The King and I (50th Anniversary Edition)
February 2007 Reviewed by: Rad Bennett Format: DVD	(all ratings out of 5): Overall Enjoyment Picture Quality Packaged Extras Sound Quality

When Cinemascope and other widescreen formats were introduced in the mid 1950s, there was a rush to secure properties that would make full use of the extra screen width. Fox scored a coup in locking up most of the popular Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals. Since they included big chorus numbers and elaborate dance sequences, they were perfect for the new anamorphic lens.

Though they were all excellent, with only South Pacific an artistic if not box-office dud, The King and I towers as the very best of the lot. It also stands as one of the best film versions of a Broadway musical ever made. Fox had first filmed the story in 1946 as Anna and the King of Siam, starring Irene Dunne and Rex Harrison. The great English actress, Gertrude Lawrence, saw the film and suggested to Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein that it would make a significant musical vehicle for her. They agreed and wrote the show. When casting the king, they turned to a newcomer, Yul Brynner, who became so associated with the role that is it difficult to think of any other man playing it. Hollywood was wise to retain him for the movie and as a reward he won a Best Actor Academy Award

The movie was released on laserdisc and has been on DVD before, but neither of those could prepare one for the magnificence of this 50th Anniversary Edition. The film has been completely restored. You have to look hard to find a tear or pinhole, and the colors have been brought back to life vividly. The DVD transfer preserves all of this hard work with uncanny precision. Focus is sharp. Upconverted on my Toshiba HD player to 1080i, the image is startlingly close to HD quality. One scene that gave the earlier versions trouble is "Getting to Know You," when Anna singing and teaching the king’s children, wears a very full hoop-skirted period dress that is pinstriped blue and white. In previous videos, it shimmered like a beaded curtain, but on this DVD the image is rock solid. The ballet looks especially wonderful, with exceptionally bright colors standing against jet-black yet sometimes detailed background. The sound has been refurbished and though the frequency range shows some limitations, especially on the top end, the soundtrack is quite good, sometimes grand.

Extras are both bountiful and excellent. There are six featurettes, one of them on the restoration of Cinemascope 55 prints. There are also an excellent historical commentary, a deleted scene, and vintage black-and-white excerpts starring Yul Brynner and Patricia Morison, not to mention the pilot episode of the short-lived TV show, Anna and the King, this time pairing Brynner with Samantha Egger.

The other Rogers and Hammerstein Anniversary Editions from Fox receive the same kind of brilliant transfer as The King and I. All of them include intelligent commentaries and featurettes loaded with pertinent information. South Pacific boasts both the theatrical and road show versions of the movie. State Fair includes both the original version and the not quite as good 1962 version with Pat Boone and Ann-Margret. Oklahoma! contains both the Todd-AO and Cinemascope versions. Carousel offers 1934’s Lilliom, on which it is based. All are priced so low that to call them bargains would be an understatement.

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