1956
| Director | Walter Lang |
| Producer | Charles Brackett |
| Production Company | 20th Century Fox |
| Release Date | June 28th, 1956 |
| Cast | Deborah Kerr (Anna Leonowens), Yul Brunner (King Mongkut of Siam), Rita Moreno (Tuptim), Terry Saunders (Lady Thiang), Martin Benson (Kralahome), Rex Thompson (Louis Leonowens), Patrick Adiarte (Prince Chulalongkorn), Alan Mowbray (Sir John Hay), Geoffrey Toone (Sir Edward Ramsay), Carlos Rivas (Lun Tha), Maria McClay (Royal Wife) |
This American musical film was based on the 1951 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical of the same name, based in turn on the 1944 novel “Anna and the King of Siam” by Margaret Landon. That novel in turn was based on memoirs written by Anna Leonowens, who became school teacher to the children of King Mongkut of Siam in the early 1860s. No Thai actors were cast into any main character roles, although a few roles were given to Philippine-American and Chinese-American actors, and Brynner was of part East-Asian ancestry.
A widowed schoolteacher, Anna, arrives in Bangkok with her young son, Louis, after being summoned to tutor the many children of King Mongkut. Both are introduced to the intimidating Kralahome, Siam’s prime minister, who escorts them to the Royal Palace, where they will live, although Anna had been promised her own house. The King ignores her objections and introduces her to his head wife, Lady Thiang. Anna also meets a recent concubine, a young Burmese, Tuptim, and the fifteen children she will tutor, including his son and heir, Prince Chulalongkorn. In conversation with the other wives, Anna learns Tuptim is in love with Lun Tha, who brought her to Siam.
Anna still wants her own house and teaches the children about the virtues of home life, to the King’s irritation, who disapproves of the influence of other cultures. She comes across Lun Tha and learns that he has been meeting Tuptim in secret. He asks her to arrange a rendezvous. The lovers meet under cover of darkness, and Lun Tha promises he will one day return to Siam and that they will escape together.
Maria appears as one of the Royal wives in various scenes throughout the movie.
Scenes Featuring Maria
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