The King and I (1956)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

Walter Lang

Writers:

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

Release Date:

29 June 1956 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | 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 | Teacher | Widow | Uncle Tom's Cabin | Dance

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
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Robert Banas	...	Keeper of the Dogs, in Play (uncredited)
Dennis Bonilla	...	Mongkut's Twin Son (uncredited)
Thomas Bonilla	...	Mongkut's Twin Son (uncredited)
Gemze De Lappe	...	Specialty Dancer (uncredited)
Reuben Fuentes	...	Lun Tha (singing voice) (uncredited)
Leona Gordon	...	Tuptim (singing voice) (uncredited)
Charles Irwin	...	Captain Orton (uncredited)
Michiko Iseri	...	Angel, in Play (uncredited)
Irene James	...	Siamese Girl (uncredited)
Marion Jim	...	Simon Legree - in Play (uncredited)
Fuji Levi	...	Whipping Guard (uncredited)
Weaver Levy	...	Whipping Guard (uncredited)
Jocelyn Lew	...	Princess Ying Yaawolak (uncredited)
Marco López	...	Extra (uncredited)
Eddie Luke	...	Messenger (uncredited)
Marni Nixon	...	Anna (singing voice) (uncredited)
Stephanie Pond-Smith	...	Youngest Princess (uncredited)
Josephine Smith	...	Guest at Palace (uncredited)
Leonard Strong	...	Interpreter (uncredited)
Dusty Worrall	...	Uncle Thomas, in Play (uncredited)
William Yip	...	High Priest (uncredited)
Yuriko	...	Eliza, in Play (uncredited)

Directed by
Walter Lang

Writing credits
Margaret Landon		(book "Anna and the King of Siam")
Oscar Hammerstein II		(musical play)
Ernest Lehman		(screenplay)

Produced by
Charles Brackett	....	producer
Darryl F. Zanuck	....	executive producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Richard Rodgers

Cinematography by
Leon Shamroy		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Robert L. Simpson		(as Robert Simpson)

Art Direction by
John DeCuir		(as John De Cuir)
Lyle R. Wheeler

Set Decoration by
Paul S. Fox
Walter M. Scott

Costume Design by
Irene Sharaff

Makeup Department
Ben Nye	....	makeup artist
Helen Turpin	....	hair stylist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Eli Dunn	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Warren B. Delaplain	....	sound (as Warren Delaplain)
E. Clayton Ward	....	sound
Carlton W. Faulkner	....	sound editor (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Ray Kellogg	....	special photographic effects
Doug Hubbard	....	special effects (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Lee Crawford	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
Bob Rose	....	additional grip (uncredited)
Clyde Taylor	....	gaffer (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Sam Benson	....	wardrobe (uncredited)
Charles Le Maire	....	wardrobe director (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Leonard Doss	....	color consultant

Music Department
Robert Russell Bennett	....	orchestrator
Ken Darby	....	associate music supervisor
Gus Levene	....	orchestrator
Bernard Mayers	....	orchestrator
Alfred Newman	....	conductor
Alfred Newman	....	music supervisor
Edward B. Powell	....	orchestrator
Trude Rittman	....	music arranger: ballet arrangements
Robert Mayer	....	music editor (uncredited)

Other crew
Michiko Iseri	....	consultant: oriental dancing (as Michiko)
Jerome Robbins	....	choreographer
Darryl F. Zanuck	....	presenter

Production Companies

• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation (as Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation)

Distributors

• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation (1956) (USA) (theatrical) (as Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1967) (USA) (TV) (broadcast premiere) (pan/scan)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (1998) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (1999) (USA) (DVD)
• Encore Entertainment (199?) (UK) (video) (laserdisc)
• Fox Video (1996) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (2008) (Netherlands) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Angel Records  soundtrack released by (1990's CD edition) (uncredited)
• Angel Records  soundtrack released by (2001 expanded soundtrack CD edition) (uncredited)
• Bausch & Lomb  CinemaScope lenses
• Capitol Records  soundtrack released by (1956 LP and first CD edition) (uncredited)
• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation  registered trademark of CinemaScope

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:

Factual errors: In the market place scene which is supposed to take place in Southeast Asia, one of the elephants is an African elephant.

Quotes:

King: When I sit, you sit. When I kneel, you kneel. Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: Mighty Jack (#1.14)" (1989)

Soundtrack:

Something Wonderful

Good......If You Like This Sort Of Thing ('50s Musicals)

This is a kind of genre thing, meaning you either like the 1950s musicals or you don't. If you do, you'll love this. Personally, I prefer the 1930s and most of the '40s musicals with the dancing talents of Astaire and Rogers, and Eleanor Powell, Bill Robinson, Ruby Keeler, James Cagney, Shirley Temple and so forth but the songs of the '50s, the slower dance numbers and the soapy melodramas of the decade all turn me off.

This film is a case-in-point. The first song was okay but the next three did nothing for me. By then, the story didn't have much appeal, either. The presence of Deborah Kerr is another minus. I don't think I've seen a movie she starred in that I liked, including this one, where the goody two-shoes English teacher she portrays spends half the movie threatening to leave Siam. (I which she had!).

However, divorcing myself from likes-and-dislikes, there is no denying this Rogers and Hammerstein production has a lot of appeal to many folks, particularly those who liked "The Sound Of Music" a decade later. There are similarities in the R&H musicals. Thus, if you liked the Julie Andrews flick, you should like this, too.

This is a Lavish production with, yes, a capital "L." This is the kind of big-production musicals you rarely saw after that generation. You also get the dubbed singers, unlike today, where the actress isn't able to really sing so Marnie Nixon comes to rescue of Kerr, as she did with Natalie Wood in "West Side Story" and Audrey Hepburn in "My Fair Lady."

Yul Brynner is "King Mongkut" and is the stereotypical traditionalist, the kind filmmakers always portray in a negative way. He isn't "progressive," as the left wingers like the say, but the education teacher (Kerr, as "Anna Leonowens") will set him straight. Secular-progressives of today always place teachers higher than people trying to cure cancer! However, Yul is good in this role and even employs some comedy along with his more-bark-than-bite character. Justifiably, he is the big star of this film. Brynner had magnetism. Even in "The Magnificent Seven," Yul was the one cowboy who mesmerized the audience.

In summary, it's a fine movie for its day and millions of people enjoyed it. I'll leave it at that.