92: The KING AND I
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(Year refers to British release)
Running Time: 132 minutes
Colour
Estimated Attendance: 8.2 million
What they said at the time...
Synopsis
In 1862 Anna Leonowens, widow of a British army officer, arrives in Bangkok as governess to the children of the King of Siam. Her independent spirit at first angers the King, who repudiates his agreement to provide her with a house of her own outside the palace walls. Gradually, however, the King begins to depend on her advice and Anna increasingly sympathises with him in his attempts to "civilise" himself and his people, to come to terms with Western habits and ideas. Afraid that the British may regard him as a barbarian, the King enlists Anna's help in organising a state banquet on the occasion of the British Ambassador's visit. But Anna's affection for the King is shattered when he threatens brutally to flog one of his wives, who has been recaptured after escaping from the palace with her lover. She intervenes, saving the girl, but the incident breaks the King's spirit. Anna is preparing to leave Bangkok when she learns that the King is dying. She agrees to remain, to instruct the new ruler of Siam, the young crown prince.
Review
The King and I, the second of Fox's CinemaScope 55 musicals, follows the pattern established by Carousel. The trend now is away from the film musical in its own right, as developed by Minnelli, Gene Kelly and others, and towards productions that are essentially screen versions of successful stage shows. The conception is static, the numbers are used to punctuate the action rather than as a natural extension of it, the emphasis is on elaborate decor. Much of The King and I is agreeable to look at, in a style that might perhaps be described as Oriental wedding-cake, and the costumes, by Irene Sharaff, are rich and gay. The material itself wears well, exhibiting the customary Rodgers and Hammerstein flair for exploiting the unlikely scene and situation, and the story of the Victorian lady and the sympathetic barbarian, though sentimentalised in this version, still has its charm. The film gains notably from the authoritative, strong and sympathetic playing of Yul Brynner; in contrast, Deborah Kerr's Anna appears a rather frail version of the indomitable Victorian heroine.
In these musicals, songs count for more than dances. The ballet set-piece, the Siamese interpretation of Uncle Tom's Cabin, is intermittently inventive in choreography and design; two numbers, the first entry of the Siamese royal children and the captivating "Shall We Dance?" are handled with a pleasantly light sentiment. But the film, like its predecessor, is in the long run simply too large and weighty for its material: gaiety has something of a struggle to survive.
Synopsis and Review from Monthly Film Bulletin Vol.23 No.272 September 1956 p.114
The Monthly Film Bulletin was published by the BFI between 1934 and 1991. Initially aimed at distributors and exhibitors as well as filmgoers, it carried reviews and details of all UK film releases. In 1991, the Bulletin was incoporated into Sight and Sound magazine.
