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The King and I (1956)
Director: Walter Lang
Writers: Ernest Lehman (screenplay), Oscar Hammerstein II (book)
Cast: Yul Brynner, Deborah Kerr, Rita Moreno
Genre: Drama, Musical
About: In the 1860s a British school teacher and widow, agrees to travel to exotic Siam (Thailand) to teach the King's many children.
Background: Based on the successful Broadway musical written by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein, that featured Yul Brynner in the lead role. That play was originally based on a novel: Anna and the King of Siam by Margaret Landon, which in turn was based on the real diaries of Anna Leonowens who did indeed travel to Siam as a school teacher.
Also influenced by the 1946 movie Anna and the King of Siam and remade in 1999 as Anna and the King (1999) Both are non-musicals.
Review: I just love this movie! It's wonderful...It's intelligently written by one of the truly great Hollywood screen writers, Ernest Lehman. Lehman's volume of great movies include:
Hello, Dolly!
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
The Sound of Music
West Side Story
From the Terrace
North by Northwest
Sweet Smell of Success
Sabrina
The script is the life blood of a movie and The King and I pulsates with life! It's witty, it's charming, and it explores many different themes without being obvious. Of course the real star of the movie is
Yul Brynner and Deborah Kerr. Have there ever been two more inspired performances which are so in tune with each other, and the story, that you forget you're watching a movie.
Yul owned the role of the King, it's hard to believe anyone else could do that role. He's forceful, he's powerful and yet he's curious and not quite as forbidding as he might seem. Thanks to Yul making the King human, we can see more than meets the eye.
Deborah Kerr has never shined more than here, she seems to be truly enjoying her self and that joy comes through the screen to us. She has great charm and poise. She's strong yet feminine. We like her, we care about her.
A young Rita Moreno, has a plum role as Tuptim the Burmese slave girl brought against her will to the palace of the King of Siam. Her story line is in many ways what this film is about.
And those sets! Anna is decked out in those giant hoop dresses which the director puts to good use in the film. I love the way her skirt swirls when she dances and spreads out on the floor like a giant umbrella when she sets down. All the colors and the fabrics shine in the glorious palace sets, this is a visual treat!
Ahhh...the music! What wonderful songs we have from the greatest song writing team to work on stage and movies, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein. Getting to Know You is the signature song from the movie.
My favorite number was the ballet style The Small House of Uncle Thomas, it's a beautiful yet simply retelling of the classic American novel Uncle Tom's Cabin...it's told from the viewpoint of a Burmese slave woman running away from the Kingdom of Siam. It combines both traditionally Thai and Asian dance movements with modern choreography. There's nothing else like it.
I'd give The King and I Ten Stars if I could.
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The King and I (1956)
Writers: Ernest Lehman (screenplay), Oscar Hammerstein II (book)
Cast: Yul Brynner, Deborah Kerr, Rita Moreno
Genre: Drama, Musical
About: In the 1860s a British school teacher and widow, agrees to travel to exotic Siam (Thailand) to teach the King's many children.
Background: Based on the successful Broadway musical written by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein, that featured Yul Brynner in the lead role. That play was originally based on a novel: Anna and the King of Siam by Margaret Landon, which in turn was based on the real diaries of Anna Leonowens who did indeed travel to Siam as a school teacher.
Also influenced by the 1946 movie Anna and the King of Siam and remade in 1999 as Anna and the King (1999) Both are non-musicals.
Review: I just love this movie! It's wonderful...It's intelligently written by one of the truly great Hollywood screen writers, Ernest Lehman. Lehman's volume of great movies include:
Hello, Dolly!
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
The Sound of Music
West Side Story
From the Terrace
North by Northwest
Sweet Smell of Success
Sabrina
The script is the life blood of a movie and The King and I pulsates with life! It's witty, it's charming, and it explores many different themes without being obvious. Of course the real star of the movie is
Yul Brynner and Deborah Kerr. Have there ever been two more inspired performances which are so in tune with each other, and the story, that you forget you're watching a movie.
Yul owned the role of the King, it's hard to believe anyone else could do that role. He's forceful, he's powerful and yet he's curious and not quite as forbidding as he might seem. Thanks to Yul making the King human, we can see more than meets the eye.
Deborah Kerr has never shined more than here, she seems to be truly enjoying her self and that joy comes through the screen to us. She has great charm and poise. She's strong yet feminine. We like her, we care about her.
A young Rita Moreno, has a plum role as Tuptim the Burmese slave girl brought against her will to the palace of the King of Siam. Her story line is in many ways what this film is about.
And those sets! Anna is decked out in those giant hoop dresses which the director puts to good use in the film. I love the way her skirt swirls when she dances and spreads out on the floor like a giant umbrella when she sets down. All the colors and the fabrics shine in the glorious palace sets, this is a visual treat!
Ahhh...the music! What wonderful songs we have from the greatest song writing team to work on stage and movies, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein. Getting to Know You is the signature song from the movie.
My favorite number was the ballet style The Small House of Uncle Thomas, it's a beautiful yet simply retelling of the classic American novel Uncle Tom's Cabin...it's told from the viewpoint of a Burmese slave woman running away from the Kingdom of Siam. It combines both traditionally Thai and Asian dance movements with modern choreography. There's nothing else like it.
I'd give The King and I Ten Stars if I could.
+++