Guys And Dolls (Special Edition) (DVD)

Well my film education continues. I think hubby nearly passed out in the shop when I said I had never seen this film and knew nothing about it apart from it being a West end Show! As a result he treated me to it and I have to say considering I did not know what to expect from it I did actually find it very good.

The film is set in the 1950’s with Nathan Detroit being a gambling man who is desperately trying to find a venue to host ...
...a big time Gambler comes to town by the name of Sky Masterson who Nathan thinks will be able to help him with his venue problem. Nathan sets Sky up for a $1000 bet that he cannot convince Missionary worker Sarah Brown to go away with him.

Nathan thinks he has won the money as Sky has no chance of getting her too agree so he will be able to pay for the venue for his game but things take a turn for the worse for Nathan when his love ... more

Well my film education continues. I think hubby nearly passed out in the shop when I said I had never seen this film and knew nothing about it apart from it being a West end Show! As a result he treated me to it and I have to say considering I did not know what to expect from it I did actually find it very good.

The film is set in the 1950’s with Nathan Detroit being a gambling man who is desperately trying to find a venue to host his massive Craps game. He is out of luck until a big time Gambler comes to town by the name of Sky Masterson who Nathan thinks will be able to help him with his venue problem. Nathan sets Sky up for a $1000 bet that he cannot convince Missionary worker Sarah Brown to go away with him.

Nathan thinks he has won the money as Sky has no chance of getting her too agree so he will be able to pay for the venue for his game but things take a turn for the worse for Nathan when his love suffering fiancé finds out about his plans and demands he gives up the game and finally marry her or she is leaving him.

What will Nathan choose and just what will happen between Sky and Sarah?

The film was a complete shock for me. I have to say I knew it was a musical but I had no idea who was starring in the film. I will admit that this is the first film I have actually sat and watched all of which starred Marlon Brando. He took the role of Sky and he was brilliant. I found he was nothing like I though he would be and he was actually quite good looking. He did surprise me with his vocal talents as well and pulled off the role very well. Frank Sinatra was another leading man in the film with his character of Nathan. Now I have actually heard of him and knew he was a singer so was expecting good things from him and I can honestly say he was excellent. I liked the way he portrayed his character as a bit of a wheeler dealer and I also enjoyed the humour he bought to his character.

Another fine name in this film was Jean Simmons, she played Missionary worker Sarah Brown and I loved how her character grew throughout the film. She started off as very shy and naive but after some time with Sky she wised up and I think she did a great job portraying this. Vivienne Blaine played the long suffering fiancé of Nathan and she too was a good character and also had some good vocals in all of her songs. I think she had a great chemistry with Sinatra and this was very apparent when they were on screen together. I liked how she had a nervous sneeze when she was with him and though this added some humour to the storyline.

The film was quite clearly shot on sets and this was apparent from the opening scene but as this film is from back in 1952 then this can be forgiven. I think a lot of time and effort was put into the making of the sets and costumes and this would have looked great way back when this was released. Despite never having seen this film I was surprised at how many of the song I knew and enjoyed quietly singing along to them. I found they all fitted very well into the film and none of them seemed out of place and fortunately all of the actors who sang had a good vocal ability which made for a better listening experience.

The DVD which we have does have some bonus features which include:-

Interviews- Brando Dance Lessons, Goldwyn’s Career, On The Set, Rehearsing Adelaide
Musical Performances Featurettes
From Stage to Screen Documentary
The Goldwyn Touch Documentary
Photo Gallery
And much more!

As I am not a fan of bonus features I have not taken the time to watch these so I am unable to give comment on them.

The running time of this film is 2 hours and 23 minutes and I personally found this to be a little too long and think it could have easily been condensed down to 2 hours and still have been just as good. The certificate is a U and I do agree with this and feel this is a wonderful family film. We paid just £3 for this from Tesco and I felt this to be an excellent price.

Overall I am definitely going to recommend this film to all as it has romance, music and great acting and some funny moments and there is nothing offensive in this film what so ever. I only hope that one day I get to see this in all its glory on the stage.

 

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