Tuesday, February 28, 2006
KING YUL
Today's NYTimes 1176 Best Film was
Yul Brynner owns the role of the king and Deborah Kerr almost owns Anna but can never quite come up to Gertrude Lawrence in the original cast. No one could.
Unlike most adaptations of Broadway hits, this one is quite successful and faithful to its core.
Except for Lawrence who died, they kept the whole thing intact. Jerome Robbins does the wonderful dances, Rita Moreno is Tup-Tim and the Siamese children march beautifully.
They have opened up the scenery but have stayed in a stage format. There are no attempts to make it anything but a theatrical venture. Some of the sets are almost too large but then it is the movies.
Brynner was not an A-list actor when he got this role but he made it his one shining hit and he inhabited it so fully that no one has ever really tried to take it from him. There may be a bunch of Curlys or Tevyas but there is only one King.
It is a 5 out of Netflix5 for sure.
Now, if I can just get the songs out of my head, it will be just perfect. Rodgers and Hammerstein. The other kings.
