I was about 5 to 8 years old when I saw it (shortly after it first came to the theaters), but I was very particular about the kind of movies I liked. I couldn't stand violence, death, scary netherworld creatures of any kind, etc. Those gave me nightmares and made me cry for hours. Guys and Dolls was a gentle, musical story about people falling in love and working things out... I loved it. To this day, over 50 years later, I remember this movie as a rollicking but gentle good time for even a child who couldn't stand to see 'bad things'. Yet, the story itself is not a kid's story - it involves gamblers who skate both sides of the law, and the girls who attempt to tame the wayward men (reaffirming the popular belief that men are naughty and women make something of them!) Hey it was the 1950s, eh? It was a more innocent time, but certainly not sedate -- it was a time of gamblers in tilted fedoras and impressive platinum hairdos...
Review of Guys and Dolls
