Marlon Brando had been cast in the role of Sky Masterson, a role coveted by Frank Sinatra, while Sinatra was relegated to the supporting role of Nathan Detroit. Relations between the two actors were strained during production. Many years later, Brando said of Sinatra, "Frank's the kind of guy who, when he gets to Heaven, is going to give God a hard time for making him bald."
Gene Kelly was sought for the role of Sky Masterson, but MGM refused to loan Kelly to Goldwyn.
Frank Sinatra loathed the non-singing Marlon Brando for getting the starring role, while Sinatra got a lesser part. His nickname for the sometimes barely coherent Brando was "Mumbles."
Robert Alda won the 1951 Tony Award (New York City) for Actor in a Musical for "Guys and Dolls" for portraying Sky Masterson.
Marilyn Monroe wanted to play Adelaide, but director Joseph L. Mankiewicz didn't want to work with her again (she appeared briefly in All About Eve) and supposedly pretended he never got her phone messages. Betty Grable was in talks to play Adelaide but when she canceled on the director to be with her sick dog, she was dropped. Judy Holliday was also briefly considered for the role.
After a tryout in Philadelphia, the play opened on Broadway on 24 November 1950 and closed on 28 November 1953 after 1200 performances. The play won a Tony for best musical and another for best choreography for Michael Kidd, who staged the dances and musical numbers in this movie. Original cast members included Robert Alda (father of Alan Alda) as Sky Masterson, Isabel Bigley as Sarah Brown, and Sam Levene as Nathan Detroit. Vivian Blaine as Adelaide, Stubby Kaye as Nicely-Nicely Johnson, B.S. Pully as Big Jule and Johnny Silver as Benny Southstreet all appeared in their original Broadway roles for the movie.
After filming repeated takes of the scene where Sky (Marlon Brando) and Nathan (Frank Sinatra) first meet, they had to quit for the day when Sinatra had too much cheesecake. He said he could not take one more bite. Practical joker (some would say jerk) Brando, knowing how much Sinatra hated cheesecake, purposely flubbed each take so that Sinatra would have to eat piece after piece of cheesecake. The next day, they came back and shot the scene perfectly on the first take.
Before Samuel Goldwyn outbid Paramount for production rights, the studio was hoping to assemble this dream cast: Clark Gable as Sky Masterson, Bob Hope as Nathan Detroit, Jane Russell as Sergeant Sarah Brown and Betty Grable as Miss Adelaide.
Both Vivian Blaine (Adelaide) and B.S. Pully (Big Julie) appeared previously in Greenwich Village. In that earlier film, though playing a character similar to "Big Julie". Pully managed to sing and dance, to the delight of the movie audience
One of the songs not featured in the movie is Adelaide's and Sarah's duet "Marry the Man Today," which may have been considered to be too derogatory.
Previous to her role as Miss Adelaide in theater and this film, Vivian Blaine had the leading role of showgirl "Doll Face" Carroll, in the film Doll Face.
Several of the songs from the Broadway show that were cut from the film were featured in the movie as background music. Among them are "A Bushel and a Peck", "My Time of Day" and "I've Never Been In Love Before".
Sky Masterson's real name is Obadiah.
The "blank dice" gag is a reference to an old gambler's trick in which the sides of a pair of dice are altered so that only odd numbers come up on each die when you make a roll, so that both dice make an even number.
The audio for each of Marlon Brando's musical numbers is constructed from multiple takes.
The character of Sky Masterson is rumored to be based upon New York sportswriter - and former frontier marshal - William Barclay 'Bat' Masterson. In another rumor, according to David Blaine's book "Mysterious Stranger", Sky Masterson was one of the few men to successfully con gangster Al Capone.
The decision to cast Marlon Brando was hotly contested, largely by Frank Sinatra, who wanted the part of Sky Masterson himself. Later in his career, he made Sky's big number "Luck Be A Lady" part of his stage act.
The original Broadway production of "Guys and Doll" opened at the 26th Street Theater on November 24, 1950, ran for 1200 performances and won the 1951 Tony Award (New York City) for the Best Musical. Vivian Blaine and Stubby Kaye recreated their stage roles in the movie version.
The original choice for the role of Salvation Army worker Sarah Brown was Grace Kelly.
The song "A Woman in Love" was not in the original show and was written for the movie. It became a hit record for several recording artists.