I'm not an Irene Dunne fan, and this movie didn't really change my mind about her. She plays Anna Leonowens, and yet she still speaks in her slightly Southern twang. She has all her usual mannerisms, expressions, and deliveries, which don't make for a believable character in the 1800s. Sometimes, silver screen period pieces were very convincing, but Anna and the King of Siam definitely retained its 1946 feeling. Hoop skirts and pretty set design weren't enough, and not just because of Irene Dunne. Let's address the elephant in the room: white actors pretending to be Siamese. This movie was made in 1946, and that's just the way things were done back then. So, Rex Harrison plays the King of Siam, Gale Sondergaard plays his Number One wife, Linda Darnell is Tuptim, and Lee J. Cobb plays a trusted advisor. While Gale is moderately convincing, Lee should never have been cast. He's a great character actor, but not while playing another ethnicity. Linda is beautiful and voluptuous, and this isn't the only time she plays someone "of color". While we can't change the choices made back then, sometimes it just feels silly to watch these movies. Then again, ten years later, had Hollywood really changed? A Russian actor played the King of Siam, and Rita Moreno played Tuptim.
The actors themselves certainly weren't at fault, though, especially because at that time, if they refused a role, they were suspended from the studio without pay for six months! Paul Muni's career came to a screeching halt when he complained about being cast as different ethnicities; he didn't make a movie for nearly fifteen years. With that preface, I'm going to compliment Rex Harrison. As the king, it was one of the only sympathetic roles of his career. I felt so sorry for him, as he didn't understand the culture clash and why he was being left behind by the modern world. He wanted the best for the future of his country, but he was scared his son would be a better ruler than him. Through him, I really saw the character fleshed out, as opposed to Yul Brynner's shirtless, sexy strut that didn't give much chance for inner feelings showing through.
The actors themselves certainly weren't at fault, though, especially because at that time, if they refused a role, they were suspended from the studio without pay for six months! Paul Muni's career came to a screeching halt when he complained about being cast as different ethnicities; he didn't make a movie for nearly fifteen years. With that preface, I'm going to compliment Rex Harrison. As the king, it was one of the only sympathetic roles of his career. I felt so sorry for him, as he didn't understand the culture clash and why he was being left behind by the modern world. He wanted the best for the future of his country, but he was scared his son would be a better ruler than him. Through him, I really saw the character fleshed out, as opposed to Yul Brynner's shirtless, sexy strut that didn't give much chance for inner feelings showing through.