A royal return of ‘King’ to theaters
Celebrating its 60th anniversary, Walter Lang’s 1956 film adaptation of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “The King and I” returns to the big screen this week in its opulent Cinemascope majesty.
The lavish and boisterous 20th Century Fox musical will screen in theaters nationwide for two days as part of Fathom Events and Turner Classic Movies’ TCM Big Screen Classics series.
Set in Bangkok in 1862, it’s a romance built upon the odd-couple pairing of the King of Siam and the widowed British governess he hires to educate the royal children. Anchored by Yul Brynner’s career-defining performance as the haughty, arrogant King, the film won five Academy Awards, including lead actor and musical score, and was nominated for four more.
As a musical, it’s best remembered for numbers such as “Getting to Know You” and “Shall We Dance?,” the latter of which finds Brynner and Deborah Kerr (whose singing voice was dubbed by Marni Nixon) sweeping elegantly across the palace floor.
Though Rodgers and Hammerstein’s musical represents a liberal-minded plea for tolerance, crosscultural understanding and gender equality, “The King and I” is also inescapably an imperialist fantasy couched in racial stereotype. The Russian-American Brynner played King Mongkut in “yellowface,” and the film traffics in false caricatures of progressive Western gentility and uncivilized Eastern chauvinism.
For TCM host Ben Mankiewicz, who will provide commentary before and after the feature, the stereotypes are “a valid concern,” but the film remains a movie musical landmark. “Fox made some pretty good musicals too, and this is evidence of it. For many people, this movie resonates — the moment of ‘Shall We Dance?’ when Brynner decides to put his hand on Deborah Kerr’s waist — that’s a moment people remember.”