yul brynner and deborah kerr
Ernest Lehman (screenplay, based on
the musical by Oscar Hammerstein II and Richard Rodgers, based on the book by
Margaret Langdon), Walter Lang (director) The
King and I / 1956
Dressed absolutely beautifully, he in a royal red open coat and matching
jodhpur-like pants, all woven through with gold braids, she in a beautiful silk
gown with many underlays of bustle and skirts, the two began the dance with
what has almost become a subgenre of dance numbers: one teaching the other how
to do it (think of Barbara Streisand in Hello,
Dolly! or the lesson in how to Cha-cha-cha given by July Holiday’s two
friends in Bells Are Ringing). But it
quickly shifts, as Brynner recognizes there is something different in their
positions from the other waltzers he observed.
With that shift the couple spin away on an exhilarating “1-2-3 and”
rhythm that takes them around the huge palace room again and again until they
literally run out breath, only to have the King announce: again!
Over the years in amateur and professional productions of this work, I
have seen dresses slip to the floor and the dancers nearly stumble, but never
did I think it ridiculous or have I ever laughed. The joyful sense of
liberation this performance gives to both the dancers and viewers is at the
heart of why dance is such a profound experience.
Los Angeles, April 16, 2011
Reprinted from World Cinema
Review (April
2011).
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