On the LP soundtrack recording of The King and I there is a song by Anna that she will not be a servant to the king. If my memory serves me right I remember seeing that segment in the movie in the theatre. But this scene is not included in any video version I have seen. What happened to the scene. I hope it is included in the anniversary edition.
I just watched the DVD last night and said the same thing. What happened to that scene and song? I can remember some of the song words and Anna's anger.
shareThe song to which you are referring to I believe is called "Shall I tell you what I think of You?" and is cut from most editions of this film. Do these lyrics ring a bell?
Your servant, your servant
Indeed I'm not your servant
Although you give me less than servant's pay
I'm a free and independent employae, employee
Because I'm a woman you think like every woman
I have to be a slave or concubine
You conceited, self-indulgent, libertine, liberteen
How I wish I'd called him that
Right to his face...liberteen!
And while we're on the subject sire
There are certain goings-on about this place
That I wish to tell you I do not admire
I do not like polygamy or even moderate bigamy
I realize that in your eyes that clearly makes a prig o' me
but I am from a civilized land called Whales
Where men like you are kept in county jails
In your pursuit of pleasure you have mistresses who treasure you
You have no kin of other men
Besides who'd make and measure you?
A flock of sheep and you're the only ram
No wonder you're the wonder of Siam
Oh I'm rather glad I didn't say that
Not with all the women there, and the children
The children, the children, I shan't forget the children
No matter where I go I'll always see those little faces looking up at me
Shall I tell you what I think of you? You're spoiled!
You're a conscientious worker, but you're spoiled!
Giving credit where it's due, there is much I like of you
But it's also very true that you're spoiled
Everybody has to grovel to the king
Everybody has to bow down to the king
By your buddha you are blessed, by your ladies you're caressed
But the one who loves you best is the king
All this bowing and kow-towing to remind you of your royalty, I find a most disgusting exhibition
I wouldn't ask a siamese cat to demonstrate his loyalty by taking that ridiculous position
How would you like it if you were a man playing the part of a toad?
Crawling about on your elbows and knees, eating the dust in the road
Toad, toads, all of your people are toads.
Yes, your majesty, no your majesty, tell us how low to go your majesty, don't let us up off our knees, your majesty, make us some more decrees your majesty,
Oh! That was good! Your Majesty!
That song is included in the animated version, which is worth seeing. it's actually quite different, with the kralahome trying to take over the kingdom, and there being some nonsense with a white elephant, but it is enjoyable to watch.
LMC xxx
Therapy is expensive; bubble wrap is free!
The song "Soliloquey" was indeed filmed but edited before the release of the film, but since the song has always been on the soundtrack album, and stills from the scene have been shown on videos of both THE KING AND I and other R&H specials, one now almost feels that he has seen the sequence.
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According to the research I've done, Anna's soliloquy, "Shall I Tell You What I Think of You?" was deleted before the film's original 1956 release. This is a pity. Of the three numbers on the soundtrack album that were not used in the film, I miss this one the most. It has some really biting, witty, sophisticated lyrics. One almost wonders whether it's the same Oscar Hammerstein II who wrote them. In my opinion, they're a lot better than much of his other verse in the show.
In the classroom scene that immediately precedes the scene of Anna in her quarters, where Lady Thiang comes to tell her of the King's looming international crisis, I can detect something else that's missing -- or, more accurately, something that was evidently removed before the 1956 release.
Right after Anna and Louis leave the room ("Come, Louis"), the King orders everyone else out. Once he's alone, he goes up to the map, then turns to face the audience. During my early viewings of the film some years back, I got the feeling that the King was getting ready to address the audience in another monologue -- just as he does earlier, right before his solo, "A Puzzlement." But this time, there's no monologue. Right when I sense that he's getting ready to address us, there is a lap-dissolve to Anna's quarters.
Just before the dissolve, watch the King's lips very closely. They start to move, forming the words that begin his monologue at the corresponding point in the Broadway show. In the play, this monologue begins: "So big a world. Siam very small. England very small," etc.
On the old pan-and-scan version of the film, it's easy to detect this if you watch very carefully. With the wide-screen rendering, it may be harder to detect, unless you have a big screen. Because I know the words from the play, I can actually read the King's lips as he forms the words "So big a world" -- but, as mentioned, we don't hear his voice. At this point, the scene dissolves to the next one.
If the footage of "Shall I Tell You What I Think of You?" still exists it should appear as a DVD extra.
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