Anna and the King of Siam *** (1946, Irene Dunne, Rex Harrison, Linda Darnell) – Classic Movie Review 10,677

Director John Cromwell’s 1946 double Oscar-winning drama Anna and the King of Siam is the original non-musical version of the real-life tale of young English Victorian governess Anna Owens [Leonowens], who goes to Bangkok in 1862 to become royal tutor and rule the stern King Mongkut of Siam’s enormous brood.

Irene Dunn and Rex Harrison as Anna and the King scrap with wit and charm, it is good, iconic story, and Cromwell’s film looks superb, with deserved Oscars for Best Cinematography, Black-and-White (Arthur C Miller) and Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Black-and-White (Lyle R Wheeler, William S Darling, Thomas Little, Frank E Hughes). But longueurs arising from an extended running time of 128 minutes cast a slight shadow.

Talbot Jennings and Sally Benson’s screenplay is based on Margaret Landon’s biography book.

The material is now best known as the stage musical The King and I, 1956 film The King and I, and the 1999 cartoon The King and I, though it was re-filmed in 1999 as Anna and the King.

Also in the cast are Linda Darnell, Gale Sondergaard, Lee J Cobb, Mikhail Rasumny, Dennis Hoey, Tito Renaldo, Richard Lyon, William Edmunds, John Abbott, Leonard Strong, Mickey Roth, Connie Leon, Addison Richards and Ben Welden.

Bernard Herrmann was also Oscar nominated for Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture, as well as for Citizen Kane (1941), Taxi Driver (1976) and Obsession (1976), and won his sole Oscar for All That Money Can Buy (1941).

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 10,677

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