The lyrics for that scene proved to be very difficult for Hammerstein to write. Deborah Kerr and Yul Brynner in The King and I Deborah Kerr and Yul Brynner in the film The King and I (1956). Hammerstein wrote a new lyric for the melody, and the resulting song became "Getting to Know You". A hit London run and U.S. national tour followed, together with a 1956 film for which Brynner won an Academy Award, and the musical was recorded several times. After expressing her unhappiness at being with the King, the slave decides to make an attempt to escape with her lover. [57] The cast featured Valerie Hobson, in her last role, as Anna;[73] Herbert Lom as the King; and Muriel Smith as Lady Thiang. Brynner stated, "It is not a play, it is a happening. Mr. Sher is no strong-armed revisionist. [25], With Rodgers laid up with back trouble, Hammerstein completed most of the musical's book before many songs were set to music. "[145] The production was nominated for nine Tony Awards, winning four, including Best Revival of a Musical, Best Leading Actress (for O'Hara), Best Featured Actress (for Miles) and best costume design (for Zuber),[146] and won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revival. Even its shadows are lightened with a laugh or a sweetly sentimental tear we can even be persuaded to take death as a happy ending". At the age of 52, she was required to wear dresses weighing 75 pounds (34kg) while walking or dancing a total of 4 miles (6.4km) during a 3 hour performance eight times a week. The night after I left the show to go into Paint Your Wagon, Yul Brynner gave me house seats and I saw her from the front and I was so taken by her. Anna goes to him and finds him anxious for reconciliation. Robbins was very enthusiastic about the project and asked to choreograph the other musical numbers as well, although Rodgers and Hammerstein had originally planned little other dancing. Drama. They won at least 5 Oscars but not the Best Picture Is it possible to read Anna Leonowens' memoir online? The show therefore comes across as something of a charade with everyone pretending to be dealing with a fearsome potentate who, in fact, is displaying very little personality at all. [157][159] Thai officials judged the film offensive to their monarchy and banned both film and musical in 1956. Nolan, p. 208. Yul Brynner played the king in the Broadway production and then in the film version with co-star Deborah Kerr, whose singing was dubbed. Anna stands her ground and insists on the letter of her contract, threatening to leave Siam, much to the dismay of wives and children. Richard Watts in the New York Post termed it "[a]nother triumph for the masters". [13] Rodgers and Hammerstein were also concerned about writing a star vehicle. She noted a "still pertinent theme: the dissonant dynamic when Western civilization tries to assert its values on ancient Eastern cultures. They had preferred to make stars rather than hire them, and engaging the legendary Gertrude Lawrence would be expensive. All the ingredients that made Rodgers & Hammerstein's [1951] The King and I a memorable stage experience have been faithfully transferred to the screen. [130] Later in the run, Lee was replaced as the King by Paul Nakauchi. A new film adaptation of Rodgers and Hammerstein's musical about the unconventional relationship that develops between the King of Siam and Anna Leonowens, a British schoolteacher whom the King brings to teach his many wives and children.