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Blu-ray Review Guys and Dolls Blu-ray Review (1 Viewer)

Ken_McAlinden

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Capsule/Summary ****


Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s cinematic adaptation of the hit Broadway play, Guys and Dolls retains the Runyonesque style, humor, and charm of its source material while adding just a touch of naturalism to the dual romance stories at its center. Mankiewicz’s sure hand, Michael Kidd’s inspired choreography, and the sturdy songcraft of Frank Loesser insure a good time for audiences despite the iffy proposition of a singing and dancing Marlon Brando. The film is presented on Blu-ray with an exceptionally sharp transfer with colors that can seem a bit off-kilter from time to time. Audio quality is outstanding with a lossless 5.1 re-purposing of the original mix inclusive of wide stereo directional dialog. Extras are ported from previous SD DVD releases including a pair of informative featurettes and some outtake interviews from the featurette participants. The disc itself is contained in Warner's deluxe "Blu-ray Book" packaging including additional textual and graphical behind the scenes information in its 42 colorful pages.



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Guys and Dolls


Directed By: Joseph L. Mankiewicz


Starring: Marlon Brando, Jean Simmons, Frank Sinatra, Vivian Blaine, Robert Keith, Stubby Kaye, B.S. Pully, and Johnny Silver





Studio: Warner Bros.



Year: 1955



Rated: NR



Film Length: 149 Minutes



Aspect Ratio: 2.55:1



Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish



Release Date: November 6, 2012






The Film ****


Guys and Dolls adapts the successful Broadway musical based on a Damon Runyon story to the big screen. The central story involves an improbable romance between high-rolling gambler Sky Masterson (Brando) and prim and proper Christian missionary Sarah Brown (Jean Simmons). The catalyst setting this romance in motion is Nathan Detroit (Sinatra), the facilitator of the “oldest established permanent floating crap game in New York”, who is trying to find a location in Manhattan where an unusually dense convergence of high rollers can shoot craps without the unwanted attentions of New York Police Lieutenant Brannigan (Keith) or of Nathan’s long suffering fiancee Adelaide (Blaine).



Joseph L. Mankiewicz was not exactly known for musicals, but he acquitted himself well on his one and only cinematic foray into the genre. Mankiewicz’s strengths as a director and writer were great dialog and a sympathetic touch with actors. If he had a weakness, it was that he was not much of a visual stylist. In the case of Guys and Dolls, Mankewicz and Producer Samuel Goldwyn secured the services of Michael Kidd to adapt his theatrical show choreography for the CinemaScope screen. This wise decision provides for dramatically staged and visually exciting musical sequences that nicely complement the narrative scenes that hold them together. Mankiewicz’s screenplay retains much of the stylized Damon Runyon adapted dialog from the stage show, but tweaks things a bit to beef up the dramatic scenes involving the dual romances between Sky Masterson/Sarah Brown and Nathan Detroit/Adelaide.



Mankiewicz went out on a limb a bit by casting Marlon Brando and Jean Simmons in the lead roles of Sky Masterson and Sarah Brown. Both were known more for their dramatic chops than their dancing and singing, but Mankiewicz refused to use vocal doubles during the musical numbers. Simmons proves to be a decent singer and an even better dancer. Brando struggles a bit with both, but gets through with a “talk-sing” style that is somewhat akin to what frequent Mankiewicz collaborator Rex Harrison would be doing in the following year’s hit stage production of My Fair Lady. Brando’s vocals were reportedly the result of compositing multiple individual studio takes. His dancing during the Havana sequence may not be especially slick, but like most of his acting performances, he approaches it with a combination of fearlessness and playfulness that comes across on screen.



Musical chops are certainly not in short supply for Frank Sinatra and Vivian Blaine, who acquit themselves well as the second leads. Sinatra was reportedly disappointed not to be cast as Sky Masterson, but he did not let that detract from his performance as Nathan Detroit. The part is beefed up considerably from the stage musical, with a bit more nuance to his relationship with Blaine’s Adelaide, expanded involvement in some of the musical production numbers, and a newly commissioned song from Frank Loesser called Adelaide that gives him a chance to do that voodoo that he does so well. Blaine knew the Adelaide part inside and out from her association with the hit Broadway production, and strikes the right balance of comedic and sympathetic as Nathan’s long suffering fiancee.



Other holdovers from the Broadway cast include Stubby Kaye and Johnny Silver as Nathan’s amusingly Runyonesque sidekicks, and B.S. Pully as similarly amusing heavy “Big Jule”. Where Mankiewicz uses the Broadway actors, he generally allows them to play their characters in the somewhat broadly comic manner they did on stage. In the case of Brando, Simmons, and Sinatra, he alternates their dialog and performances between the stagey Runyonesque approach and a slightly more subdued tone when dealing with the romantic scenes. The end result fits appropriately in the backlot Manhattan reality of the film

The Video ****


This 1080p AVC-encoding is letterboxed to the film’s original Cinemascope aspect ratio of 2.55:1. This presentation improves on previous home video renderings of the movie in a number of ways, inclusive of extremely fine detail that allows for an aliasing-free rendering of the various elaborate suit-coat patterns with little or no filtering. Grain is reasonable and generally uniform. The heavy cropping that plagued the most recent MGM DVD of this title is not present on this Blu-ray from Warner. Contrast features bright whites that are free of blooming. Occasionally, dark parts of the image, such as black and navy blue suits display a lack of shadow detail. I have never seen the film theatrically, so I have no point of reference to say if this is “right” or “wrong”, but the color timing looks a bit odd to my eyes. Bright reds, greens and blues are deeply saturated and “pop” off of the screen, but this results in occasionally off-kilter looking flesh tones and backgrounds.

The Audio ****½


The film's sound mix is provided courtesy of a DTS-HD MA lossless 5.1 encoding. The mix features wide stereo dialog, so viewers are advised to keep their front left and right speakers close to the edge of the screen if possible. Surrounds are used sporadically but very noticeably when employed. The Nelson Riddle orchestrations are the biggest beneficiary of the lossless encoding, with a wide frequency response conveying a very “present” feeling to the score. Critical listeners will notice some noise reduction artifacts and will be able to clearly discern the difference in technical quality between the music and dialog/vocal recordings. No alternate language tracks are available.

The Extras ***


The extras are all carried over from previous DVD releases of the film. All extras are presented in 16:9 enhanced standard definition video unless otherwise indicated below:




Under the somewhat awkward heading of “Behind the Scenes: A Broadway Fable: From Stage to Screen, Guys and Dolls” are the following featurettes:



The Goldwyn Touch (23:54) is a fairly concise “making of” featurette featuring a mix of interview, film clips, and behind the scenes photos. Topics covered include the enduring popularity of the stage musical, the appeal of the show to Samuel Goldwyn, Goldwyn in his later years, the choice of Joseph L. Mankiewicz as Director, the film's opening sequence, the "Runyonesque" style, changes made for the cinematic adaptation, the casting of Marlon Brando, the casting of Frank Sinatra, Sinatra's and Brando's contrasting personalities and working styles, the casting of Jean Simmons, Mankiewicz's insistence that the actors do their own singing, and Brando's singing (inclusive of coaching from Frank Loesser and stitching together the songs from multiple takes). On camera comments are provided by Susan Loesser (Daughter of songwriter Frank Loesser), Choreographer Michael Kidd, Actress Jo Sullivan Loesser (Wife of Frank Loesser), John Loesser (Son of Frank Loesser), Sam Goldwyn Biographer A. Scott Berg, Samuel Goldwyn, Jr., and Tom Mankiewicz (son of Joseph L. Mankiewicz).



From Stage to Screen (26:40) is more or less a “Part Two” that picks up where the previous featurette left off. Topics covered include the Adelaide's Lament musical number, Viviane Blaine's recreation of her signature Broadway role, the mesh of Sinatra and Blaine's styles, the colorful supporting characters and cast, Stubby Kaye as "Nicely Nicely" Johnson, the Sit Down, You're Rocking the Boat musical number, The Goldwyn Girls, Frank Loesser's active involvement in the film, songs that were dropped from the stage musical, songs that were written specifically for the film, Mankiewicz's expansion of the Havana sequence for the film, Brando's and Jean Simmons' dancing, the production numbers that were adapted closely from Michael Kidd's stage choreography, Broadway dancers used in the film, Kidd's use of the camera, the style of dance in the film, the uniqueness of Goldwyn's style compared to other studios, and the changes to the film's ending compared to the stage show. On-camera comments are provided by Susan Loesser , John Loesser, Kidd, Berg, Tom Mankiewicz, and Goldwyn, Jr..




Short Feature: More Guys and Dolls Stories collects outtakes from the interviews used for the above documentaries that provide additional behind the scenes anecdotes. They are individually selectable with no “Play All” option available. Descriptions follow:


  • "Adelaide" (:50) Tom Mankiewicz explains the significance of the song to his family.

  • Brando Dance Lesson (1:34) Michael Kidd discusses working on the film's choreography with Marlon Brando

  • Goldwyn's Career (2:38) A. Scott Berg provides an overview of Samuel Goldwyn's career

  • On the Set (1:12) Tom Mankiewicz reflects on his summer visits to the film's set when he was a teenager.

  • Rehearsing "Adelaide" (1:29) Michael Kidd relates an anecdote illustrating Frank Sinatra's aversion to rehearsal and multiple takes



Musical Performances is a feature providing direct access to some, but inexplicably not all, musical production numbers. They are presented (also inexplicably) in standard definition video and look like the old DVD presentation of the film. They are individually selectable with no “Play All” option available:


  • Fugue for Tinhorns (1:42)

  • I'll Know (5:01)

  • Guys and Dolls (3:26)

  • Adelaide (3:34)

  • Luck be a Lady (3:14)

  • Sue Me (3:15)



Theatrical Trailer (4:3 Video - 4:53) is an extended promo for the film inclusive of an introduction from television personality Ed Sullivan.

Packaging


The Blu-ray disc is enclosed in a deluxe “Blu-ray Book” case with shiny foil enhanced cover art offering a variation of the “arm in arm” cast shot from the film’s theatrical poster superimposed over a muted view of a Manhattan street. The disc is housed on a hub on the inner back cover, and between the covers are 42 pages including an Introduction, bios for Brando, Simmons, Sinatra, Blaine, Mankiewicz, & Goldwyn, select filmographies of all of the above except for Goldwyn, a multi-part “production notes” essay entitled Bringing "Guys and Dolls" to the Screen, publicity photos, behind the scenes photos, reproductions of vintage press clippings, and reproductions of vintage promotional art.
 

JosephGC

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Is the Exit music included? The last time this was available is on the old laser release. Every release since excludes the aprox 3 minutes of exit music following the film.
 

Angelo Colombus

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Did read A. Scott Berg's excellent book on Goldwyn and have seen some of Goldwyn's movies but never this one but will now have to see it. Goldwyn's best film "The Best Years of Our Lives" will come out on blu-ray soon and that one i will buy for sure since it's one of my favorite films of all time.
 

Ken_McAlinden

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Originally Posted by JosephGC /t/325068/guys-and-dolls-blu-ray-review#post_3999231
Is the Exit music included? The last time this was available is on the old laser release. Every release since excludes the aprox 3 minutes of exit music following the film.
Nope. There's just about 35 seconds of score over the cast list and then the Samuel Goldwyn script logo over a blue background.
 

Mike Frezon

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Thanks, Ken!

I watched parts of my copy last night...but didn't have enough time to spin up the entire thing. I sampled Fugue for Tinhorns, Adelaide's Lament and a couple of other songs.

I agree that the details...especially in the various plaids and textures of the fabrics used in the show...look terrific. I also agree that there's a lot of grain that seems to be a constant throughout.

I just upgraded from a 32" LCD to a 55" Plasma. So I've got a bit of an adjustment period that I'm going through. Is that a normal amount of grain in the film? Frankly, it seemed a bit heavy to me...but maybe I'm just not used to my bigger screen. The film definitely looks good. I was just really aware of the grain.
 

Matt Hough

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Thanks for the review. The one aspect of the movie that I really regret is the loss of some of the stage version's most beautiful songs for various characters. The ones for Sky were dropped, I assume, because Brando couldn't do them justice. He struggles with the new "A Woman in Love" occasionally going off pitch even with the help of the sound engineers.
Anyway, glad to read about the quality of the Blu-ray. I will be adding it to my collection.
 

Charles Smith

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Yeah, there's plenty to miss in the adaptation from the stage version. But I'm on board with it, too. Some movie musicals, whatever one's personal regrets, still stand up well on their own, and I wouldn't throw the baby out with the bathwater. They are what they are, and I look forward to seeing a great transfer of this one.
 

RolandL

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MattH. said:
Thanks for the review. The one aspect of the movie that I really regret is the loss of some of the stage version's most beautiful songs for various characters. The ones for Sky were dropped, I assume, because Brando couldn't do them justice. He struggles with the new "A Woman in Love" occasionally going off pitch even with the help of the sound engineers.
Anyway, glad to read about the quality of the Blu-ray. I will be adding it to my collection.
Sinatra would have been a better choice to play Sky.
 

Charles Smith

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No question. Could that be the single greatest misstep of the adaptation, right from the get-go?
 

Matt Hough

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Vocally Sinatra would have been just fine, but I don't find him physically or temperamentally right for the part. Brando is perfect for it if he were only a better singer. I think John Raitt would actually have been ideal: the right look, the right demeanor, and a glorious voice. But no box-office name, alas.
 

Ken_McAlinden

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I always get a kick out of how Brando's rendering of the stylized Damon Runyon vocal cadence with minimal to no contractions foreshadows certain aspects of his approach to Don Vito Corleone fifteen years later.
 

lark144

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"Bright reds, greens and blues are deeply saturated and “pop” off of the screen, but this results in occasionally off-kilter looking flesh tones and backgrounds."
I was taken to see GUYS AND DOLLS when it opened when I was a child--it may have been at Radio City Music Hall, I no longer remember -- and the reds, blues and greens were indeed saturated to the extent that occasionally the backgrounds suffered by comparison, but I don't recall this impacting the flesh tones all that much,. except in the opening scene. The colors were so overpowering in the first few minutes that I finally stopped worrying about the faces and just went with the sensation, all those popping reds and greens like neon signs on Broadway. It's possible that in GUYS AND DOLLS, Samuel Goldwyn produced the first "trip" movie ten years ahead of the curve. I always felt that the brightly colored, almost expressionist cityscape in the opening scenes of NEW YORK, NEW YORK were influenced by the production design of GUYS AND DOLLS. I was planning on passing on this release, but reading your review makes me want to see those crazy colors again.
 

Virgoan

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For the record:
This film was produced by Samuel Goldwyn. It was theatrically released/distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
I realize the studio credit in the review is really the "releasing label" for the video, but I think review overviews should include who actually made/or released the films. Warner's had no involvement in "Guys and Dolls" until it acquired the catalog from whoever licensed the Goldwyn titles.
I'll also mention that another site featured an article on the HMS Bounty which sank during Hurricane Sandy...off the coast of North Carolina. Of course, this was the full replica commissioned for the 1962 film "Mutiny on the Bounty" produced and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Warner Brothers issued the gorgeous Blu ray of this title as it acquired the rights from Turner to do so. At this "other" site, the headline reported: "HMS Bounty replica sinks - used in filming Warner's Mutiny on the Bounty".
It was used in filming MGM's Mutiny on the Bounty. These things are IMPORTANT. Film lovers should know they're important. Yes, Warner's is issuing titles made by other studios during other whens. BUT...they remain products of "those" studios...not Warner Brothers. I duly noted the distinction about Bounty in a polite e-mail, which was ignored. The headline stands "Warner's 'Mutiny on the Bounty'".
To me, that's revisionism.
 

Cineman

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Although Sinatra had certainly established himself as a "heart throb" movie star by 1955, his claim to that status was not really as the substantial leading man type but more of the younger brother who got the girl, sometimes the second female lead (as it was with his Gene Kelly team ups and as it could be said for his role in Guys and Dolls), because he was "cute" and girls wanted to mother him. 1955 also saw him in the light romantic comedy, The Tender Trap (also based on a Broadway hit), and his truly remarkable dramatic turn in The Man With The Golden Arm. But I don't think it was until Pal Joey in 1957 and Some Came Running in 1958 that he would come to be seen as a credible competitor to a Marlon Brando or a William Holden in the seasoned romantic leading man category.
So in 1955 I think there was a lot to be gained by casting Marlon Brando in the smooth talking, supremely confident role of Sky Masterson from the female movie fan perspective that they might not have been ready to accept from Frank Sinatra just yet.
As one female fan from Brooklyn, NY, said about the experience of watching him in that movie back in 1955 when he really got her "hormones raging". :)
Barbra Streisand & Marlon Brando
 

Ken_McAlinden

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Originally Posted by Virgoan /t/325070/guys-and-dolls-blu-ray-review#post_3999410
For the record:
This film was produced by Samuel Goldwyn. It was theatrically released/distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
I realize the studio credit in the review is really the "releasing label" for the video, but I think review overviews should include who actually made/or released the films. Warner's had no involvement in "Guys and Dolls" until it acquired the catalog from whoever licensed the Goldwyn titles.
The studio reference in the box at the top of my review is always to the company who is releasing the product I am reviewing. This is how I was taught to do it from when I was a wee young DVD reviewer back in the olden days (i.e. 6 years ago or so).

One exception (although I have not done one in a long time) is multi-film box sets. For those, I would also indicate the original releasing studio/production company for each film, although the DVD/ Blu-ray releasing studio would appear at the top.

All that being said, I normally mention the original studio in the body of my review a bit more prominently than I did in this one.
 

Aaron Silverman

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Just to clarify, the show is comprised of elements from several Runyon stories (the main Sky/ Sarah romance being based on The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown).
 

Paul Penna

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Just an FYI: there are two (slightly different, it appears) versions of this review posted, each with its own set of comments.
 

RolandL

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Cineman said:
Although Sinatra had certainly established himself as a "heart throb" movie star by 1955, his claim to that status was not really as the substantial leading man type but more of the younger brother who got the girl, sometimes the second female lead (as it was with his Gene Kelly team ups and as it could be said for his role in Guys and Dolls), because he was "cute" and girls wanted to mother him. 1955 also saw him in the light romantic comedy, The Tender Trap (also based on a Broadway hit), and his truly remarkable dramatic turn in The Man With The Golden Arm. But I don't think it was until Pal Joey in 1957 and Some Came Running in 1958 that he would come to be seen as a credible competitor to a Marlon Brando or a William Holden in the seasoned romantic leading man category.
So in 1955 I think there was a lot to be gained by casting Marlon Brando in the smooth talking, supremely confident role of Sky Masterson from the female movie fan perspective that they might not have been ready to accept from Frank Sinatra just yet.
As one female fan from Brooklyn, NY, said about the experience of watching him in that movie back in 1955 when he really got her "hormones raging". :)
Barbra Streisand & Marlon Brando
He was cast as the lead, recorded all the songs (although they were never used as Gordon MacRae took over when Sinatra walked off the set) in Carousel which I assume was being filmed in 1955.
 

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