The King and I (Blu-ray) Single Available for Preorder (1 Viewer)

[ahollis]

The 1964 Oscar should have gone to Anne Bancroft for The Pumpkin Eater, her 1962 win should have gone to Geraldine Page for Sweet Bird Of Youth. Andrews should have gotten hers the following year for The Sound Of Music while that year's winner Julie Christie should have won hers for Away From Her. Are we all clear?

Nope. Lol.

 

[MatthewA]

Oh, I like The King and I; just wish they'd kept all the songs.

I still have the 40th anniversary laserdisc box set and the soundtrack CD that came with it. The liner notes say "Shall I Tell You What I Think of You" and "I Have Dreamed" were filmed (the footage is likely gone forever based on Fox's track record of keeping outtakes) but "My Lord and Master" was just recorded for the original soundtrack LP.

"Western People Funny" was probably the first thing to go. Does any production even include it anymore? It's not on the original cast album or the 1992 Julie Andrews/Ben Kingsley recording.

 

[classicmovieguy]

"Western People Funny" is still in the licensed R&H show. I've seen it twice in amateur circles and both times the song was there. I'll be seeing a fully-fledged professional production in Sydney in October, and suspect it'll be in the score - but time will tell. It's basically just an extra little bit for Lady Thiang.

The '92 album with Andrews predominantly used the film arrangements and that is why it wasn't included there.

 

[SFMike]

Can the moderators please step in and cut down some of the HATE in this thread. Please.


We've had discussions that some people HATE Mary Poppins. Some people HATE My Fair Lady. Some people HATE Camelot. Some people HATE Disney. Some people HATE George Cukor. Some people HATE Josh Logan. Some people HATE the Oscars. Some people HATE the color blue. Some people HATE the performances/accents of Audrey Hepburn, Dick Van Dyke, Julie Andrews, etc.

It just is tiresome. And has little to nothing to do with The King And I.



I happened to have actually watched The King And I Blu-Ray and had an enjoyable evening.

I agree! But I have to admit I HATE the subpar blu-ray transfers of The King And I and Carousel churned out by Fox.

 

[lionel59]

I believe the Blu Ray transfers of THE KING AND I and CAROUSEL (two of the best Broadway to Hollywood musicals ever made) were terrible and Fox needs to re-master them. Otherwise, fans will stick with the Special Edition SDs, which have superior color and contrast/brightness levels.
For the record- I personally think MY FAIR LADY is one of the greatest movies ever made and Audrey Hepburn was superb throughout the whole film, deserving her Italian award for Best Actress of 1964 and her Golden Globe nomination. Even Julie Andrews admits that she won her Oscar for MARY POPPINS more due to sentiment for losing the role of Eliza than for her (good) performance in MARY POPPINS.Casting an established star was a perfectly understandable decision by Jack L. Warner considering the record sum paid for the film rights and Miss Andrews' uncertain destiny as a box office name. She herself admitted that Audrey was "terribly good" in the role. Both actresses needed vocal coaches to assist them regarding their cockney accents. The role of Eliza was a big departure for Miss Hepburn from her screen persona up until that time and in scenes such as the "bathroom scene" (a scene which Lerner added to the screenplay which was not depicted on stage at all) she is hilarious and totally inhabits the character of a guttersnipe "out of her environment". Her transformation in 'The Rain in Spain' is breathtaking and credible and I doubt that Julie Andrews could have been more sympathetic in her latter scenes (as much as I admire Miss Andrews' acting skills) .Harry Stradling's camerawork is fluid and Oscar worthy in the confined space of the Higgins' home and certain sequences (such as 'Get Me to The Church on Time', the dawning of a new day at Covent Garden) are very well edited and quite cinematic.
Joshua Logan was admittedly a "stagey" director with a penchant for an overuse of close-ups and elephantitis, but nevertheless his film adaptations of SOUTH PACIFIC and CAMELOT have more good things in them than bad. He directed the best performances Mitzi Gaynor and Rossano Brazzi ever gave on film and did his utmost to remove the color filtered sequences when he realized they were a mistake. CAMELOT was a problematic stage show which was generally improved in its adaptation to the screen and the lavish movie has many cinematic flourishes. In both cases, the Alfred Newman orchestrations made the scores sound better than ever before.
Lastly, I don't mind the fact that 'Western People Funny' was only used as underscore in THE KING AND I, but considering they shot the number twice and it is one of the best in the show, it's a great shame that 'I Have Dreamed' didn't make it to the final cut.(It is cited even in the 1961 re-issue posters!?).As much as I enjoy AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS, it is a glorified travelogue with a terrific array of guest stars (in 'cameo' roles-the first time that word came into the cinema vocabulary), but THE KING AND I should have won the Oscar for Best Picture (or GIANT).

 

[trajan]

There is a Fox Studio Classics FB page - maybe that might be a possible avenue for communication - although from a quick glance it appears they never answer specific posts.

https://www.facebook.com/FoxStudioClassics

I asked on their facebook page if we are getting any TODD-AO blurays n 2015 and I received a thumbs up from them. So who knows.

 

[Will Krupp]

I asked on their facebook page if we are getting any TODD-AO blurays n 2015 and I received a thumbs up from them. So who knows.

Oh I hope it's STAR! (but it's probably going to be DOLITTLE)

 

[Matt Hough]

It could be Can-Can. That was one of the choices on the Fox Vote Your Choice promotion that didn't get selected.

 

[trajan]

It could be Can-Can. That was one of the choices on the Fox Vote Your Choice promotion that didn't get selected.

I thought there were too many problems with the elements

 

[Rob_Ray]

I thought there were too many problems with the elements

Since it was one of the offerings in the Vote Your Choice promotion a year and a half ago, I'd say any problems have been surmounted.

 

[lionel59]

For me, CAN CAN is not in the same league as STAR! or even DOCTOR DOLITTLE. The best song ('I Love Paris') was inexplicably cut and Sinatra's character was developed for the film purely because he settled the Fox lawsuit over his failure to honor his contract re CAROUSEL by making this film. In the stage play, the Shirley MacLaine character winds up with the Louis Jourdan character. MacLaine is shrill and overacts in this role and apparently demanded to be given dance numbers which should have been performed by the character played by Juliet Prowse (which is why Barrie Chase walked off the film). It's colorful and lavish but-as most critics pointed out- leaden. Also, not one of Porter's better scores, thus the addition of songs like "Let's do it", which seem a bit out of place.
STAR! was restored from the 65mm elements in the '90's and should be easy to transfer to blu ray, which will bring out it's great visuals. Movie audiences weren't ready to see Julie Andrews play a character who could be drunk, egotistical and selfish at times and-in general- did not know who Gertrude Lawrence was. It got great reviews in London and is now regarded as an under-rated classic by many. A rare Hollywood biopic which showed a talented performer "warts and all". All the numbers are brilliantly staged (especially 'Jenny') and Robert Wise's editing (via his supervision) is customarily excellent. (He began as an editor at RKO). Too long- yes- but I'm glad nevertheless to see it intact after enduring the terrible 2 hour version on TV in the '70's.
DOLITTLE has been released here and in Germany but the color is a bit faded. Also, it was not dual-layered, which would have improved the image. If Fox could play the funny prologue, in which Rex Harrison pulls a tooth from a crocodile (cut after previews) in it's first TV screenings, I'd like to think they could re-instate it for a US blu-ray release and make it a real special edition (plus any other material still extant which was cut during the previews/initial runs). No, it should NOT have been up for the Best Picture Oscar and 'Talk to the Animals' should not have won the Oscar for Best Original Song ("To Sir With Love", which was not nominated, should have won that award), but it's still a lavish, entertaining musical made to appeal to both adults and kids which we will never see the likes of again.( I recommend reading PICTURES AT A REVOLUTION by Mark Harris, examining the making of the 5 films up for the Best Picture Oscar of 1967. The way Rex Harrison treated Anthony Newley is an eye-opener),

 

[Matt Hough]

You won't get ANY argument from me about Can-Can. I find it obnoxious and insulting in many ways, and if it's released by Twilight Time or Fox, I'll air those grievances.

I am also a HUGE fan of Star!

 

[GlennF]

Just recently read PICTURES AT A REVOLUTION as well. Well worth reading and a very interesting look at a period when movies were changing. I found a lot of the parts about race (IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT, GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER and the pressure put on Sidney Poitier) very interesting and although some things have changed dramatically in this regard, recent events in the U.S. show there are still issues to be resolved.As a side note, the book certainly does not paint a pretty picture of Rex Harrison!

 

[Rick Thompson]

No, it should NOT have been up for the Best Picture Oscar and 'Talk to the Animals' should not have won the Oscar for Best Original Song ("To Sir With Love", which was not nominated, should have won that award), but it's still a lavish, entertaining musical made to appeal to both adults and kids which we will never see the likes of again.( I recommend reading PICTURES AT A REVOLUTION by Mark Harris, examining the making of the 5 films up for the Best Picture Oscar of 1967. The way Rex Harrison treated Anthony Newley is an eye-opener),

I agree with you on "Talk to the Animals." It was a stupid song then and remains a stupid song today. Of the nominees, the winner should have been "Thoroughly Modern Millie." That Rex Harrison was a male diva and not a nice person is not headline news. After all, he wanted Julie Andrews fired from My Fair Lady before Broadway!

 

[MatthewA]

With this disc release, the Marni Nixon Trifecta has officially been screwed up on Blu-ray. My Fair Lady uses an outdated transfer that was more than adequate for last century's DVDs and CRT TVs, West Side Story has that unneeded fade-to-black, and The King and I is turning green.

 

[Rob_Ray]

With this disc release, the Marni Nixon Trifecta has officially been screwed up on Blu-ray. My Fair Lady uses an outdated transfer that was more than adequate for last century's DVDs and CRT TVs, West Side Story has that unneeded fade-to-black, and The King and I is turning green.

We also have AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER and THE SOUND OF MUSIC on BluRay. The format has been very nice to her in general, however much we may quibble about the transfers.

 

[Robin9]

You won't get ANY argument from me about Can-Can. I find it obnoxious and insulting in many ways, and if it's released by Twilight Time or Fox, I'll air those grievances.

Although I too think Can-Can is far less than it should have been, the film is redeemed and justified by one sequence: Frank Sinatra singing It's All Right With Me. Previously this wonderful song had always been sung as an up-tempo rhythm number but Sinatra and his colleagues had the sense to recognise that it works far better as a wistful ballad.

I'll buy a Blu-ray disc of Can-Can without hesitation.

 

[SFMike]

Although I too think Can-Can is far less than it should have been, the film is redeemed and justified by one sequence: Frank Sinatra singing It's All Right With Me. Previously this wonderful song had always been sung as an up-tempo rhythm number but Sinatra and his colleagues had the sense to recognise that it works far better as a wistful ballad.

I'll buy a Blu-ray disc of Can-Can without hesitation.

I'll second that! I've always liked Can-Can for all it's odd qualities. It all doesn't work but some of it works very well for me. Blu-ray please.....

 

[Thomas T]

While I'm partial to all three films, I'll take Can-Can over Star and Doctor Dolittle any day.

 

[Rob_Ray]

Any movie with Maurice Chevalier and Frank Sinatra can't be all bad. While never a favorite of mine, I would give a bluray transfer of CAN-CAN a nice home in my collection. STAR! is welcome anytime. DOCTOR DOLITTLE not so much.