The King and I (1956 film) O'Hara, who had a pleasant soprano voice, was originally cast, but Richard Rodgers did not agree to the casting. It was Yul Brynner who pressed for Deborah Kerr to play the role. Marni Nixon provided Kerr's singing for the film. Nixon and Kerr worked side-by-side in the recording studio for songs which combined speaking and singing. Nixon would also dub Kerr's singing the following year, for the film "An Affair to Remember". Donald Bogle's biography of Dorothy Dandridge claims that Dandridge was offered the role of Tuptim in partial fulfillment of her three-picture contract with 20th Century-Fox, but that Dandridge
Eye of the Devil we cannot go on," said David Niven. "The person I feel most sorry for is director J. Lee Thompson. He has put everything into this picture." She was replaced by Deborah Kerr. As a result, many scenes had to be reshot, with Novak seen only in some long shots. However, David Hemmings recalls in his autobiography that he witnessed a bitter argument between Kim Novak and Martin Ransohoff near the end of filming led Kim Novak to be sacked and the film to be reshot with Deborah Kerr. Filming resumed with Kerr in December. When asked what it was like