Question of the Day - 15 January 2025

Well, it'd been a long time since we'd seen Guys and Dolls, so to answer this question, we watched it again with new eyes. And our answer is a qualified yes. It's mostly credible and certainly by Hollywood standards. 

For one, the Nathan Detroit character, played by Sinatra, is a small-time hustler known for running an underground crap game in New York City. This part of the plot revolves around Detroit's finding a venue for his game, which is proving to be tough, since NYPD Lieutenant Brannigan, played by Robert Keith, father of Brian Keith (of the 1960s TV show "Family Affair" and "The Brian Keith Show"), is turning up the heat. Ultimately, the game is held in a subway station, literally underground. 

Also, Nathan Detroit and the other leading man, Sky Masterson, played by Brando (in his only musical role, in which he does his own singing and dancing -- and man, he's got some moves), reflect the larger-than-life personalities often associated with gamblers of the time period, meant to be the '30s, but also applicable to the early '50s when the Broadway show debuted (the movie came out in 1955, the biggest year in early Las Vegas history). They're also the classic gamblers who'll bet on anything and Sky Masterson's part of plot involves a bet with Detroit that he can, essentially, get straight-laced uptight missionary Sarah Brown (played by Simmons) to fall in love with him. 

The supporting cast, characters with such names as Nicely Nicely, Harry the Horse, Benny Southstreet, Society Max, and Liverlips Louie, also embody a mix of charm, wit, and risk taking that we considered authentic.

But what impressed us the most was, as you mention, the dialogue. Guys and Dolls is based on at least two stories by the incomparable reporter and short-story writer Damon Runyon, whose tales of gamblers, hustlers, gangsters (and actors) turned into a trope of fiction known as "Runyonesque," while his distinctive vernacular, a combination of formal and slang with a lack of contractions (this idiosyncratic style is highly noticeable in Guys and Dolls), has become known as "Runyonese." So yes, the colloquy is as accurate and legitimate as if Anthony Curtis were discussing an advantage play with Max Rubin, Frank B, Richard Munchkin, and Bobby the Dancer. 

On the other hand, this portrayal of illegal gamblers as lovable rogues with hearts of gold is, to say the least, idealized. While some had these traits back in the illegal day, the real underground gambling world wasn't quite so benign -- run by the Mob mostly, with cheating dealers, usurious loan sharking, and debt-collecting thugs. 

In addition, veteran crap players, especially in the illegal games, tended to be highly attuned to the odds and used specific betting strategies, but Guys and Dolls treats the dice game as pure luck and theatrics.

On the other other hand, the choreography of the crap-game dance number is nothing if not evocative and spectacular. There's nothing like it that we've ever seen, worth the entire price of admission. The same can be said of the showgirl segments at the aptly named Hot Box burlesque nightclub, as well as the Latin dancing in the Havana sequence.    

Finally, Sky Masterson’s bet with Nathan Detroit about getting Sarah Brown to accompany him on an overnight trip to Havana is a bit, shall we say, unrealistic, the kind of wager that exists more in fiction than in the male-dominated gambling culture of the '30s and '50s. And in the end, as Adelaide the doll finally persuades Nathan Detroit, and Sarah Brown corrals Sky Masterston, into "holy" matrimony, the underlying theme of Guys and Dolls could be "how to marry the wrong person." We wouldn't bet on either of those couplings lasting out the year. 

To sum it all up, while Guys and Dolls does capture the spirit and flair of gambling culture better than most movies before and since, it emphasizes entertainment and romance over realism.

But hey, that's plenty good enough for us! We thoroughly enjoyed watching this Broadway classic and we appreciate the question for prompting us to do so.