The King and I (1956)

Director:

Walter Lang

Writers:

Margaret Landon (book)
Oscar Hammerstein II (musical play)

Release Date:

29 June 1956 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Family | Musical | Romance

Tagline:

More Than You've Ever Seen On The Screen!

Plot:

Musical about a widow who accepts a job as a live-in governess of the King of Siam's children.

Plot Keywords:

King | Widow | Uncle Tom's Cabin | Teacher | Mother Son Relationship

Awards:

Won 5 Oscars. Another 4 wins & 7 nominations

Cast

Deborah Kerr	...	Anna Leonowens
Yul Brynner	...	King Mongkut of Siam
Rita Moreno	...	Tuptim
Martin Benson	...	Kralahome
Terry Saunders	...	Lady Thiang
Rex Thompson	...	Louis Leonowens
Carlos Rivas	...	Lun Tha
Patrick Adiarte	...	Prince Chulalongkorn
Alan Mowbray	...	Sir John Hay
Geoffrey Toone	...	Sir Edward Ramsay

Also Known As:

Rodgers and Hammerstein's The King and I (USA) (complete title)

Runtime:

133 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Thai

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.55 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (Westrex Recording System) | 70 mm 6-Track (70 mm re-release)

Certification:

Iceland:L | New Zealand:G | USA:G (certificate #17864) | Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Canada:G | Chile:TE | Finland:K-8 | Norway:7 | Peru:PT | Thailand:(Banned) | UK:U

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

The reality of the "Shall We Dance" sequence was that Deborah Kerr suffered continual bruising from the hoops in her skirt, and Yul Brynner - a chain smoker who had already lost a lung to his habit - had to take oxygen in between takes.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the Shall We Dance Scene, Anna lays her shawl on the bench before the dance and the King sits on it. When the camera is on the king again, the shawl is no longer on the bench or on the floor.

Quotes:

King: Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera!

Movie Connections:

Featured in AFI's 100 Years... 100 Songs: America's Greatest Music in the Movies (2004) (TV)

Soundtrack:

The Small House of Uncle Thomas

Wonderful, glorious colour and Brynner in his finest hour.

Brynner is so strongly identified with this role that it is difficult to remember him in anything else. He gives his all in this performance, sometimes way over the top, but it fits with this movie which is in itself over the top, offering us the Hollywood version of Siam and introducing 1955 sensibilities to the era of 1862. No matter.

The musical numbers are great and hummable, most done by Marni Nixon, who dubbed for so many in that era of endless musicals and no-voice stars.

People who protest about the insensibility and racial aspect of these musicals (Showboat and South Pacific, etc. also comes to mind)don't get it - that this is a musical, composed about an unenlightened era and is not a documentary and cannot be taken seriously.

The play within the play is truly magical, I could watch it over and over again, it is a perfect little opera.

Deborah Kerr is terrific in this and should have received an Oscar. I felt sorry for the boy who played her son - I think they appeared again together in Tea and Sympathy, but I could be wrong - there was not much to his role, he had to stand around and just be pretty and nod at his mother a lot. Very difficult.

Rita Moreno excelled as usual.

8 out of 10. Not to be missed.