The King and I (1956)
Grade: 61
Margaret Landon's novel "Anna and the King of Siam" was successfully adapted to the screen in 1946. In 1951, it became a hit musical, featuring songs by Rogers and Hammerstein. Yul Brynner shaved his head for his role as the King (he would eventually give over 4,000 performances). He also starred in the film version of the musical, winning a Best Actor Oscar in the process.
Deborah Kerr, wearing hoopskirts wide enough to function as parachutes, played the schoolteacher. Her singing was dubbed by Marni Nixon, who would later dub Natalie Wood in "West Side Story" and Audrey Hepburn in "My Fair Lady".
The story of "The King and I" remains largely faithful to the 1946 film version, although it has been made more gentle (the characters of Louis and Tuptim survive in the musical incarnation). The $6.5 million production also boasts glorious widescreen color cinematography, showcasing the costumes and sets better than the original. Still, I prefer the 1946 version with its more dense script, which has been simplified in the musical version to accomodate the songs.
The story is well known. In 1862, the widowed Anna (Kerr) arrives in Siam (modern-day Thailand) to tutor the many children of the King (Brynner). The King is a polygamist, and his many wives have produced dozens of cute little kids, all of whom apparently are under the age of twelve. The King's latest acquisition, a gift from Burma, is Tuptim (Rita Moreno). But Tuptim is in love with Lun Tha (Carlos Rivas), with whom she plans to elope.
Anna and the King have something in common: they are both stubborn. Anna insists on having an adjoining brick house built for her, while the King wants her at his beck and call. As she wins his respect, she becomes one of his chief advisors, especially for impressing visiting British dignitaries who have plans of making Siam a 'protectorate'. In a coincidence that could only occur in a movie, the British Ambassador (Alan Mowbray) had once proposed to Anna.
My sympathies go to poor Louis (Rex Thompson), Anna's pre-adolescent son. Perpetually dressed up like Little Lord Fauntelroy, one can only hope that Mother will spring for a new wardrobe by the time he hits puberty.
There is an interesting play-within-a-play, Tuptim's Siamese adaptation of "Uncle Tom's Cabin". Elsewhere, however, the musical numbers, even when performed by Asians, are completely Western in style. Sometimes they can be lame as well: "Hello Young Lovers" and "We Kiss in a Shadow" are better in reputation than in practice.
Brynner, of course, makes an excellent King of Siam. His character has more bark than bite, and is often quite funny; sometimes he even gets the best of Anna, which is no small task since her character is more or less perfect.
kollers@mpsi.net http://members.tripod.com/~Brian_Koller/movies.html
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews