Week of June 20, 2007, Issue #609
FILM
There'll be a downpour of singin' this summer
CAROLYN NIKODYM / carolyn@vueweekly.com
The King and I presents a bit of conundrum for me. While there are moments of beauty and brilliance, on the whole I find it to be quite distasteful.
For those of you unfamiliar with the story—it tells the tale of Anna (Deborah Kerr), a young Welsh widow who travels to Thailand (then Siam) to teach the children of King Mongkut (Yul Brynner) in the 1860s. Based on Anna Leonowens's highly controversial memoirs, we watch as Anna is beseeched by the King to instruct all of them in the ways of the West. But Anna brings more ideas than he bargains for—causing one of his new slaves to embarrass him in public. It is worth noting that because of the historical inaccuracies of Leonowen's story, any incarnation of it is illegal in Thailand.
The film adaptation of Rogers and Hammerstein’s musical that opens up Edmonton Film Society’s latest program, Noteworthy Musicals on Jun 25, brought in a slew of Oscars, including one for Brynner’s performance. The problem for me, of course, lies in its conceit—that West is necessarily better, more civilized, than East.
Now, to be fair, the film was made in 1956, a time of vast change in the world, when many colonies were asserting their independence from Britain, France and the like. And so The King and I walks this line of new-found, but still infant, understanding of other cultures. It tries to not be Euro-centric, but ends up coming off naïve by today’s standards. The film was also made at a time when Hollywood was still casting white folks to play other races. (Curiously, The King doesn’t follow this rule to the letter in casting the children.)
Deborah Kerr—whom I don’t recall ever having watched before—is quite stunning as Anna, though. She has the same wholesomeness that Doris Day had, but she isn’t as ‘50s housewife-ish as Day. And when she dives into “Getting to Know You,” you realize why her voice sounded so familiar in the first place.
I have to admit, though, when I heard Yul Brynner ham a pensive king through “A Puzzlement,” I wondered what kind of magic spell he cast upon the Academy to win his Oscar. His singing is—well, it is terrible! Nonetheless, he captured the spirit of the role as it was written, making King Mongkut a lively and likeable man. I probably don’t have to tell you, after the long intro, how I felt about the role, though.
There is one exquisite moment to The King and I, however, and that is the ostensibly Thai ballet adaptation of Uncle Tom’s Cabin—although I am not sure Harriet Beecher Stowe would agree with me. Both the costuming and the movement are a joy to watch. It is also in this show that we see how Hammerstein likely grappled with how to portray the differences between Thai and British cultures fairly.
The rest of the films in the series lineup aren’t as fraught with controversy, however, and offer a wonderful opportunity to either rediscover some classics or go see what all the fuss is about.
The Student Prince (Jul 9) might not be controversial, but there were some difficult egos to placate in its making. Mario Lanza, who offers his considerable singing voice—he was able to record the soundtrack in single takes—to Prince Karl was apparently meant to star in the film. But when fired director Curtis Bernhardt told Lanza on set to tone down his acting, to be more subtle, Lanza informed Bernhardt that he was only to direct acting and that Lanza’s singing was Lanza’s department. He ended up walking off the set and vowed not to return as long as Bernhardt was around. The studio sued Lanza and recast the acting portion of the role to Edmund Purdom. The irony, of course, was that by the end of filming, Bernhardt was no longer director, and new director Richard Thorpe went on to have a positive working relationship with Lanza in The Great Caruso.
But what about the actual film, you ask? Well, it tells the story of an arrogant young prince who is sent off to college to get some down-home education, to see how common folk live.
While the film itself is rather formulaic, the singing by both Lanza and Ann Blythe—who plays the prince’s love interest—will send any lover of musicals over the moon.
Darling Lili (Jul 30), the newest film in the series, woos us with Julie Andrews’s stunning voice and twinkly eyes. While a bomb at the box office, some believe that its failure was more a sign of the times than a sign of its quality. The film boasts the compositions of Henry Mancini and tells a light-hearted spin on the Mata Hari tale.
Directed by husband Blake Edwards, Andrews plays Lili Smith, a spy during the Second World War who ends up falling for her target Major Larabee (Rock Hudson). But like every spy movie—even musical ones—not everyone is who they say that they are.
The series closes with the classic Singin’ in the Rain (Aug 27). Dubbed the best musical ever made by some critics, it tells the story of two actors (and lovers) needing to make the transition from silent pictures to talkies. Except that the movie they’re making is going to be a musical. Don Lockwood (Gene Kelly, who also co-directs) can sing, while his partner Lina (Jean Hagen) can’t. When the studio brings in Kathy (Debbie Reynolds), there is trouble in Hollywood paradise, and a love triangle develops.
I don’t know if Singin’ in the Rain is the best musical—I’d probably reserve that for The Sound of Music—but if you haven’t seen Gene Kelly on screen, this is a perfect opportunity. He positively oozes charisma. V
Most Mondays Jun 25 - Aug 27 (8 pm)
Noteworthy Musicals
Various directors and actors
Royal Alberta Museum, $5