Guys And Dolls

"Guys And Dolls" is a true American musical classic. Based on a Damon Runyon story and originally produced as a stage play, the screen version stars Frank Sinatra as reliable Nathan Detroit, who is up to his knees trying to throw the biggest crap game in town while hiding the truth from his fiancée, Adelaide (Blaine). Further complicating matters is the bet that Nathan makes with Sky Masterson (Brando) that he can't seduce the pretty Sister (Simmons) at the Save-A-Soul's Mission. Filled with memorable songs like "Luck Be A Lady," "Sit Down, You're Rockin' The Boat," and "The Oldest Established" permanent floating crap game in New York. Also based on the book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows. (Tricia Spears)

Housed inside a 42-page Blu-ray Book that features bios, photographs, trivia, production info, and much more; special features on the Blu-ray Disc™ include "Behind The Scenes: A Broadway Fable: From Stage To Screen, Guys and Dolls" that includes "The Goldwyn Touch" (SD 23:54) and "From Stage To Screen" (SD 266:41); "Short Feature: More Guys and Dolls Stories," which includes "Adelaide" (SD 00:51), "Brando Dance Lesson" (SD 01:34), "Goldwyn's Career" (SD 02:38), "On The Set" (SD 01:12), and "Rehearsing Adelaide" (SD 01:29); "Musical Performances," which includes "Fugue for Tinhorns" (SD 01:42), "I'll Know" (SD 05:01), "Guys and Dolls" (SD 03:26), "Adelaide" (SD 03:34), "Luck Be a Lady" (SD 03:14), and "Sue Me" (SD 03:15); and the theatrical trailer.

Previously reviewed in Issue 108 as an anamorphically enhanced 2.55:1 DVD, the picture exhibited subtle improvements compared to the non-anamorphic 2.55:1 DVD reviewed in Issue 40 and the LaserDisc in Issue 19. The film's long overdue five-star restoration is presented in this newly mastered 1080p AVC Blu-ray Disc. The color palette is strikingly colorful with rich and warm saturated hues.
Fleshtones are perfectly natural throughout and healthy looking. Sharpness and details are nicely resolved, such as pinstripes on suit jackets and textures in plaids. This is the definitive reference version of this all-American classic musical! (Gary Reber)

The DTS-HD Master Audio™ 5.1-channel soundtrack is an impressive remastering effort and delivers a more energized lively experience than the previous presentations and is a closer match to the original CinemaScope® sound. The soundtrack is a result of processing the original mag sound to extract ambient information to the surrounds, which is during the musical segments. The stereophonic image across the screen is remarkably wide and deep. Dialogue is directionalized, as expected. There is also subtle .1 LFE engagement for low-frequency reproduction of the music. (Gary Reber)