Anna and the King of Siam (1946)

In 1862, a young Englishwoman becomes royal tutor in Siam and befriends the King.

Director:

John Cromwell

Writers:

Talbot Jennings (screenplay), Sally Benson (screenplay)

Stars:

Irene Dunne, Rex Harrison, Linda Darnell

Won 2 Oscars. Another 1 win & 5 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Irene Dunne	...	Anna Owens
Rex Harrison	...	King Mongkut
Linda Darnell	...	Tuptim
Lee J. Cobb	...	Kralahome
Gale Sondergaard	...	Lady Thiang
Mikhail Rasumny	...	Alak
Dennis Hoey	...	Sir Edward
Tito Renaldo	...	Prince Chulalongkorn - as a Boy
Richard Lyon	...	Louis Owens

Storyline

In 1862, young English widow Anna Owens accepts the job of teaching the royal children of Siam. On her arrival in Bangkok, culture clash is immediate. The king respects Anna for standing up to him, though this appalls his courtiers. In due course, she becomes the king's confidant and diplomatic advisor; their relationship endures through many trials.

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Plot Keywords:

king | siam | royal tutor | thailand | 19th century | 

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 August 1946 (UK)

Also Known As:

Ana y el rey de Siam

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden - 301 N. Baldwin Avenue, Arcadia, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox

Technical Specs

Runtime:

128 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The real teacher's name was Anna Leonowens. In the film it is changed to simply Owens but on Anna's trunk are three embossed initials, "A L O" perhaps to preserve the real character's name.

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Goofs

When the King is dying the paper is not under his pillow in one scene and then magically it is there when he takes it out to be read.

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Quotes

Kralahome: [the Kralahome has just arrived to tell King Mongkut of the loss of Cambodia. Anna, meanwhile, continues to press the King about the issue of a private residence, to the point where even the King's staff members are singing "Home, Sweet Home"] Your Majesty! It has begun, Toongramon. We've lost Cambodia. Our governor of Cambodia has made a treaty with the French government. They have recognized Cambodia as independent of Siam, placed it under their "protection," and this governor of ours still ...
[...]

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Alternate Versions

The 2006 UK DVD was cut by 2 secs by the BBFC to remove a horse-trip.

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Connections

Referenced in Myra Breckinridge (1970)

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Soundtracks

Alphabet Song for Toddlers
(uncredited)
Traditional
Sung by the King's children learning the English alphabet

User Reviews

A Nation Kept Free From Colonialism

Anyone who is thinking of watching Anna And The King Of Siam thinking he will just see The King And I without the Rodgers&Hammerstein music is in for quite a surprise. Quite a bit had to be toned down from this dramatic version in order to make it more lighthearted and good subject matter for a musical.

I can't believe the number of folks who miss the point of Anna And The King Of Siam in just dismissing it as typical western racism. Yes it's there, but the real story of Siam later Thailand is how it missed being colonized by the west. In that regard the story is like Japan.

King Mongkut who ruled from 1851 to 1868 and played by Rex Harrison in his first role in a Hollywood film, was a man who's sole ambition was to keep his country away from colonial hands. But he also knew that the west had far outstripped the east in material progress if not culturally. His challenge was to learn from the west without being taken over by them.

Toward that end he did import among other things Anna Leonowens, shortened to Owens in this film and played by Irene Dunne. Her job was to educate the royal children, most especially the Crown Prince Chulalongkorn who would rule Siam as Mongkut's successor. How much and what kind of personal relationship she developed with the King is part true and part from the fertile mind of Margaret Landon who wrote the book this and The King and I were based on.

Today when you visit Thailand they will tell you up front about how proud they are that they were never colonized by a western power, a singular achievement in the 19th century. They did give up chunks of territory, to the French in Indo-China, to the British in Burma and Malaya, but Siam was kept in being. Ironically enough when it was conquered it was by another Eastern power, Japan in World War II. Thailand most people forget because of that was an Axis power nation, quite unwillingly, but they had little choice in yielding to a nation that learned the lessons Mongkut and Chulalongkorn learned far better.

Giving good performances in the supporting cast are Linda Darnell, Lee J. Cobb, and Gale Sondergaard. Darnell's character as Tuptim, current favorite of the king has far more bite to it and she's not a nice girl who the western schoolteacher is trying to help on the path to true love. Cobb's role as the chief minister, the Kralahome is far more expanded in this than The King And I. And Gale Sondergaard as Lady Thiang, mother of the crown prince is touching as the mother who really does live for her son as she's got nothing else really in the world. She was nominated for Best Supporting Actress in 1946, but lost to Anne Baxter in The Razor's Edge.

It's also ironic that while any number of folks might decry the racism shown by whites in Anna And The King Of Siam, at the same time they're also revolted by the position of women in Siam, being not above household furniture. Irene Dunne's character is hardly a Victorian feminist, but just the contrast to the other females in the cast forces here to become one. But that was their culture and still is in many areas of modern Thailand.

The highly acclaimed remake of this story that starred Jodie Foster and Chow Yun Fat in 1999 tells far more of the real story. It's good to compare the two. The differences in both versions tell a lot more about us as a society than even about 19th century Siam.