Guys and Dolls

Guys and Dolls is set in a New York of small-time gamblers and Salvation Army missionaries. Nathan Detroit, who runs a floating dice game, needs money to secure a venue and promises his long-suffering fiancée Adelaide that he will quit gambling. To raise the cash, he makes a thousand-dollar bet with Sky Masterson, a high-rolling player, that Sky cannot persuade the strait-laced missionary Sarah Brown to travel with him to Havana. What begins as a wager turns into something neither man expected.

The 1955 film is a musical comedy adapted from the Broadway show, itself drawn from Damon Runyon's stories. Joseph L. Mankiewicz directed and wrote the screenplay, the ninth of the fourteen features he directed, following The Barefoot Contessa and preceding The Quiet American. Marlon Brando plays Sky, Jean Simmons plays Sarah, Frank Sinatra plays Nathan, and Vivian Blaine plays Adelaide, heading a large credited cast and crew. Samuel Goldwyn produced it for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Released in December 1955, the film runs 149 minutes. Its budget and worldwide box office were closely matched, at about six million dollars and seven million dollars respectively. On IMDb it holds 7.1 out of 10 from roughly 21,000 votes, while on TMDB it has 6.6 out of 10 from far fewer votes. A critics' rating of 7.6 out of 10 from 33 reviews sits above both audience scores.