The King and I (1956)

Nominated for 9 Academy Awards:

Best Picture

Best Director: Walter Lang

Best Actor: Yul Brynner (WON)

Best Actress: Deborah Kerr

Best Cinematography, Color

Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture (WON)

Best Art Direction, Color (WON)

Best Costume Design, Color (WON)

Best Sound, Recording (WON)

 

The King and I is a musical I knew no songs from as I started seeing it for the first time, and I can’t say I remember more than (partly) one, now that I’ve finished it, but it still remains a charming and delightful film. It was a huge box-office success, did well with critics, and it was based on a Broadway hit. Even so, things could’ve gone wrong, but it feels like they didn’t.

What stood out were the amazing production values. The production design and the costumes are superb, and so is the cinematography. You can see the investment, since everything looks and sounds gorgeous. I can’t say that Brynner deserved his win, but he is very charismatic and has a lot of chemistry with Deborah Kerr.

It’s a very 1950s musical, that also works as an almost-love story.

 

I give it: 8/10

IMDB LINK