Guys and Dolls

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) | Release Date: December 23, 1955

CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION

77	METASCORE Generally favorable reviews based on 13 Critic Reviews

Positive:

Mixed:

Negative:

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Critic Reviews

Critic score Publication By date

100

The GuardianPeter Bradshaw

The face-off between two of the biggest legends in American pop culture, Sinatra and Brando, is something to be relished, although the roles are perhaps a little too atypical for each for the pairing itself to be legendary as the individuals. But still, what a joy it always is. Read full review

100

Jonathan Rosenbaum

Conceivably the best picture Sam Goldwyn ever produced. Read full review

100

EmpireAngie Errigo

Still one of the most thrilling and thoroughly entertaining of all musicals. Read full review

Staff (Not Credited)

The real draw is the script: based on stories by Damon Runyon and spruced up by His Girl Friday scribe Ben Hecht, it strikes such a perfect blend of salty and sweet that it’s almost a shame when the band strikes up and the jazz hands come out. Read full review

Staff (Not Credited)

A bangup filmusical in the topdrawer Goldwyn manner. Read full review

D.W. Mault

It was once said that Runyon’s prose had a ungrammatical purity about it (what with the refusal of the past tense), but likewise Guys And Dolls works because it shouldn’t work. Read full review

Bosley Crowther

It's as tinny and tawny and terrific as any hot-cha musical film you'll ever see. Read full review

Gladd Patterson

Guys and Dolls is a rare example of a filmed musical being as sprightly in its own way as the original stage production. [28 Mar 1956, p.6]

Richard Brody

Sinatra’s vocal swagger is as exhilarating as ever, on a stage that gives him room to strut. And the overall effect is to heighten the effect and the presence of Frank Loesser’s brash yet subtle and bluff yet intricate songs. It’s not filmed theatre, but the cinematic transfiguration of the theatrical experience. Read full review

TV Guide MagazineStaff (Not Credited)

A great play but just a good movie, Guys and Dolls fails to convey the charm that the magnificent stylized stage version brought to the unique world inhabited by Damon Runyon's characters, despite the collaboration of some very talented people. Read full review

Susan King

The music is memorable, Michael Kidd's choreography is energetic and the cast is game. But there's a certain spark missing that would have transformed it from good to great. [25 Apr 2006, p.E2]

Pauline Kael

Sinatra sings pleasantly, and Brando and Simmons are ingratiatingly uneasy when they burst into song and dance, but the movie is extended and rather tedious. The Broadway version is legendary; the movie provides no clue as to why.

Hal Boedeker

Splashy, uneven version of the musical, directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz (All About Eve). Marlon Brando and Frank Sinatra seem miscast, but Jean Simmons is delightful as the Salvation Army woman Brando falls for. [04 Aug 1989, p.G37]