This famed musical is brought to life with wonderful performances by Deborah Kerr (AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER) and Yul Brynner (THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN).
Kerr plays Anna Leonowens, an English schoolteacher brought to Siam by the king (Brynner) to teach his children and his wives. Their relationship starts out rocky due to a clash of cultures, but they warm to each other as Anna learns the true heart of King Mongkut and he learns what a woman can really teach a man.
Brynner steals every scene he is in. He commands the screen and makes us forget that Hollywood during the 1950s felt any “ethnic” looking actor could be interchangeable as any ethnicity.
Tension arises when the King’s chief advisor Kralahome (British actor Martin Benson [ANGELA’S ASHES] who is the least convincing actor ever cast as an Asian) disapproves of the new idea’s Anna is feeding into the head of the king and young Prince Chulalongkorn (Patrick Adiarte, FLOWER DRUM SONG). Likewise, Anna and the king butt heads over the slave-like treatment of his young wife Tuptim (Rita Moreno, WEST SIDE STORY), who is really in love with Burmese messenger Lun Tha (Carlos Rivas, TRUE GRIT). Both Moreno and Rivas pass as Siamese okay. No more a problem than Natalie Wood passing as a Puerto Rican in WEST SIDE STORY.
The sets are colorful and the production grand for its time. The film is only hampered by slow pacing, which bloats the film to 2 1/2 hours, and some songs that could have been livened up with more dancing. Some scenes seem dead on their feet when they should be springing from the screen.
However, when Kerr and Brynner are on the screen together the film erupts with energy. The songs are good and well performed. The main dance number between Anna and the king is magnificent. The sexual tension and romance in that scene is thick, but subtle. All the good will of that scene earns the melodramatic ending, which comes quick. In the end, the film holds up pretty well, driven by an unforgettable performance from Yul Brynner.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
