The King and I

In the 1860s the English teacher Anna Leonowens arrives in Bangkok to teach the king of Siam's children. The king wants both to imitate the west and to keep it out; he wants his children taught science but will not have his own authority questioned. A four-year conflict begins between them. The subject is not love but both sides being certain they are right. Anna wants a promise kept, the king defends his tradition; the film does not entirely vindicate either, but the point of view stays wholly with Anna, which is its real problem now. The form is major studio musical: broad sets, crowded choreography and saturated colour. The dance in the ballroom is its best-known image. The songs are Rodgers and Hammerstein's. The odd thing about the production is whose voices are heard. Deborah Kerr plays the part but Marni Nixon sings for her; Nixon did the same work on many films of the period and was not credited. Yul Brynner had played the role on Broadway for years and won an Oscar for the film. Its status in Thailand is a separate matter: the production was banned there for depicting the royal family contrary to fact, and the ban held for a long time. Walter Lang directs. Rita Moreno is in the cast. Who it is for: viewers who like classical Hollywood musicals. Who it is not for: anyone troubled by its representation of the east; the objection is fair and the film is indefensible on that count.