Cheap Anna and the King of Siam (Video) (Irene Dunne, Rex Harrison, Linda Darnell) (John Cromwell) Price

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Customer Reviews of Anna and the King of Siam

A first-rate adaptation of Margaret Landon's book
NOTE: Despite what the Video Description says, this is NOT the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical version. However, as much as I enjoy "The King and I", I prefer this version of the peculiar and dramatic story of how "East Meets West" in 19th century Siam. Rex Harrison, the quintessential Englishman, gives a surprisingly effective performance as the King of Siam, who wishes to modernize his country, and Irene Dunne is strong yet feminine as Anna. The movie focuses on some of the more brutal aspects of the caste system in Siam, with some really excellent understated supporting performances by Lee J. Cobb as the Kralahome (the King's Prime Minister), Gale Sondergaard as Lady Thiang (the King's first wife), and Linda Darnell as Tuptim. It's certainly well worth purchasing and a terrific drama to add to one's video library. I recommend it highly!!

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Sturdy adapatation of a popular book
Interesting, surprisingly lavish black-and-white filming of the same story which later became of the basis for the musical "The King and I". Irene Dunne is, as always, warm and intelligent, and she looks charming in ruffled hoopskirts. Rex Harrison was an off-beat choice for the King, but with his lean, upright bearing, he perhaps more strongly suggests an Asian monarch than does Yul Brenner's swaggering, bare-chested bully in "The King and I". The secondary casting is strong, also, with Gale Sonnergard particularly touching in the reserved role of the King's neglected # 1 wife. And lavishly costumed Linda Darnell gets most of the plot's histrionics to play out. (She also has to tangle with a scene-stealing monkey.)

This is the rare film that actually looks better "live" than it does in still photographs, in which things appear rather stilted. The developing interplay between Dunne and Harrison is intriguing, with its hint of romantic tension, but the film really does not hang together as a drama very well, and toward the end it falls into the conventions of the "school-teacher-struggles- through-the-years" genre which Hollywood often tackled (eg., "Cheers for Miss Bishop", "Good Morning Miss Dove", et al).

It will be interesting to compare this version with Jodie Foster's upcoming remake. Recent scholarship has revealed the real-life Anna to have been something of an adventuress who fudged her credentials and overstated her impact on the King. (The cleaned-up book upon which this film is based reads like juvenile fiction, by the way. I've read it.) Likewise, the real-life Thai Monarch was a much more refined and forward-thinking leader than either of the film versions thus far would lead a viewer to believe.

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a wonderful film based on a great book
One of the best books I have ever read is Margaret Landon's true story of Anna Leonowens, who at the age of 33, went to Siam as a governess to tutor the king's children. A widow of incredible courage and talent, her story is moving as well adventurous, and this film is a marvelous adaptation of Anna's time in that strange and foreign land, with her small son to take care of.
Landon's book of course also inspired the terrific Rodgers and Hammerstein musical and the film starring Deborah Kerr and Yul Brynner, as well as the far less successful 1999 remake.

Rex Harrison, in his first film for an American studio is riveting as King Mongkut; it's a sensitive and insightful portrayal, with his beautiful voice and enunciation making the most of the intelligent script, and Irene Dunne is a strong and wonderful Anna. These were the days when Caucasian actors took the parts of Asians, and we have some excellent supporting parts taken by Lee J. Cobb as Prime Minister Kralahome, Linda Darnell as Tuptim, and Gale Sondergaard, who received a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination as Lady Thiang.
Oscars were given for Best Art Direction, and to Leon Shamroy for his fabulous cinematography, and nominations were for score (Bernard Herrmann) and screenplay.

The excellence and charisma of its two stars and their chemistry together are great to watch, and anyone who likes Landon's book as much as I do will appreciate this film. Total running time is 128 minutes.