What was wrong with Nathan running a crap game for people who wanted to play? Why couldn't the politicians mind their own business and let Brannigan go after real criminals-even if he did have to live on his salary?
I reiterate my casting-Sinatra as Sky, Cagney as Nathan, Grace Kelly as Sarah,maybe Lucille Ball as Adelaide -problem with Marilyn was that there'd be no credibility in a guy being engaged to her for fourteen years. She was just too beautiful!
Vivian Blaine created the role on Broadway. It wasn't going to anyone else. And James Cagney was too old to play the role of a 30something gambler of the day.
Jean Simmons and Vivian Blaine were perfectly cast. I wouldn't mess with that. It was the male leads that suffered from miscasting. I would have cast Sinatra (or maybe Dean Martin) in the Sky Masterson role and would have focused more on the comedy than the singing for the Nathan Detroit role. Shelley Berman, maybe? Joey Bishop? Sid Caesar?
shareWhen GUYS AND DOLLS was produced, neither Sinatra nor Martin was as big a screen star as both would become within a few years. (Remember that Sinatra's career earlier had been considered "washed up," while Martin was still half of a comedy team and still years away from soloing in THE YOUNG LIONS or SOME CAME RUNNING.) I doubt that either would have been seriously considered for the lead role of Masterson. In fact, it's a matter of record that Sinatra had lobbied hard for the chance to play Nathan Detroit, just to be part of the film.
Brando was not only the bigger star in 1955, but to me it's the dramatic conviction which he and Jean Simmons bring to the Sarah/Sky romance (as rewritten and beefed up by screenwriter Mankiewicz) that elevates the movie to being the classic it is. Neither Sinatra, Martin, nor Gene Kelly could have matched Brando in that important aspect.
Most great films deserve a more appreciative audience than they get.
Phil Silvers? Or maybe.Bing as Sky , Bob.as Nathan, Dorothy.as Adelaide Grace Kelly as Sarah?
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