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
The Adventures of Quentin Durward of female stars were mentioned as possibles to appear opposite Taylor, including Deborah Kerr, Elizabeth Taylor, Ann Blyth and Grace Kelly. For a time, Robert Taylor's busy schedule saw Stewart Granger emerge as a contender to replace him but Taylor ended up playing the part. Grace Kelly turned down the film and Kay Kendall was given the part. Bosley Crowther gave the film a poor review in "The New York Times", writing, "it lacks for excitement when ... the intrigues of France's Louis XI and the Duke of Burgundy are placed upon the screen in such lengthy and ponderous complexity