Anna and the King of Siam

More serious and less colorful than The King And I, Anna And The King Of Siam is still a well-crafted and elaborate spectacle. Leonowens (Irene Dunne) and her son travel to the tiny kingdom of Siam, where she has been hired to teach Western ways and culture to the multitudes of children sired by ...more

Released in 1946, this is the first of four films based on material from the book by Margaret Landon about Anna Leonowens, a 19th-century schoolteacher who becomes a governess to the King of Siam's many children. Irene Dunne and Rex Harrison are the leads in this historical drama that is a faithful adaptation of real-life events, hindered somewhat by the casting of the obviously very Western Harrison as a Siamese monarch. It would be 53 years later before filmmakers approached the material ...more