The King and I (1956)

Another Rogers and Hammerstein great. - JW

Mrs. Anna Leonowens and her son Louis arrive in Bangkok, where she has been contracted to teach English to the children of the royal household. She threatens to leave when the house she had been promised is not available, but falls in love with the children. A new slave, a gift of a vassal king, translates "Uncle Tom's Cabin" into a Siamese ballet. After expressing her unhappiness at being with the King, the slave decides to make an attempt to escape with her lover. Anna and the King start to fall in love, but her headstrong upbringing inhibits her from joining his harem. She is just about to leave Siam but something important she finds out makes her think about changing her mind.

From IMDB:

10/10
It really was a pleasure Getting to Know Him.....

Yes, the King of Siam might seem like a Barbarian to us descendent's from Europeans, but even behind an apparent Barbarian is a human being with real emotions, desires and ambitions. It's the King's ambition to take on the best that European society can offer, so he's reviewing the situation with the help of an English nanny and teacher for his many children from his many wives. The towering presence of Yul Brynnur took the King from featured billing in the original Broadway production to above the title, and a featured actor Tony to leading actor Oscar, one of the few times in history that an actor won the award for the stage production then another one for the film production.

The original musical Mrs. Anna was England's Gertrude Lawrence, and she got top billing over the title and Mr. Brynnur, but after she passed away, his success in the role moved him to the star spot with Mrs. Anna often second billed and often under the title when presented with him. Yul played the King on stage so many times that only Carol Channing's Dolly Levi rivals with him, and even when he was much older and dying from cancer, he was still performing the role on stage. There was even a T.V. series based upon the stories with him repeating his role. No actor since then has been able to become as identified with this part, and when you see this film, you will understand. "It's not a puzzlement!" in this case.

Even though Rex Harrison ("My Fair Lady" ) had already played the role on screen (oppposite Irene Dunne in "Anna and the King of Siam" ), it is Brynnur who dominates the memory of the philosophical king who can't quite escape his roots. Through his imperiousness, his tenderness and his love for his children, the King is quite a man, and it is understandable as to why Anna would constantly forgive him. As Lady Chiang (Terry Saunders) explains, "He'll always need your love, so he will get your love." And that is what makes him wonderful to each and every one of his wives, his mistresses and his children. Just not to Tuptim (Rita Moreno), the Burmese slave girl given to the king as a present. As other characters in a more adult time would explain, "He may get my body, but not my heart".

Rodgers and Hammerstein took a universal story and transfered it to the stage and later to the screen with the passion of a Florenz Ziegfeld and a Cecil B. De Mille. This is a lavish world of elephants, jade and bamboo, but unlike a 1999 animated feature version of the musical, none of the non human animals talk. Deborah Kerr may have needed to be dubbed by Marni Nixon as Mrs. Anna, but the singing voice and Kerr's speaking voice mix naturally which unfortunately wouldn't be the case for two other actresses Nixon dubbed-Natalie Wood in "West Side Story" and Audrey Hepburn in "My Fair Lady". This is perhaps why Kerr was the only one of those three nominated for an Oscar and the other two were overlooked.

There's much carping on the casting of the Puerto Rican Rita Moreno as Tuptim, but she carries it off perfectly with grace and tenderness. Of course, Tuptim is as far from "West Side Story's" Anita as Rex Harrison's king would be from Henry Higgins in "My Fair Lady". Harrison would have talked/sung this part had he been cast, but Brynnur's singing is very real and quite moving. Terry Saunders as the head wife Lady Thiang is also very touching, and Carlos Rivas is loyal and tragic as the doomed Lun Tha. There's a touching friendship which develops between the king's son (Patrick Adiarte, later of "Flower Drum Song" ) and Anna's son (Rex Thompson) which gives the indication that all of the King's dreams which wouldn't come through now will because the tides are turning in the world of supposed Barbaric kings and influences of peace-loving people are finally working together to close the barriers between Europeans and those, as Hammerstein wrote in a song against prejudice, whose eyes were deemed to be ugly made.

Ready for another revival on Broadway, "The King and I" is a musical drama which will never leave the repertoire of the live theater. Several small non-Broadway New York revivals were very popular, as were two revivals with Brynnur and a mid 1990's revival that was highly acclaimed. The glorious score, breathtaking choreography, opulent costumes and sets and a passionate story of a love between a man and a woman that transcends physical lust are highly timeless.

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