Jewells of Thought

When I was in the car listening to that dramatic song named, “One Night in Bangkok” the ideas were swirling in my head. One of the instant connections was the name. Bangkok, Thailand to Siam… “The King and I” and the modern version “Anna and The King”. Of course the older musical came first into my mind.

There is a CD with a lot of old musical selections that I purchased sometime ago. Hearing the melodies and harmonies of a musical has always been thrilling for me. Singing is a part of my life; it makes me happy and God has given me the ability to do so. The fact they were musicals just made watching the movies sound better to my ears.

Movies are a beloved time to eat and be around family. Maybe even do some crafting usually it was to keep us kids busy doing something. It stuck so much for decades I have had a difficult time not doing a craft and while watching a movie. There’s something about idle hands; I can’t sit down and do absolutely nothing.

For the longest time black and white movies scared the jeezers out of me. I don’t know why it just seemed out of whack to the color television I was so used to. It seemed like a setback or out of this world. It took college and the Turner Classic Movie channel to knock some sense into me about how awesome these movies really were.

One of the first old movies I fell for was the original “Father of the Bride.” I was so freaked out about my parents giving me the original version it took me years to actually watch it. The modern version of the film was out and the version with Steve Martin and Kimberly Williams-Paisley was the one I wanted. My 1950 version had the Father-Daughter team of Spencer Tracy and Elizabeth Taylor.

The “King and I,” was created a decade after a different version. I thought it odd they thought they needed to make another one so soon. Yul Brenner just seems to emanate being a king for this role in 1946, perhaps he just liked being a king. He also portrayed Moses’s nemesis in “The Ten Commandments.” Although I find it a bit disingenuous that musicals hired women that couldn’t sing to play singers. Deborah Kerr was not a singer and in ‘White Christmas” Vera Ellen wasn’t either. They are definitely wonderful actresses, but they are musicals for a reason.

Still… I could comment on and on, but I won’t. Looking at the trivia from both of these movies about Siam’s king and his English governess is intriguing. Now I really want to watch the 1946 movie. To think I was once scared of black and white movies seems pretty laughable now. I had some learning to do and now I can appreciate the older films for their content instead of lack of color on a screen.