Movies - The King and I

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	Movies - The King and I

The King and I is a musical by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, with a script based on the book Anna and the King of Siam
by Margaret Landon. The plot comes from the questionable autobiographical story of Anna Leonowens, who became governess(?) to the children of King Mongkut of Siam in the early 1860s.

Due to controversy concerning the accuracy of Leonowens' account of her own life and of King Mongut, the reader is encouraged to study those topics separately.

Musical

Broadway

The musical opened on Broadway on March 29, 1951 and starred Gertrude Lawrence as Anna, and a then mostly unknown Yul Brynner as the King. Brynner reprised the role twice on Broadway in 1977 and 1985.

1956 Film version

Main Article: The King and I (1956 film)

The musical was filmed in 1956 with Brynner re-creating his role opposite Deborah Kerr. Brynner won an Oscar as Best Actor for his portrayal, and Kerr was nominated as Best Actress. The singing voice for Anna in the film was provided by Marni Nixon.

Music

Well-known songs from the musical include "Whistle a Happy Tune," "Hello, Young Lovers," and "Shall We Dance?" Two songs omitted in the film-version -- "My Lord and Master" and "Shall I Tell You What I Think of You?" -- were nonetheless included in the commercial soundtrack recording. (Interestingly, the song "Western People Funny," sung by Lady Thiang in the stage version, appears in the film only as orchestral background music.) The most colorful number in the musical, both musically and visually (to Western audiences), is the ballet "Small House of Uncle Thomas," choreographed by Jerome Robbins.

Plot

Mrs. Anna Leonowens, a widow from Wales, arrives in Bangkok with her young son to teach English to the children of the royal household. She threatens to leave when the house she was promised in the contract is not available, but is dissuaded from doing so when the King presents to her his children. The King eventually honors his promise of a suitable house. He also very much wishes to absorb western knowledge, but is sometimes conflicted over how to reconcile western ways with his own.

Meanwhile, a new (literate) slave for the king named Tuptim -- a gift from the king of Burma -- befriends "Mrs. Anna" and borrows her copy of Uncle Tom's Cabin. She transforms it into the Siamese ballet Small House of Uncle Thomas, which is presented amidst the welcoming of emissaries from Great Britain, making it clear she is unhappy being a slave to the King. After the performance, when she tries to escape with her lover, she is apprehended. Anna prevents the King from beating her, causing him to run away in shame and hide away for weeks.

Anna, thinking that she can no longer be of any use, is just about to leave Siam when she is told that the King is dying. She decides to stay in order to help his young son, Crown Prince Chulalongkorn -- her favorite pupil -- to rule his people.

(Incidentally, the portrayal in the musical suggests that Anna and the King are attracted to each other -- as best demonstrated in the number "Shall We Dance?" -- but her British upbringing prevents her from joining his harem.)

Trivia

In Family Guy episode "The King Is Dead" Lois Griffin is named director of the Quahog Players theatre group production, and she decides to produce The King and I. However it turns out completely different from the original musical when Peter Griffin takes over the production.
In 2005 the musical version came fourth in a BBC Radio 2 listener poll of the "Nation's Number One Essential Musicals" (wherein Nation refers to the United Kingdom).

Related film and television versions

There are two non-musical films based upon this story. In 1946, Rex Harrison and Irene Dunne starred in the film Anna and the King of Siam. In 1999, 20th Century Fox released another film entitled Anna and the King
. This version starred Jodie Foster and Chow Yun-Fat. Also in 1999, an animated version of The King and I was released by Warner Bros.; it was also a musical, but except for using some of the songs, it was unrelated to the Rodgers and Hammerstein version. (Needless to say, there are considerable variations among the film versions of the story.)

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for The King and I ]

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