Anna Leonowens eccentric Victorian female traveler". The novel was adapted as a hit musical by Rodgers and Hammerstein, "The King and I" (1951), starring Gertrude Lawrence and Yul Brynner, which ran 1,246 performances on Broadway and was also a hit in London and on tour. In 1956, a film version was released, with Deborah Kerr starring in the role of Leonowens and Brynner reprising his role as the king. Revived many times on stage (with Brynner starring in revivals until 1985), the musical has remained a favourite of the theatregoing public. The humorous depiction of Mongkut as a polka-dancing despot, as well
Deborah Kerr the film would ruin wartime morale—"Colonel Blimp" confounded critics when it proved to be an artistic and commercial success. Powell hoped to reunite Kerr and lead actor Roger Livesey in his next film, "A Canterbury Tale" (1944), but her agent had sold her contract to MGM. According to Powell, his affair with Kerr ended when she made it clear to him that she would accept an offer to go to Hollywood if one were made. Her role as a troubled nun in the Powell and Pressburger production of "Black Narcissus" in 1947 did indeed bring her to the attention of