Rita Moreno was billed right below the two stars of this beloved Rodgers and Hammerstein film, whose exotic dances and lavish costumes were created—as they had been for the original Broadway version—by Jerome Robbins and Irene Sharaff respectively. The tale of a Welsh schoolteacher who traveled to Siam to educate the children of the royal palace has been banned in Thailand*, as have all versions of the story, because of its historical inaccuracies and for its unflattering portrait of the monarch.

Above: Rita Moreno as Tuptim and Carlos Rivas as Lun Tha

Below: West Side Story and Oscar. [Left - l-r] George Chakiris, Jerome Robbins, Robert Wise and Rita Moreno. [Right] Irene Sharaff