Anna and the King of Siam
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Anna and the King of Siam | |
|---|---|
| Image:Anna and the King of Siam 1946 film.jpg Anna and the King of Siam DVD cover | |
| Directed by | John Cromwell |
| Produced by | Louis D. Lighton |
| Starring | Irene Dunne Rex Harrison Linda Darnell |
| Music by | Bernard Herrmann |
| Distributed by | Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation |
| Release date(s) | June 20, 1946 (U.S. release) |
| Running time | 128 min |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
Anna and the King of Siam is a 1944 book by Margaret Landon, a play and a 1946 movie directed by John Cromwell. Based on the diaries of Anna Leonowens, a British governess in the Royal Court of Siam (now modern Thailand) during the 1860s, the story mainly concerns the culture clash of the Imperialist Victorian values of the British Empire with the autocratic rule of Siam's King Mongkut. The successful film starred Rex Harrison as the king and Irene Dunne as Anna.
The story was adapted by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II into a Broadway musical, and subsequent Academy Award-winning film, entitled The King and I.
American Film Director Andy Tennant remade the film in 1999 as Anna and the King, starring Jodie Foster and Chow Yun-Fat.
[edit] Summary of the film
Anna Owens (Irene Dunne) and her son Louis (Richard Lyon) arrive in Bangkok in 1862 to tutor the King's children. She believes she is sufficiently acquainted with Asian customs to know what is proper in Siam, having read a book summarizing same. However, when the Kralahome or Prime Minister (Lee J. Cobb) comes out to welcome her, he asks her a number of personal questions, and she does not know that this is common courtesy in Siam. Her letter from the King asking her to come to Siam includes a promise that she will have a house of her own away from the Palace, but the Kralahome says she will have to stay in the harem for now (although she'll have a private room there).
Anna goes to the Kralahome's office the next day and apologizes for her misunderstanding, asking him to introduce her to the King so she can get the house business straightened out and start her school. He says it is New Year in Siam and the King is busy with many festivities and ceremonies, but he will work her into the schedule. When he does so, he tells her that it is polite to prostrate oneself before the King; Anna refuses, and says she will bow as she would to her own Queen.
Mongkut (Rex Harrison) challenges her with personal questions; she responds with nonsense answers. Liking her spirit, he introduces her to his many wives and his 67 children, asking that she instruct the wives in English as well as the kids. She is enchanted, but reminds him that he promised her a house. He refuses to remember that he promised such a thing and insists she live in the palace, where she will be more accessible in case students (or himself) have questions. When she insists, she is shown a sleazy house in the fishmarket, but rejects it and stays in the palace, starting her school there. Lady Thiang, the head wife (Gale Sondergaard) knows English and translates. Among other things, Anna teaches proverbs and songs about promises and home or houses. Soon even the royal secretary is singing "There's No Place Like Home" under his breath as he works.
Meanwhile the Kralahome comes in and tells Mongkut that Cambodia, once a part of Siam, has sold out to the French, who have established a protectorate. The King says his plan is to hold onto Siam, to save what he can. He finally cedes to Anna on the matter of the house; she likes it but plans to leave. However, the Kralahome tells her to stay, because Mongkut is a complex man who needs her influence.
Mongkut begins summoning Anna in the middle of the night to discuss how the Bible should be interpreted, and other scholarly matters. On the way back from one of these sessions, she discovers a chained slave with a baby. This is L'Ore, who belongs to Lady Tuptim (Linda Darnell), the new favorite. Tuptim is very young and very bitter about being brought to the Palace and shut up behind the walls, even though the King likes her. She refuses to let L'Ore go, even though L'Ore's husband has offered to pay for her. As he has done several times in the past, Crown Prince Chulalongkorn (Tito Renaldo) questions her about these matters, but she puts him off. Lady Thiang, the crown prince's mother, is concerned, but Anna gives her the brush-off too, saying they will talk "later, when she has time".
Anna tells the King about L'Ore, reminding him that it's his own law that slaves must be freed if the money is offered. This law protects all, and the King asks Queen Victoria is above the law. Anna explains that she isn't, and neither is President Lincoln. She tells about the fight against slavery in America, and about the Civil War. He writes to Lincoln offering to send pairs of elephants that can be used as army transport (an actual incident); Lincoln writes back, thanking him for the offer but explaining that elephants wouldn't do well in American climates. Tuptim shows Anna a jeweled glass pomegranate the King gave her for freeing her slave, but then believes that the King listened to Anna about this, not to her. "If I am not first here, what is left for me?"
Mongkut expects English visitors and asks Anna to dress some of his prettiest wives in European style and to provide English-style decor and utensils to show that he is not a barbarian. Much is at stake -- foreign papers have written very biased things about Siam, and England is thinking about establishing a protectorate. Anna suggests that the King invite consuls to come from other countries at the same time. The party is a great success, combining English, European and Siamese traditions and convincing the visitors that Siam is indeed a civilized nation with a very old and very proud history.
Lady Tuptim, who's been missing for some time, is found in a Buddhist temple, disguised as a young man. She is put on trial and explains; she couldn't stand being shut up, and so disguised herself and went to the monastery because she had nowhere else to go. She was accepted as a novice and studied with Phra Palat, her former fiance, who'd taken holy vows when Tuptim was presented to the king. No one believes that she was simply in disguise and that Phra Palat had no idea who she was.
Anna runs to the King and begs his help, but he's very insulted that Anna even knows about what happened -- it's a private matter as well as something that harms his dignity. Anna unwisely loses her temper and tells the king he has no heart and that he's a barbarian. Protesting her innocence and Phra Palat's, Tuptim is burned at the stake, and he with her.
Anna has had enough. She says goodbye to the children. The royal wives read her a letter pleading with her to stay. Lady Thiang is disappointed with Anna, explains her life story through the illustrations on her wallpaper, and says that the crown prince may not grow up to be a good king if Anna doesn't stay to educate him. At the same time, Anna's own son dies in a riding accident. The Kralahome comes to her and reads a proclamation from the King granting the child royal funeral honours. He explains that the King does this by way of apology for what happened with Tuptim. But when the King asks Anna to continue secretarial duties, she says "It's the children I want," and goes on with her school.
The British open a consulate in 1865, the French in 1867, and the USA in 1870. Many years pass, and the crown prince is now a young man. Anna is summoned to the bedside of the King, who is dying. The King says that Anna spoke the truth to him and was a good influence on the children. He expresses his gratitude and dies. The Kralahome asks Anna to stay and help the prince. When Chulalongkorn is crowned, his first act is to abolish the prostration, so that everyone can respect each other and work together.
[edit] Trivia
This film takes extreme liberties with the facts even as presented by the not always truthful Anna Leonowens.
- Anna was born in India, and was well acquainted with Asian custom. She would have known that personal questions are a matter of courtesy all through Asia -- they show an interest in the person's health and well-being.
- Anna was engaged only to teach English. The children had other teachers for different subjects.
- The story of Lady Tuptim is out of Anna's book Romance of the Harem and was put together from bits of palace gossip. It is not factual. There is no precedent for an unfaithful wife to be burned at the stake, or beheaded, as in the 1999 version of this story. Furthermore, Mongkut had instituted a law statnig that if a girl were unhappy with harem life, and if she had no children, she could return to her family with no disgrace. Twelve ladies did so.
- Some of the changes in the laws popularly attributed to Chulalongkorn were actually made by Mongkut, and a few were made by Mongkut's father.
- Mongkut really did write a letter to Washington offering elephants, but addressed the letter to President Buchanan during the last month of his term, along with some presents. (He actually wrote to Buchanan "or to whomsoever the people have elected anew as Chief ruler in place of President Buchanan".) The response, dated a year later, came from Lincoln. [1] Text of the actual letter
- One of the few details every film or theatrical portrayal of Mongkut has gotten right is his use of "&c., &c., &c."; he even used it in the announcement of his daughter's death.
- The issue of English-style utensils at the dinner party is extremely debatable. Some sources report that Mongkut had actually banned these items. Even if Mongkut had provided English utensils just for the party, he would have known to use a spoon for soup, because a Chinese spoon was traditionally used for soup in Siam at that time. [2]
- The Siamese theatricals presented at the dinner party are accompanied by music that is not Siamese, but Balinese. The characteristic sounds of a gamelan orchestra are unmistakable. Furthermore, the piece is in a style known as gong kebyar, which didn't exist in the 1860s.
- Anna's son did not die, but became a soldier in the Siamese army, then an extremely successful merchant and entrepreneur. It was the King's favorite daughter, Crown Princess Chandrmondol (or Fa-Ying, Heavenly Princess) who died at the age of eight years, during Anna's stay there. This is depicted in the 1999 film, albeit inaccurately; Anna states in her memoirs that she was summoned by Mongkut to say goodbye to the Fa-Ying, but got there too late.
- Anna wasn't in Siam when Mongkut died; she was home on leave. Chulalongkorn wrote to her thanking her for her service but he didn't invite her to return.
- Prince Chulalongkorn was only fifteen when Mongkut died, and his regent was Si Suriyawongse.
