Sanuk Dee

For the first time in Siamese history, evening dress was required in the cinema. It was a premiere to rival any in Hollywood, and the audience of Bangkok's elite, many of whom arrived in shiny new Dodges and Buicks, were full of expectancy as they settled in their seats to watch the movie version of Anna and the King of Siam.

Almost all of them had read and discussed the book. Leading Siamese critics and historians had taken pains to point out that it was more than 75% inaccurate (refined King Mongkut, for example, had certainly never burned a wife). The criticisms only made the movie more of a treat, because most Siamese had expected the royal family to ban it altogether, or censor it beyond recognition. But the President of the Regency, faithful to Anna Leonowen's precepts, had decided after careful consideration to leave it alone. "The people want to see the film in its entirety," he said, "and in a democracy the people are the best judges."

"Sanuk dee" (very entertaining), was the audience's judgment on the movie, as a movie. The only man in Siam capable of giving an absolute verdict on its accuracy was unable to attend. Just as the movie began, the Bangkok radio took the air to announce that death, after hovering long near his hilltop suburban home, had come at last to scholarly, slim, 84-year-old Prince Naris (pronounced Nar-ritt), 62nd child and last surviving son of the movie's hero, King Mongkut.

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