After another viewing of this well-produced 1946 Fox effort, what I'm most struck by is how closely Oscar Hammerstein II adhered to the Talbot Jennings-Sally Benson screenplay in turning the material into "The King and I." There are marked differences: The death of Louis (a 10-second horseback accident scene, not much is made of it), the darker character and fate of Tuptim, the reduction of Lun Tha to a cameo. But so much fine character writing I'd attributed to Hammerstein originates here: the king's "et cetera," the evolving relationships of Anna with the king and the Kralahome, whole swatches of dialogue. The growing warm feeling between Anna and the king stops short of romance, depriving us of that thrilling moment in "Shall We Dance?" when forbidden love rears its head. Yes, it's a pretty much all-white cast, and Harrison exudes less heat than Yul Brynner, and much of the cast isn't even made up to look particularly Asian. But if you can step past the abiding racist casting of the day, you'll find a penetrating character study and an eye-filling production, and a touchingly illustrated dilemma in its monarch's struggle to embrace both science and tradition. Among the cast, Gale Sondergaard's dignified Lady Thiang stands out, and Lee J. Cobb's Kralahome exudes authority while negotiating a difficult character arc. Complain about the Western casting and European-superiority attitudes all you want, this is a fine movie.
Review of Anna and the King of Siam
