Anna Leonowens and the King - fact or fiction? Anna Leonowens Anna Leonowens is world famous as the governess in the court of Siam due to the popularity of the musical The King and I. Many people believed that they were watching a true story. Not only regarding the antics of the king but also the importance of Anna in the court. The film, starring Yul Brynner, so insulted the Thai people, that it was banned from being shown in Thailand on grounds of historical and cultural distortions. Now, a remake of the movie is being planned. Can Hollywood make amends for past misdeeds or will history repeat itself? Anna Leonowens and the King - FACT OR FICTION? New light has thrown doubt on the authenticity of not only the story but also of Anna's background. FICTION What Anna told about her life FACT What historians now believe Her name was Anna Crawford, born in Wales, on November 5, 1834. Her name was Anna Edwards, born in India in 1831. Her father was Captain Thomas Crawford, who died during a Sikh uprising in India when Anna was just 6 years old. Anna and her sister were at school in Wales at the time.

Her father was Thomas Edwards, a cabinet maker who enlisted in the Bombay infantry. He died three months before Anna was born and her mother re-married to a corporal in the Engineers. Anna and her sister were sent to school in England. Anna and her sister moved to India on the completion of their education at the age of 14 or 15. Anna and her sister returned to India on the completion of their education at the age of 14 or 15. Her step-father wanted to marry her off to a man twice her age. To escape this situation, she went on a long tour of the middle east with the Reverand Percy Badger. Her step-father wanted to marry her off to a man twice her age. To escape this situation, she went on a long tour of the middle east with the Reverand Percy Badger. On her return she eloped, at the age of 17, to marry an army captain named Thomas Leonowens. On her return she married, at the age of 18, a clerk called Thomas Leon Owens. They lived in London for a while before, Thomas Leonowens, now a major, was posted to Singapore.

Whilst there, Anna learned that the money that her father had left her had all been lost during the Indian Mutiny. Thomas Owens had difficulty in keeping a job and they moved around a lot. They had two children called Louis and Avis. Major Thomas Leonowens suffered sunstroke on a tiger hunt and later died leaving Anna with two small children and no money. Thomas Owens died of apoplexy in Penang, Malaya. Anna moved to Singpaore. Friends rallied round to help and she began a small school for officers' children. Her daughter Avis was sent back to England. Whilst in Singpaore she received the invitation to go to Siam (now Thailand). Friends rallied round to help and she began a small school for officers' children. Her daughter Avis was sent back to England. Whilst in Singpaore she received the invitation to go to Siam (now Thailand). In Bangkok It proved easy for historians to demolish Anna as a trustworthy historian because both her books are filled with glaring errors. Even the title of the most famous is inaccurate for, as King Mongkut's correspondence makes clear, she was hired not as a governess, which implies a broad range of duties, but merely as a teacher of English.

In the text she makes elementary blunders regarding Thailand's past, offers an explanation of buddhism that is either hopelessly confused or shamelessly lifted from other writers, and identifies a picture of Prince Chulalongkorn (her most prominent student) as that being of a princess. Though she claims to have spoken fluent Thai, most of her the examples she offers are incomprehensible even with all possible allowances made for clumsy transliterations. Her worst errors occur in The Romance of the Harem, when, one historian suggests, "her store of pertinent facts were running low." In this she claims that the king threw wives who displeased him into underground dungeons below the Grand Palace and, most horrific, that he ordered the public tourture and burning of the consort and a monk with whom she had fallen in love, a spectacle Anna claims to have witnessed with her own eyes. But there were no underground dungeons at the Grand Palace or anywhere else in Bangkok, and there could not have been in that watery soil. Nor was there any public burning, or, if there was, it escaped the attention of every other foreign resident, many of whom also wrote accounts of the same period.

Anna simply invented such tales, perhaps to add some spice to what would otherwise have been a rather tepid work, just as she also exaggerated her own influence. The Truth About Anna Anna claimed she was born in Wales in 1834, which would have made her 28 when she arrived in Bangkok in 1862. Though not wealthy, her family was distinguished; her father was an army captain and her mother came from an ancient Welsh family. When Anna was six, she and a sister were left behind while her parents were posted to India where, shortly afterwards, her father was killed in battle on the no rthwest frontier. Anna said she completed her education in Wales and at the age of 14 or 15 sailed for India. There an unpleasant surprise awaited in the form of a new stepfather to whom she took an intense dislike. One reason was he wanted to marry her off to a wealthy merchant twice her age, while she in turn had fallen in love with a dashing young army officer named Thomas Leonowens. To escape the situation she went on a long tour of the Middle East with a well-known scholar, the Reverend Percy Badger, and his wife, presumably friends of the family.

According to the distinguished traveller Dame Freya Stark, who wrote an introduction to a 1952 edition of The Romance of the Harem, she returned from the trip "with a character already strongly formed, both for tolerance and independence." She was independent enough to defy her stepfather and elope at the age of 17 with her young officer. They were blissfully happy, despite the death of their first two children in infancy; two more, a boy and a girl, were born and survived in London, where the couple lived for three years. In 1857, Leonowens, by then a major, was posted to Singapore and it was there Anna heard the bad news that a small fortune left to her by her father had been lost in the collapse of a bank during the Indian Mutiny. Worse was to come. A year late Major Leonowens suffered a stroke on a tiger hunt and died, leaving her with two small children and no money. She started a small school, bringing in enough to send her daughter Avis back to England but not much more. A new challenge came with an invitation from King Mongkut to go to Siam.

With characteristic pluck off she went, accompanied by her young son, Louis. A refined gentlewoman, marked by personal loss but brave and determined to bring light to less fortunate lives - that is the image of Anna drawn by herself, by all the actresses who have portrayed her on stage and screen and even by historians who accuse her of wilfully maligning a great man. The first person to question the image, almost accidentally, was Dr W.S. Bristowe, an academic whose specialty was spiders but who also wrote on other subjects. Dr Bristowe was a frequent visitor to Thailand and in the early 1970s he decided to writer a biography of Louis T. Leonowens, founder of the company that still bears his name. Not many people read the book that resulted, entitled - perhaps inevitably - Louis and the King of Siam, which is unfortunate, for Dr Bristowe's deft detective work on Anna's past revealed an extraordinary story. It began in London with a routine check to ascertain the exact date of Louis' birth. He found nothing, either for Louis or for Avis.

Nor, when he looked further, could he find anyone named Thomas Leonowens who had served in the army, in either India or England. Nor did the army know anything about the man Anna claimed to be her father. Strangest of all, Welsh archives failed to yield any mention of Anna herself. Dr Bristowe now set about tracking down the elusive Anna with all the enthusiasm he normally gave to a rare species of spider. Here is what a diligent search of Indian office records eventually revealed. Anna was born, not in Wales but in India, not in 1834 but in 1831. Her father was Thomas Edwards, a cabinet-maker from Middlesex who enlisted in the Bombay infantry and went to the subcontinent in 1825. There he married Mary Anne Glassock, the daughter of a gunner in the Bengal Artillery and a local mother who, in all likelihood, was Eurasian. The couple had two daughters, Eliza and Anna, and Thomas died three months before the birth of the latter, leaving his wife penniless. When Anna was two months old, her mother remarried, this time to a corporal who not long afterwards was demoted to private.

Here the record blurred, but somehow - possibly through the assistance of a charity - Anna and Eliza were sent to her father's relations in England, where they presumably received an education. They returned to India in their early teens and entered a home which Dr Bristowe claims "must have appalled them," for the life of a private soldier at the time was a squalid one of "drunkeness and fornication." Eliza was married off at 15 to a 38-year-old sergeant and something similar was clearly planned for Anna. Instead, at 14 she went off to the Middle East with the Reverend Badger. How she met the clergyman (later to become a noted oriental scholar) is uncertain. Anna married when she was 18, not to a dashing young officer but to a 22-year-old clerk whose name was not Leonowens but Thomas Leon Owens. He did not seem to hold any job for long and the couple moved about frequently. Dr Bristowe never did pinpoint the precise birth dates of Louis and Avis and finally concluded they must have taken place on board a ship.

At some other unknown time Leon Owens changed his name to Leonowens, and the doctor did find a record of his death - of apoplexy - in Penang, on May 8, 1859, where he was listed as a "hotel keeper." According to Dr Bristowe, Anna was already busily burying her past when she arrived in Singapore, so successfully not even her own children penetrated her disguise. Among other things, this required a complete break with her sister Eliza back in India, a step she may have been doubly glad she took - given the social prejudices of the time - if word ever reached her that Eliza's eldest daughter married a Eurasian named Pratt. As thorough as ever, Dr Bristowe traced that family, too, and made the engaging discovery the youngest child of the union - that is, Anna's grand-nephew - became the actor Boris Karloff, of Frankenstein fame. There is also evidence to suggest Anna's performance may not have been flawless during her five years in Bangkok. The capital's small British colony of merchants and consular officials never asked her into their circle, despite her position at court.

The only respectable foreigners willing to take her at her word were American Protestant missionaries, particularly the formidable Dr Dan Beach Bradley, their senior member. These men and women gave her the friendship she needed so badly. The inventions and distortions of her books may have been partly designed to boost sales, as Prince Damrong, one of King Mongkut's sons, suggested to Dr Bristowe in a 1930 meeting. It could also be argued, they were also possibly aimed at convincing her missionary friends that Anna Leonowens was truly a virtuous Christian woman, worthy of their trusting kindness. After leaving Thailand, Anna spent some years in America, where her books were written, and eventually settled in Canada with her daughter. There she died in 1915 at the ripe old age of 85 (not 82 as her family and friends thought), still playing, by now with accomplished skill, a role that might have challenged the best of her later impersonators. Sources of information: Background historical research was mainly done by Dr. W.S. Bristowe, an English scholar. The above information was extracted from an article written by William Warren and published in the fascinating Traveller's Tales - Thailand .

A copy of this book can be bought on-line at a discounted price at amazon.com Visit the website now for a review and the latest price. Is Anna and the King (or The King and I) a True Story? Is Anna and the King (or The King and I) a True Story? How Much of the Story Is True? Virginia McKenna as Anna in a 1979 London Palladium production of The King and I. Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images By Jone Johnson Lewis Updated August 24, 2016. How much of the story from The King and I and Anna and the King is an accurate biography of Anna Leonowens and the court of King Mongkut? Twentieth Century Popularity Anna and the King, the 1999 version of the story of Anna Leonowens' six years at the Court of Siam, is, like the 1956 movie musical and stage musical, both titled The King and I, based on a 1944 novel, Anna and the King of Siam. Jodie Foster stars as this version of Anna Leonowens.

A 1946 movie Anna and the King of Siam, also based on the 1944 novel, arguably had less impact than the latter popular versions of Anna Leonowen's time in Thailand, but was still part of the evolution of this work. The 1944 novel by Margaret Landon was subtitled "The Famous True Story of a Splendid Wicked Oriental Court." The subtitle is clearly in the tradition of what's come to be known as "orientalism" -- the depiction of Eastern cultures, including Asian, South Asian and Middle Eastern, as exotic, undeveloped, irrational and primitive.

continue reading below our video Test Your General Science Knowledge (Orientalism is a form of essentialism: ascribing characteristics to a culture and assuming that they are part of the static essence of that people, rather than culture that evolves.) It is probably not accidental that the newer versions of this, from the 1944 novel to the later stage productions and movies, came when the relationship between the west and the east was of high interest in the west, as World War II ended and western images of what "the East" represented might reinforce ideas of western superiority and the importance of western influence in "advancing" Asian cultures. Nineteenth Century Popularity That 1944 novel, in turn, is based on the reminiscences of Anna Leonowens herself. A widow with two children, she wrote that she had served as governess or tutor to the sixty-four children of King Rama IV or King Mongkut. Upon returning to the West (first the United States, later Canada), Leonowens, as had many women before her, turned to writing to support herself and her children.

In 1870, less than three years after leaving Thailand, she published The English Governess at the Siamese Court. Its immediate reception encouraged her to write a second volume of stories of her time in Siam, published in 1872 as The Romance of the Harem -- clearly, even in the title, drawing on the sense of the exotic and sensational which had captivated the reading public. Her criticism of slavery led to her popularity especially in New England among those circles that had supported abolitionism in America. About Inaccuracies The 1999 movie version of Anna Leonowens' service in Thailand, calling itself a "true story," was denounced for its inaccuracies by the government of Thailand. That's not new, though. When Leonowens published her first book, the King of Siam responsed, through his secretary, with the statement that she "has supplied by her invention that which is deficient in her memory." Anna Leonowens, in her autobiographical works, included details of her life and what was happening around her, many of which historians now believe were untrue. For example, historians believe that she was born in India in 1831, not Wales in 1834.

She was hired to teach English, not as a governess. She included a story of a consort and monk being publicly tortured and then burned, but no one else, including many foreign residents of Bangkok, told of such an incident. Controversial from the start, this story nevertheless continues to thrive: contrasting old and new, East and West, patriarchy with women's rights, freedom and slavery, fact mixed with exaggeration or even fiction. If you want more in-depth information about the differences between the story of Anna Leonowens as told either in her own memoirs or in the fictional depictions of her life in Thailand, several authors have dug through the evidence to make the case both for her exaggerations and misrepresentations, and the interesting and unusual life that she did live. Alfred Habegger's 2014 scholarly study Masked: The Life of Anna Leonowens, Schoolmistress at the Court of Siam (published by the University of Wisconsin Press) is probably the best researched. Susan Morgan's 2008 biography Bombay Anna: The Real Story and Remarkable Adventures of the King and I Governess also includes considerable research and an engaging story.

Both accounts also include the story of more recent popular depictions of the story of Anna Leonowens, and how those depictions fit in with political and cultural trends. On this site, you'll find more on Anna Leonowens: a biography , some 1870's reviews and notices of her work, links for more information around the web. Perhaps this will help shed some light on another historical woman of mystery in history. (310) 277-2211 Content: (B, C, FR, PC, V, S, N, D, M) Mainly moral worldview ultimately endorsing monogamy with implied Christian, Bible-reading heroine with several matter-of-fact references to Buddhism, Buddhist teachings, Buddhist prayer scenes, appearance of Buddhist icons, & mild politically correct elements; no foul language; mild violence including murder by shooting, poisoning, hanging (no gore), implied execution by sword, & fighting; polygamy & implied adultery (with concubines); upper male nudity; cigar smoking rebuked by heroine; and, deceit.

Summary: ANNA AND THE KING is a well-intentioned, aesthetically beautiful movie that though lovely, relatively clean and charming, lacks the liveliness of the musical in the tale about an English woman tutoring the King of Siam and his children. Monogomy as taught by its Christian heroine sets the worldview tone for this movie, but it does contain Buddhist practices, mild politically correct elements and some violence. Review: A modern interpretation of the 1956 musical THE KING AND I, as well as the earlier ANNA AND THE KING (1946), ANNA AND THE KING is a well-intentioned, aesthetically beautiful movie that may well win the praise of many critics. Although lovely, relatively clean and charming, this movie lacks the liveliness of the musical version. Stripped of Oscar Hammerstein’s delightful score and Yul Brynner’s unforgettable comedic performance, the story of Anna Leonowens and the King of Siam is just a little dull. To its credit, ANNA AND THE KING sticks pretty closely to the original plot.

Anna Leonowens (Jodie Foster) is an English schoolteacher who travels to Siam (now Thailand) to tutor King Mongkut’s (Yun-Fat Chow) multitudinous children. Because of her outspoken opinions and intelligence (qualities unheard of in a Siamese woman), she soon becomes an advisor to the King, who is struggling to protect Siam from British colonialism. Anna aids the King in teaching him to work with the British rather than against them. Despite the vast cultural gulf between them, Anna and the King fall in love, though their romance never goes past a dance together, smoldering looks and verbal confessions of ardor. The story has been politically “corrected” a bit for modern times. All versions of ANNA AND THE KING have explored the cultural and political tensions between East and West, and this story keeps to that theme, but the King is now a dignified, masculine leader rather than a Charlie-Chan buffoon, and Anna’s attempts to radically alter ancient Siamese customs, as when she chides the King about his numerous wives, are gently questioned rather than accepted. The British are largely portrayed as greedy mercenaries who threaten Siam’s sovereignty and way of life.

This didacticism, however, is not heavy-handed. Anna is not made a fool for wanting to inject Christian morals and wisdom into the Siamese culture, as some might expect from a modern film in these P.C. times. She is still a highly sympathetic character who is simply overzealous in her desire for immediate change. As the King wisely points out, her ideas are not wrong, but change must come slowly in a culture steeped in ancient tradition. The King eventually learns the value of monogamy, for example, in his own time, in his heart as well as his head, when he falls in love with Anna. He discovers that it is possible to love only one person, and that Anna alone is truly “enough.” ANNA AND THE KING also treats Buddhism more respectfully than in the past, but it does not endorse or celebrate the religion, it simply depicts it matter-of-factly rather than portraying it as quaint. Regrettably, Christianity only receives a fleeting mention, but it is not deemed inferior to Buddhism.

Only one scene directly addresses the Christian-Buddhist dichotomy, and then only ambiguously: Anna and the King, both heartsick about an impending execution, seek solace in their faith by praying to their respective deities. In a highly dramatic sequence, the camera alternates between an image of the King kneeling before a statue of Buddha and of Anna reading her Bible and mopping her brow. Suddenly, Anna flings her Bible to the floor in frustration, where it falls apart, and she sweeps a teaset off a table. The camera continues to pan between the broken Bible and the King in prayer. No divine intervention occurs, and the lovers are executed. The meaning of this juxtaposition of the two religions is unclear, and the Christian-Buddhist issue does not arise again, but the fact that Anna fails to find consolation in the Bible, and even flings it aside, is bothersome. The King later assures Anna that he believes the lovers have found eternal “peace” in the natural cycle of Buddhism, implying that he has found solace in his faith. For the most part, however, ANNA AND THE KING is a morally upstanding movie.

Anna’s relationship with the King remains pure, and violence, although necessary since the story deals with political unrest and an attempted coup, is kept to a minimum and devoid of gore. Anna’s moral convictions about the sanctity of marriage and the wrongs of slavery are affirmed. Production-wise, the movie is beautifully filmed with gorgeous costumes, breathtaking scenery, brilliant oriental colors, and skillful cinematography. Siam seems a paradise, a nirvana yet unspoiled by avarice. Despite these charms, however, ANNA AND THE KING drags somewhat. At two hours and 15 minutes, it is too long for its mostly tranquil plot. Also, despite its lush scenery, the movie seems a little sterile. Even during scenes where musical accompaniment is essential, ANNA AND THE KING completely omits all of the music of THE KING AND I, most disappointingly during the famous and climactic waltz scene, where the absence of “Shall We Dance?” is keenly felt.

The King’s children are still cute as buttons, but they would be cuter still if they would only sing a few bars of “Getting to Know You.” Also, although the evolution of the King into a stately, commanding persona is well-intentioned, the movie lost its humor with the change. Surely director Andy Tennant could have found a way to inject comedy into the story without making the King look silly. Finally, while Jodie Foster turns in her usual laudable performance, she simply lacks romantic appeal. She fails to effectively convey Anna’s pent-up, conflicted feelings for the King, and his attraction to her is not entirely believable. Still, this movie may win awards for its sheer beauty, and perhaps receive acclaim for its good-heartedness. ANNA AND THE KING is a rare movie from Hollywood: a compassionate portrayal of cultural tensions, with a sexually pure love story to boot. In Brief: ANNA AND THE KING is a well-intentioned, beautiful movie that still lacks the musical version’s liveliness. Jodie Foster plays Anna Leonowens, an English schoolteacher who travels to Siam (now Thailand) to tutor the King’s multitudinous children.

Because of her outspoken opinions and intelligence (qualities unheard of in a Siamese woman), she soon becomes an advisor to the King, who is struggling to protect Siam from British colonialists. Anna teaches the King to work with the British rather than against them. Despite the vast cultural gulf between them, they fall in love, though their romance never goes past dancing together and verbal confessions of ardor. In this version, the King is now a dignified, masculine leader rather than a buffoon. Anna’s attempts to radically alter ancient Siamese customs are gently questioned rather than accepted. Morally, the King eventually learns the value of monogamy, and Anna’s moral convictions about marriage and slavery are affirmed. ANNA AND THE KING treats Buddhism more respectfully than past adaptations but does not endorse or celebrate it. Beautifully filmed with gorgeous costumes, scenery and colors, it is a compassionate portrayal of cultural tensions, with a sexually pure love story Anna Leonowens (Character) - Quotes Anna Leonowens (Character) King Mongkut : I never danced with an Englishwoman before, mem. Anna Leonowens : Nor I with a king. Anna Leonowens : [to King Mongkut] Life is...

precious, especially if you're a Christian and only allowed to have one. Prince Chulalongkorn : Son of teacher is forgetting I am son of King. Louis Leonowens : Son of teacher couldn't care less. Prince Chulalongkorn : You will sit somewhere else! Louis Leonowens : I will not! Anna Leonowens : Louis, remember what I told you. Louis Leonowens : I'm sorry Mother, but he started it. Prince Chulalongkorn : In my country, man never tell a woman he is sorry about anything... ever! If you had father, you would know that. Louis Leonowens : You don't have a father! You have a map! [Louis pushes the prince] Louis Leonowens : Louis! Prince Chulalongkorn : It is forbidden to touch royalty! Louis Leonowens : I didn't touch you!- I shoved you! Why don't you get one of your servants to shove me back? Tuptim : I remember my first rice festival. People come from everywhere to see king. He bless all crops, and it begin to rain. I think he was a God. Anna Leonowens : And now?

Tuptim : He is also a man. Anna Leonowens : I would like to know why... , if science can unravel something as beautiful as music... , why it cannot posit a solution for a schoolteacher and a king. King Mongkut : The manner in which people might understand such new possibilities is also process of evolution. Anna Leonowens : Everything in Siam has its own time. Anna Leonowens : You have the power to lead your people... King Mongkut : Now is not the time to change the way that things are done! Anna Leonowens : Well, if not now, then when? How many more people must die so that you might save face? Interpreter : Sir is married? Anna Leonowens : A widow. Can you please explain to me why you call me "Sir"? Interpreter : Women do not stand in the presence of His Excellency. The Kralahome, Prime Minister : When presented to His Majesty, you and son will remember to touch forehead to floor. Anna Leonowens : Your Excellency, although we have become better acquainted with your customs, we have certainly not forgotten our own. King Mongkut : You are teacher?

Anna Leonowens : Yes, Your Majesty, I am. King Mongkut : You do not look sufficient of age for scientific teaching. How many years have you? Anna Leonowens : Enough to know that age and wisdom do not necessarily go hand in hand, Your Majesty. King Mongkut : Presenting original pupil and heir apparent. Prince Chulalongkorn. [to the Prince] King Mongkut : This, my son, is your new teacher. Anna Leonowens : It is a great honor, Your Highness. The Kralahome, Prime Minister : Heir to throne must never be involved in issue of bond-servent. It will resolve itself in time. The Kralahome, Prime Minister : You are learning. Anna Leonowens : In my letter confirming my employment, Your Majesty, you claimed you wanted Siam to take its place among the nations of the modern world. You spoke of building something greater than yourself. A country where no man is above the law. Which is why I chose to come here. Anna Leonowens : [to King Mongkut] You cannot shut the world out forever. Believe me, I've tried.

Anna Leonowens : [to Lord Bradley] You raised your glass to him. You commended him for his vision. All the while, you were waiting to take his country from him. King Mongkut : Why did you come back? Anna Leonowens : Because I could not imagine a Siam without you. Anna Leonowens : [to King Mongkut] Your Majesty, promise me... Promise me that I will see you again. Anna Leonowens : [to King Mongkut] Why are you doing this? Tuptim : How did Mem survive? Anna Leonowens : The same way you will. One awful day at a time. Anna Leonowens : Most people do not see the world as it is. They see it as they are. Anna Leonowens : My mind has taken me down many roads of late. All of which lead absolutely nowhere. What would Buddha say of that? King Mongkut : That roads are for journeys, ma'am, not destinations. Anna Leonowens : Yes, it is beautiful. King Mongkut : As the sun rises, she will surrender the night, but she is always with him, even when he cannot see her.

Anna Leonowens : It must be a great comfort to him. King Mongkut : Yes. Anna Leonowens : Everyone should have legends, I think. They allow us to dream. Anna Leonowens : [to King Mongkut] Perhaps you should simply say what it is you're trying so hard not to. King Mongkut : l have decided to give self anniversary dinner and invite important English nobles and diplomats. Anna Leonowens : l don't understand. King Mongkut : French lndochina grows stronger and more aggressive. But if l improve our foreign intercourse with your queen's special envoy, French will think three times before trying to undermine Siam. Anna Leonowens : That's very clever, Your Majesty. King Mongkut : As if to sound English bugles in own defense. You shall take charge of all formalities as Mem is obvious choice to make certain guests feel at home. Anna Leonowens : But... the anniversary is when? Anna Leonowens : Three weeks? That's impossible! King Mongkut : Mem... The egg is in the bottle.

Anna Leonowens : [ascending a staircase, arriving late for dinner, a little out of breath] Forgive me, Your Majesty. l believe the sun set a little earlier today. King Mongkut : [amused] Mem. You arrange all this to influence positive future of Siam. And now you steal attention away from it. Anna Leonowens : [shyly] Well, that was not my intention, Your Majesty. King Mongkut : You! Why did you not go to monastery like king order? Anna Leonowens : Because l lost one man to the jungle, Your Majesty. l was not about to let that happen again. Lady Thiang : [Anna looks confused] Mis-on-ary! Anna : Oh, a missionary taught you English! Anna : This girl hurt your vanity... she didn't hurt your heart! You have no heart! You've never loved anyone and you never will. King : You will say no more! Anna : I will say no more, because there is no more to say! King : You are very difficult woman! Anna : Perhaps so, Your Majesty. Kralahome : [to Anna] Why are you so blind; have you no eyes to see?

King tries impossible task - wishing to be scientific man who know all modern things... He will only tear himself in two, trying to be something he can never be! Anna : Of course he can never be, if those who are closest to him are unwilling to help him! Kralahome : You do not know King as well as you think you do. You believe you have great influence over him. You will end up as his slave-like all the others! Anna : Then how do you explain, your majesty, that many men remain faithful to only one wife? King : They are sick King : Now, shall Mr. Lincoln be winning this war he is fighting at present? Anna : No one knows really. King : Well, does he have enough guns and elephants for transporting things? Anna : I don't think they have elephants in America, your majesty. King : No elephants? No wonder he is not winning war! King : I do not remember such words. Anna : I remember them. Anna : You disapprove? King : It is a silly complication of a general simplicity. A woman is designed for pleasing man that is all.

A man is deigned to be pleased by many women Anna : Then how do you explain, your majesty, that many men remain faithful to one wife King : They are sick. King : Naturally! Anna : Well why naturally? King : Because it is natural. It is like old Siamese saying. A girl is like a blossom, with honey for just one man. A man is like a honey bee and gather all he can. To fly from blossom to blossom a honey must be free. But blossom must not ever fly from bee to bee to bee. Anna : Hee hee. Oh your majesty in England we have a far different attitude. We believe for a man to be truly happy he must love one woman and one woman only. King : This idea was invented by woman. Anna : Oh but it's a great idea your majesty and in England we're brought up with it. When your young and at your first dance. King : Young girl? They dance also. Like I see you in arms of stranger tonight not a husband. Anna : Why of course! King : I would not permit it.

Anna : Ha when your young and at your first dance, and your sitting on a small guilt chair with your eyes lowered, terrified that you'll be a wall flower. Suddenly, you see two black shoes, a white waist coat, a face, it speaks. Anna : All properly dressed English ladies always wear undergarments. King : I have opinion that, in this regard, England is very backward nation. Anna Owens : I don't know. Kralahome : Have you other place to put your life? Anna Owens : What has that to do with you? Kralahome : Have you, sir? Anna Owens : Please stop calling me "sir"! Kralahome : [emphatically] I call you sir so you will not be lowly like a woman, but you continue to talk like a woman, I no longer call you sir. You think now you are nothing here, but that could be different. Anna Owens : How could it be, so long as the king can change his mind from one day to another? Kralahome : The king is not ordinary man. Anna Owens : Indeed he isn't. Kralahome : He is lonely man.

Anna and the King Plot and Cast | Movies.com DVD FULL SYNOPSIS The true story of Anna Leonowens' experiences as a governess to the children of an eccentric Asian king has been adapted into a book of memoirs, a biography, a stage play called -- which was adapted into a 1946 film, a stage musical called The King and I -- made into both the live-action The King and I (1956)) and the animated The King and I (1999) feature films, and a short-lived 1972 TV series. Now the story is brought to the screen yet again, as Jodie Foster stars as Leonowens, hired by the king of Thailand (Chow Yun-Fat) in the 19th century to help care for his children. The king wants the best for his children, but Anna soon discovers that he is a strong-willed but quixotic leader, and her stay in Thailand becomes a struggle for power with romantic overtones, as they decide who will have authority over the royal youngsters. Anna and the King was directed by Andy Tennant, best known for his 1998 variation on the Cinderella story, Andy Tennant.

~ Mark Deming, Rovi Release date:December 15, 1999 Movie Review - - FILM REVIEW; What? No Singing? Is a Puzzlement! - NYTimes.com FILM REVIEW; What? No Singing? Is a Puzzlement! By STEPHEN HOLDEN Published: December 17, 1999 If any movie could be said to be haunted (maybe cursed is a better word) by another movie, it is Andy Tennant's picturesque but stodgy ''Anna and the King.'' The film that does the haunting (and the cursing) is the 1956 film adaptation of Rodgers and Hammerstein's classic Broadway musical ''The King and I,'' based on the same material. Watching Mr. Tennant's film, which stars Jodie Foster and Chow Yun-Fat in roles played in the earlier movie by Deborah Kerr and Yul Brynner, you keep expecting the characters to burst into song, but they never do. And because the mostly solemn dramatic tone of ''Anna and the King'' is so similar to that of ''The King and I,'' the absence of songs comes as a letdown.

Especially missed when their moments arrive are ''Getting to Know You,'' ''A Puzzlement'' and above all ''Shall We Dance?'' Of course it's unfair to ask ''Anna and the King'' to be anything but what it is. But ''The King and I'' has become so deeply embedded in our culture that its version of the true story that inspired Margaret Landon's book ''Anna and the King of Siam'' supersedes all others in much the same way that ''My Fair Lady'' now looms over Shaw's ''Pygmalion.'' (Before ''The King and I,'' Langdon's work had been adapted into a popular nonmusical 1946 movie starring Irene Dunne and Rex Harrison.) What the new film offers in place of songs is lush local color (the film was shot in Malaysia), grand palaces, dazzling pageantry, one heated battle scene, and a much more enlightened, multiculturally sensitive perspective on world affairs than the view offered by the musical. Here the British (with the exception of Anna) are painted as greedy double-dealing industrial merchants deviously promoting a 19th-century version of globalization.

Anna ultimately finds herself pulled between her loyalty to Britain and her pained awareness of her countrymen's racism and deceitfulness. ''Anna and the King'' is also a misstep for the gifted Ms. Foster, an actress who seems more interested these days in sanctifying herself as an old-fashioned heroine than in taking on dramatically risky roles. Adopting a tentative British accent, she plays the title character as a virtuous, nobler-than-thou ice queen and seems even chillier here than she did in ''Contact.'' Ms. Foster's late-90's screen personality often suggests that she is aspiring to fill the shoes of the 60's Julie Andrews in spreading high-minded sweetness and light. But she lacks Ms. Andrews's vigor and down-to-earth sense of fun, and even when being playful she emits a certain guardedness, her sharp blue eyes scrutinizing the surroundings for signs of trouble. Three decades ago Ms. Andrews may have been mocked as embodying a reactionary ickiness, but no one accused her of being thin-blooded. Ms.

Foster's character, Anna Leonowens, a British widow who traveled to Bangkok in 1862 with her young son to be schoolteacher to the 58 children of King Mongkut, was among other things a spirited pioneer taking enormous chances. But Ms. Foster's Anna hardly seems to have a body. Whatever lust for adventure drove the character to make that journey is barely apparent in Ms. Foster's demure, wary performance. Mr. Chow's imperious, polygamous King inevitably begs comparison with Brynner's. Although this Hong Kong superstar lends the king an imposing authority (mitigated by moments of softness), his performance lacks Brynner's terrifying thunder. His carefully shaded performance may be many things, but it is never truly scary. ''Anna and the King'' has the rambling pace of an episodic 1950's costume drama. As Anna and her cheeky young son, Louis (Tom Felton), adjust to their new life in Southeast Asia, there are the inevitable collisions between Siamese and British ways of thinking.

Among the many little dramas that unfold, the most significant involves Tuptim (Bai Ling), the king's newest wife, who refuses to be parted from her lover and flees the palace to join him in a Buddhist monastery. Later the focus shifts to regional politics and an attempted coup by the rebellious General Alak (Randall Duk Kim). Siamese politics and military strategy might be described in these scenes as the art of the high-stakes bluff. In evoking the undeclared, unconsummated love between Anna and the king, the movie is as prim and tight-lipped as its leading lady. And although Mr. Chow can be charming, even charismatic, he lacks Brynner's swashbuckling sensual magnetism. Without any real sparks between the main characters, ''Anna and the King'' unfolds like an exotic historical diorama with dramatic vignettes thrown in for spice. ''Anna and the King'' is rated PG-13 (Parents strongly cautioned). It has scenes of people who have been tortured and one execution.

ANNA AND THE KING Directed by Andy Tennant; written by Steve Meerson and Peter Krikes, based on the diaries of Anna Leonowens; director of photography, Caleb Deschanel; edited by Roger Bondelli; music by George Fenton; production designer, Luciana Arrighi; produced by Lawrence Bender and Ed Elbert; released by Fox 2000 Pictures. Running time: 140 minutes. This film is rated PG-13. WITH: Jodie Foster (Anna), Chow Yun-Fat (King Mongkut), Bai Ling (Tuptim), Tom Felton (Louis), Syed Alwi (the Kralahome) and Randall Duk Kim (General Alak). `Anna and the King': What? No Singing? Is a Puzzlement! `Anna and the King': What? No Singing? Is a Puzzlement!

Related Articles Join a Discussion on Current Film By STEPHEN HOLDEN f any movie could be said to be haunted (maybe cursed is a better word) by another movie, it is Andy Tennant's picturesque but stodgy "Anna and the King." The film that does the haunting (and the cursing) is the 1956 film adaptation of Rodgers and Hammerstein's classic Broadway musical "The King and I," based on the same material. Watching Tennant's film, which stars Jodie Foster and Chow Yun-Fat in roles played in the earlier movie by Deborah Kerr and Yul Brynner, you keep expecting the characters to burst into song, but they never do. And because the mostly solemn dramatic tone of "Anna and the King" is so similar to that of "The King and I," the absence of songs comes as a letdown. Especially missed when their moments arrive are "Getting to Know You," "A Puzzlement" and above all "Shall We Dance?" Of course it's unfair to ask "Anna and the King" to be anything but what it is.

But "The King and I" has become so deeply embedded in our culture that its version of the true story that inspired Margaret Landon's book "Anna and the King of Siam" supersedes all others in much the same way that "My Fair Lady" now looms over Shaw's "Pygmalion." (Before "The King and I," Langdon's work had been adapted into a popular nonmusical 1946 movie starring Irene Dunne and Rex Harrison.) What the new film offers in place of songs is lush local color (the film was shot in Malaysia), grand palaces, dazzling pageantry, one heated battle scene, and a much more enlightened, multiculturally sensitive perspective on world affairs than the view offered by the musical. Here the British (with the exception of Anna) are painted as greedy double-dealing industrial merchants deviously promoting a 19th-century version of globalization. Anna ultimately finds herself pulled between her loyalty to Britain and her pained awareness of her countrymen's racism and deceitfulness. "Anna and the King" is also a misstep for the gifted Ms.

Foster, an actress who seems more interested these days in sanctifying herself as an old-fashioned heroine than in taking on dramatically risky roles. Adopting a tentative British accent, she plays the title character as a virtuous, nobler-than-thou ice queen and seems even chillier here than she did in "Contact." Ms. Foster's late-'90s screen personality often suggests that she is aspiring to fill the shoes of the '60s Julie Andrews in spreading high-minded sweetness and light. But she lacks Ms. Andrews' vigor and down-to-earth sense of fun, and even when being playful she emits a certain guardedness, her sharp blue eyes scrutinizing the surroundings for signs of trouble. Three decades ago Ms. Andrews may have been mocked as embodying a reactionary ickiness, but no one accused her of being thin-blooded. Ms. Foster's character, Anna Leonowens, a British widow who traveled to Bangkok in 1862 with her young son to be schoolteacher to the 58 children of King Mongkut, was among other things a spirited pioneer taking enormous chances. But Ms. Foster's Anna hardly seems to have a body.

Whatever lust for adventure drove the character to make that journey is barely apparent in Ms. Foster's demure, wary performance. Chow's imperious, polygamous King inevitably begs comparison with Brynner's. Although this Hong Kong superstar lends the king an imposing authority (mitigated by moments of softness), his performance lacks Brynner's terrifying thunder. His carefully shaded performance may be many things, but it is never truly scary. "Anna and the King" has the rambling pace of an episodic 1950s costume drama. As Anna and her cheeky young son, Louis (Tom Felton), adjust to their new life in Southeast Asia, there are the inevitable collisions between Siamese and British ways of thinking. Among the many little dramas that unfold, the most significant involves Tuptim (Bai Ling), the king's newest wife, who refuses to be parted from her lover and flees the palace to join him in a Buddhist monastery. Later the focus shifts to regional politics and an attempted coup by the rebellious General Alak (Randall Duk Kim). Siamese politics and military strategy might be described in these scenes as the art of the high-stakes bluff.

In evoking the undeclared, unconsummated love between Anna and the king, the movie is as prim and tight-lipped as its leading lady. And although Chow can be charming, even charismatic, he lacks Brynner's swashbuckling sensual magnetism. Without any real sparks between the main characters, "Anna and the King" unfolds like an exotic historical diorama with dramatic vignettes thrown in for spice. Rating: "Anna and the King" is rated PG-13 (Parents strongly cautioned). It has scenes of people who have been tortured and one execution. PRODUCTION NOTES: 'ANNA AND THE KING' Directed by Andy Tennant; written by Steve Meerson and Peter Krikes, based on the diaries of Anna Leonowens; director of photography, Caleb Deschanel; edited by Roger Bondelli; music by George Fenton; production designer, Luciana Arrighi; produced by Lawrence Bender and Ed Elbert; released by Fox 2000 Pictures. Running time: 140 minutes.

Cast: Jodie Foster (Anna), Chow Yun-Fat (King Mongkut), Bai Ling (Tuptim), Tom Felton (Louis), Syed Alwi (the Kralahome) and Randall Duk Kim (General Alak).

Question: Anna Leonowens is a character in which 1956 film?
Answer: The King and I