The King and I

 It was Yul Brynner who pushed for Deborah Kerr to be cast as Anna in "The King and I" (1956). He had seen some of her stage work, was highly impressed with her and was convinced that she was the one for the role. Deborah Kerr was also on the short slate of A List actresses that could open a movie at that point to begin with, so it didn't make Yul Brynner's decision that hard. Broadway star Gertrude Lawrence who had starred with Brynner on the stage was not on this list, so she was out of the running! Also, as noted before, Lawrence developed cancer while the Broadway show was still running and died shortly after it ended so she could not have been in the movie anyway.

Darryl F. Zanuck initially had Maureen O'Hara in mind as Anna because the essential qualities of her screen persona -- warmth, grit and fiery temperament -- were ideal for the part. In addition, O'Hara was a natural redhead who possessed a fine soprano voice, which would have eliminated the need for both wigs and vocal dubbing. After hearing sample recordings of her voice, composer Richard Rodgers agreed that O'Hara would sing the role gloriously, but he vetoed the casting based on the rough-and-tumble parts for which the actress was renowned, reportedly remarking "No pirate queen is going to play my Anna!" While Kerr certainly found her way in the role, one can't help but muse how much worthier an opponent O'Hara would have been to the equally fiery Yul Brynner.

Baking under the hot lights on-set, Deborah Kerr lost over 12 pounds, and would often refer to herself as "The melting Miss Kerr." In addition, during the filming of "Shall We Dance" sequence, Kerr suffered continual bruising from the hoops in her skirt.

In Thailand (previously called Siam) the royal family is held in very high esteem. This film is banned in Thailand due to its real historical inaccuracies and the perceived disrespect to the monarchy. The real Prince Chulalongkorn grew up to be an especially good King Chulalongkorn and led the way for modernization, improved relations with the West, and instituted many important cultural and social reforms in Thailand. A well-researched book that corrects the many myths of Anna's stated story is "Masked: The Life of Anna Leonowens, Schoolmistress at the Court of Siam," by Alfred Habegger.