She becomes suspicious at one point, and he has to improvise:

Miss Adelaide: And what was that about?

Nathan Detroit: His wife’s having a baby.

Miss Adelaide: But why is he asking you?

Nathan Detroit: He’s nervous, it’s his first wife.

Here’s a little exchange between three gamblers, one of whom announces that he now has $500o to play with:

Harry the Horse: I just acquired five thousand fish.

Nicely Nicely Johnson: Five thousand? If it can be told, where did you take on this fine bundle of lettuce?

Harry the Horse:I have nothing to hide. I collected the reward on my father.

Benny Southstreet: It is an advantage to have a successful father. Nobody ever wanted my old man for as much as five hundred.

A really big-time gambler by the name of Big Jule, a fairly menacing character, is visiting from Chicago. At one point, he boasts of his unblemished legal and moral record:

Big Jule: Well, I used to be bad when I was a kid, but ever since then I’ve gone straight, as has been proved by my record: Thirty-three arrests and no convictions!

That’s just a selection of the clever writing.

I’ve always been a fan of many older movies. (I watched Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman in the immortal Casablanca on the way over, for perhaps the eighth or ninth time.)

That’s not to say, of course, that newer films can’t be good. But the older treasures shouldn’t be forgotten, either. I recommend Guys and Dolls for a couple of hours of fun. There are other things out there besides Marvel Comics movies!

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