The King and I (1956)

• Year: 1956
• Released: 29 Jun 1956
• Country: United States
• Adwords: Won 5 Oscars. 10 wins & 12 nominations total
• IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0049408/
• Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/The_King_and_I
• Metacritics: https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-king-and-i
• Available in: 720p, 1080p,
• Language: English, Thai
• MPA Rating: G
• Genre: Biography, Drama, Musical
• Runtime: 133 min
• Writer: Ernest Lehman, Oscar Hammerstein II, Margaret Landon
• Director: Walter Lang
• Cast: Yul Brynner, Deborah Kerr, Rita Moreno
• Keywords: musical, based on play or musical, widow, single mother, letter,

	7.4/10
	72/100
	13% – Critics
	41% – Audience

The King and I Storyline

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.

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The King and I Movie Reviews

a decent musical marred by two big problems

The music is lovely and the is a very visually pleasing film as well. However, two outstanding problems really prevented this movie from being anything other than just average.

First, the movie DIDN’T have an ending. After running about 2 hours, the king inexplicably announces he is feeling depressed and is about to die. Everyone cries and then the king (so vigorous only a scene or two before) just drops dead! Huh? Were they running out of film so they slapped on this ending?! Second, and probably more important is the fact that the movie portrays the King of Siam as some sort of idiot who needs the educated Westerner to show him what a boob he really is. The best example is the king’s idea to send President Lincoln a herd of MALE elephants so they can populate the forests of America. NO ONE is that stupid! This is made worst by the fact that the REAL king was college educated (Cambridge or some other high-brow school) and Anna was by far the less intelligent of the two. This just seems rather insulting the way they are portrayed in the film.

This is just fantastic!

This is just a beautiful film,much better than the animated version. It has the most gorgeous score by Rodgers and Hammerstein, although it is not as good as the Sound of Music. The film itself is beautiful, and I felt enchanted watching it. The main attraction is the scenery and cinematography, they were just amazing. Yul Brynner undoubtedly gives the performance of his career, he is magnificent here. Deborah Kerr, who sadly died recently, matches him beautifully in a touching performance of Anna Leonowens. The intermission was a delight to listen to, and for me the highlight of the movie is the scene, the play. Speaking of the ending, it is so sad, and I hated the fact that the animated version completely changed the story. Give this a try, you’ll be enchanted. 9/10-it is a bit long. Bethany Cox

So Many Happy Tunes

The King and I has been my favorite Rodgers&Hammerstein show for many years. I love the score and the only real criticism I have of this film version is that it did not contain the entire score from the Broadway show. It also did not contain the magical performance of Gertrude Lawrence in her final role. But that was beyond the scope of 20th Century Fox and Darryl Zanuck.

The versions of The King and I that we usually see performed give emphasis to the role of the King. As Gertrude Lawrence was dying in 1952 she made a deathbed request that the billing on the show be changed and that Yul Brynner be given top billing instead of whatever female would be replacing Lawrence as Anna Leonowens. That was done and it has remained so ever since.

The role of King Mongkut of Siam became like Dracula was for Bela Lugosi, a part that no matter what else he did, Yul Brynner couldn’t escape from. The air of authority he establishes as the King holds you and binds you to every move he makes in the part. I’m told that as good as this screen version is, to see him on stage was the real deal. The critical acclaim he got from the Broadway run no doubt led to him winning an Oscar as Best Actor for 1956.

Standing in for Gertrude Lawrence quite ably is Deborah Kerr who got one of her several nominations for Best Actress for this film. Unfortunately her voice is dubbed by that well known vocal stand-in Marni Nixon as is Rita Moreno as Tuptim and Carlos Rivas as Lun Tha the second romantic leads. The part does call more for an actress than a singer. Gertrude Lawrence was the very best of both.

So many popular standards come from this score, more than any other score Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein, II wrote. From philosophical tunes like Getting to Know You and I Whistle a Happy Tune and such romantic ballads as Hello Young Lovers, We Kiss in a Shadow, Something Wonderful and Shall We Dance will be done forever. Somewhere now on planet earth there is some theatrical company doing the King and I and performing these great songs. You can’t also forget those that didn’t make the cut here like I Have Dreamed and My Lord and Master.

The most interesting song that Dick and Oscar wrote is the solo for the King, A Puzzlement. It’s very similar to the Soliliquy in Carousel where the song explains all the character motivations of Billy Bigelow. King Mongkut, a very real historic figure who wanted very much to move his country into the modern era, but his entire upbringing fights against his desire. A Puzzlement is a wonderful number that goes into the problems of governing and not just for monarchies. Listen to Hammerstein’s lyrics, they are very much relevant today.

I visited Thailand in 1999 and learned a great deal about the country in those two days. King Mongkut’s descendants rule today as constitutional and beloved monarchs. In fact this film which probably did more to encourage tourism to Thailand than anything else is banned in that country. Because it shows the king in what the Thais feel as an irreverent light. It is indeed a puzzlement.

The film has preserved forever one of the great Broadway shows of all time forevermore. Reason enough to see it and whistle its happy tunes.