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All the qualities that made Rodgers and Hammerstein's Broadway smash The King and I a memorable stage experience are faithfully translated to the big screen in this dynamic 1956 film version. Another brilliant musical treatment of a "straight" work (like State Fair, Oklahoma, and Carousel), King tells the story of widowed British schoolteacher Anna Leonowens (winningly played by Deborah Kerr), who accepts a commission to educate the children of the Siamese king (Yul Brynner), a crafty potentate who at once realizes the need for his offspring's tutelage in Western ways yet resists the resultant liberation from tradition. Kerr, who benefits from Marni Nixon's dubbed-in singing voice, invests Anna with the requisite charm, tact, and subtlety, all the while maintaining a self-assuredness that frequently borders on the defiant. Re-creating his stage role, Brynner is outstanding as the petulant but not altogether dictatorial monarch. Among the supporting players, Rita Moreno excels as the King's slave Tuptim, and Carlos Rivas commands sympathy as her lover Lun Tha. Young Rex Thompson portrays Anna's young son with the proper mixture of youthful exuberance and impishness, and veteran character actor Alan Mowbray steals scenes left and right as a minor functionary befuddled by the teacher's growing influence over the king. Although four of the stage show's numbers were eliminated from the film, the best songs were retained, among them "I Whistle a Happy Tune," "Getting to Know You," "Shall We Dance," and "Hello Young Lovers." Having achieved the rare distinction of being more satisfying than the original stage presentation, this memorable movie still holds up as pictorially exquisite, dramatically sound, musically exciting, and altogether glorious. Ed Hulse

All Movie Guide

The King and I, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein's 1951 Broadway musical hit, was based on Margaret Landon's book Anna and the King of Siam. Since 20th-Century-Fox had made a film version of the Landon book in 1946, that studio had first dibs on the movie adaptation of The King and I. Deborah Kerr plays English widow Anna Leonowens, who comes to Siam in the 1860s to tutor the many wives and children of the country's progressive King (Yul Brynner, recreating his Broadway role-and winning an Oscar in the process). The culture clash between Anna and the King is but one aspect of their multilayered relationship. Through Anna, the King learns the refineries and responsibilities of "modern" western civilization; Anna meanwhile comes to realize how important it is for an Oriental ruler to maintain his pride and to uphold the customs of his people. After a successful evening entertaining foreign dignitaries, Anna and the King celebrate with an energetic dance, but this is cut short by a bitter quarrel over the cruel punishment of the King's new Burmese wife Tuptim (Rita Moreno), who has dared to fall in love with someone else. Despite the many rifts between them, Anna and the monarch come to respect and (to a degree) love one another. When the King dies, Anna agrees to stay on to offer help and advice to the new ruler of Siam, young Prince Chulalongkhorn (Patrick Adiarte). In general, The King and I tends to be somewhat stagey, with the notable exception of the matchless "Small House of Uncle Thomas" ballet, which utilizes the Cinemascope 55 format to best advantage (the process also does a nice job of "handling" Deborah Kerr's voluminous hoopskirts). Most of the Broadway version's best songs ("Getting to Know You," "Whistle a Happy Tune," "A Puzzlement," "Shall We Dance" etc.) are retained. None of the omissions are particularly regrettable, save for Anna's solo "Shall I Tell You What I Think of You?" This feisty attack on the King's chauvinism was specially written to suit the talents of Gertrude Lawrence, who played Anna in the original production; the song was cut from the film because it made Deborah Kerr seem "too bitchy" (Kerr's singing, incidentally, is dubbed for the most part by the ubiquitous Marni Nixon). When all is said and done, the principal attraction of The King and I is Yul Brynner, in the role that made him a star and with which he will forever be identified. Hal Erickson

Product Details

• UPC: 024543391029
• Source: 20TH CENTURY FOX
• Region Code: 1
• Aspect Ratio: 2.55:1
• Presentation: Letterbox
• Sound: Dolby Digital Mono, Dolby Digital Stereo
• Language: English, Español, Français
• Subtitles: English, Español
• Time: 2:13:00
• Sales Rank: 2,263

This DVD is also available as part of a box set:

• The Rodgers & Hammerstein Collection
• Best Actor Collection
• The Fox-MGM Hollywood Musicals Collection

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