Hindsight

Classic Kids, or 100 films the kids in your life have to see by 13 or else!

Day 28:  The King and I

With the beautiful Roger and Hammerstein songs, The King and I (1956) is already quite a treat; but add in Yul Brynner (who won an Oscar for his portrayal) and Deborah Kerr, and you are in for something truly special.  There are so many scenes that stand out, but my brother Johnny and I always enjoyed the "shall we dance, one, two three and" number.  Some scenes get a tad corny, but that's sort of fun, right?

Trivia:  This was the fifth musical by the team of composer Richard Rodgers and dramatist Oscar Hammerstein II.

The stage version ran for three years and now stands as the 4th longest running show in Broadway history.  The film was equally sucessful winning an Oscar for Yul Brynner and doing extremely well at the box office.

The stage and movie production are based on the 1944 novel Anna and the King of Siam by Margaret Landon.  Landon derived the idea from the diaries of Anna Leonowens, a governess to the children of King of Siam in the 1860s.  In fact, the movie version of Anna and the King of Siam is on Turner Classic movies tonight, might be fun to see this first and compare versions.

Themes:  Power, Equality, Kindness, Law, Learning, Uncle Tom's Cabin

Media literacy questions for kids:  How might the film version be different than the Broadway production?  What period is the musical meant to portray?  Why was this film shot in Cinemascope 55?