Small-time hustler Nathan Detroit needs $1000 to fund his illegal crap game, and makes a bet with notorious gambler and ladies man Sky Masterson for the same amount that Masterson won't be able to take a woman of Detroit's choosing to Havana, Cuba for the night.
The origin of Guys and Dolls resides in the writings of Damon Runyon, a journalist who also wrote fictional stories about colorful underworld figures, in a style marked by humorous character nicknames and his own unique slang-filled brand of dialogue. A handful of movies had already been adapted from his work, including Frank Capra's Lady for a Day and Shirley Temple vehicle Little Miss Marker, but it was the 1950 Broadway musical Guys and Dolls that immortalized his name, a popular production which ran for three years in its initial run (over 1200 performances) and won five Tony Awards.
The film adaptation, mounted by independent producer Samuel Goldwyn (after paying a record-setting amount for the rights) was put in the hands of Joseph L. Mankiewicz, who had recently won Academy awards for both writing and directing in back-to-back years (for A Letter to Three Wives in 1949, and All About Eve in 1950). Mankiewicz, in an effort to authenticate the characters, cast strong actors Marlon Brando and Jean Simmons in the lead roles, neither having any singing or dancing experience. Frank Sinatra, who had strongly desired Brando's part, stepped aside and took the second male lead, playing against type as a neurotic ne'er-do-well. Several cast members from the original stage production reprised their roles for the film, as did choreographer Michael Kidd.
Despite Mankiewicz's efforts at realism with casting and his own script rewrites, the look of the film is not of any recognizable New York city, past or present, but of a heavily-stylized, almost cartoonish version of the metropolis, and manages to still feel "Runyonesque". The amusing and memorable songs by Frank Loesser were mostly preserved, with a few dropped and substituted with new ones from the composer. "Luck Be A Lady", which Brando sings in the film, went on to become a big hit and perennial standard for Sinatra. The film was photographed by Harry Stradling, a two-time Oscar winner who was also behind the camera for other famous musicals including My Fair Lady, Hello Dolly!, Gypsy, and Funny Girl.
Released in November of 1955, Guys and Dolls was the highest-grossing film of the following year, and was nominated for four Oscars. It also won Best Picture and Best Actress (Jean Simmons) awards at the Golden Globes. There have been numerous revivals of the musical on Broadway and in London, and it is regularly performed at high schools across the country.
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