Anna and the King of Siam (film) supposedly autocratic rule of Siam's King Mongkut. The successful film starred Rex Harrison as the king and Irene Dunne as Anna. At the 19th Academy Awards ceremony, the film received two Oscars; for Best Cinematography and Best Art Direction (Lyle R. Wheeler, William S. Darling, Thomas Little, Frank E. Hughes). Also nominated were Bernard Herrmann for the score, the screenwriters and supporting actress Gale Sondergaard. Landon's novel was later adapted by Rodgers and Hammerstein for their 1951 stage musical "The King and I" and subsequent 1956 film of the same name. American film director Andy Tennant remade the film in
Carousel (musical) out of that parlor". When Hammerstein inquired where he should put the deity, Rodgers replied, "I don't care where you put Him. Put Him on a ladder for all I care, only get Him out of that parlor!" Hammerstein duly put Mr. God (renamed the Starkeeper) atop a ladder, and Mrs. God was removed from the show. Rodgers biographer Meryle Secrest terms this change a mistake, leading to a more fantastic afterlife, which was later criticized by "The New Republic" as "a Rotarian atmosphere congenial to audiences who seek not reality but escape from reality, not truth but escape from