When producer Samuel Goldwyn hired Mankiewicz for the screen adaptation of Frank Loesser's Broadway hit he recommended that key elements from the successful stage production be carried into the film, including members of the supporting cast, Michael Kidd's muscular choreography and most of the original score. Mankiewicz's only musical was based on a Damon Runyon short story following the courtship of two mismatched couples – a cocksure high roller, a Salvation Army evangelizer, and two hilariously comic supporting characters. Guys and Dolls is noted for its brave turns by non-professional singers led by Jean Simmons whose voice turned out to be as charming as her performance and Marlon Brando delivering creditable and innovative performances of the classic songs "Luck Be a Lady" and "I'll Know." Controversy continues to swirl around the unexpected casting of Frank Sinatra in the knockabout comic role of a compulsive gambler, colored by persisted rumors that he jealously coveted Brando's male romantic lead. – HG