Flower Drum Song

I saw this as a child in 1961 or thereabouts. Being Asian, I was fascinated to see people that looked like me on the big screen. Flower Drum Song was a lavish musical by Rodgers & Hammerstein, based on the book of the same name by Asian-American author C.Y. Lee. It is a fun, sometimes hilarious film about a picture bride and her father who smuggled themselves to San Francisco so she could marry her betrothed. Only her betrothed, Sammy Fong (Jack Soo), was not aware of this arranged marriage that had been made by his mother. He already has a girlfriend, the vivacious and beautiful nightclub singer/dancer Linda Low, (Nancy Kwan) who is the star in Sammy's nightclub. This film is sheer entertainment, moves at a great pace, and is packed with great dance numbers and Rodgers & Hammerstein's classics like "I Enjoy Being A Girl", "A Hundred Million Miracles" plus many others.What is interesting about this version is the commentary by Nancy Kwan, who discusses how scarce jobs were in Hollywood for Asian-American actors at the time; she still feels there's not enough representation. She talks about her career and discusses some of the other actors in various scenes. There are also several featurettes on the making of The Flower Drum Song, from its theatrical roots to the film. Some of the actors and people involved in the film were interviewed. These mini-documentaries and Nancy's commentary throughout the movie are worth the price of this DVD alone. If you love musicals, or are a fan of Jack Soo, Miyoko Umeki, James Shigeta or Nancy Kwan, check this wonderful film out. It's available on Amazon at a great price, considering all the extras that are featured on this DVD.

A very fun movie. What is even more amusing is the ethnic miscasting. The protagonist who, along with her father, sneaks into San Francisco on a boat from Hong Kong is obviously Japanese. The night club owner is Korean/American. He steals the show. The young baseball loving son of the Chinese family she stays with is played by a Filipino dancer. The patriarch of the family was a Hispanic actress born in New Jersey. The main 'Chinese' leading man/love interest is Hawaiian. Interestingly, Stephen Spielberg received some heavy criticism for using Chinese actresses like Lucy Liu to portray Geisha in his Japanese saga "The Last Geisha'. My, how times have changed.....

Shipped quickly, and packaged well so it arrived in great shape. Love the movie. A happy customer!

I saw this movie as a teenager on television in black and white and thought it was a rather mediocre movie. After seeing this movie again on DVD in all its glory, I'll have to say that I found the movie thoroughly delightful. I've read that there were a lot of criticisms of this movie through the years from the Asian community because of it's inaccuracies and stereotypical portrayals of Asians. Instead of accepting a cute Broadway production brought to screen as entertainment, I think one might be a little over zealous in dissecting a piece of fluff. If one is looking for realism, the characters wouldn't be singing or dancing in the first place. No matter how rich, a home in San Francisco Chinatown will never look like Master Wang's. All these are Hollywood's production value to bring beautiful visuals onto the screen. When viewing R&H musicals, there requires a certain amount of suspending of belief and enjoying it as a genre and a movie.Now to the Asian part. As an Asian, I only found two things that bothered me on my initial viewing. One is Miyoshi Umeki whose speech and mannerisms are ultra Japanese. I do love Miyoshi though, for her parts in Sayonara, and The Courtship of Eddie's Father. James Shigeta and Jack Soo fares much better because they're so very Americanized that it is easier to accept them as Chinese. Nancy Kwan and Benson Fong are both great, being actual Chinese actors. Juanita Hall is not Chinese or even Asian, but she has great chemistry in her scenes with Benson Fong so I love her in it also. The second thing that bothered me was my preconceived notion of a flower drum. This do exist in certain parts of China and the drum is usually hung on a shoulder belt down to the waist where it gets beaten by two batons. So the R&H's version of a flower drum took getting used to. But in reality, a flower drum would not be sung to a tune of "A Hundred Million Miracles" anyway, so I learned to accept this as part of the Broadway musical world.Finally as a piece of trivia, there is a continuity goof in the picture. There were actual footage of a Chinese New Year parade in Chinatown San Francisco intermixed with parade footage shot at the Universal sound stage. Miss Chinatown Irene Tsu was seen at the actual parade in her Miss Chinatown tiara and robe on a float where minutes later she is seen without her robe acting as Miss Chinatown sitting in a different car. The only explanation for this is that Irene enjoyed the parade so much that when her float got to the end, she jumped on a different car after taking her robe off and went through the parade again!

The dvd arrived quickly and in great condition. My father loves this movie. It has good music and is quite funny.

This is perhaps my favourite film musical. The songs are tuneful and memorable and are a natural part of the plot, rather than being ’pasted on'. The cast (very few members of which were actually Chinese) is exemplary. The story, whilst being necessarily light, is complex enough to engage the viewer through 133 minutes of gloriously colourful experience. The Blu-ray transfer is excellent and includes five documentaries and the trailer.

I recognized a couple of songs that I did not realize came from this movie. It is so wonderful to watch people living within the demands of their own culture which is no better and no worse than our own, but very different. I loved this movie when I was a kid and am so happy to have it now. It touches on so many different themes in life from childhood to old age, and showcases benefits of honesty in situations that could become fraught with emotion. This DVD is a keeper for me. Delivery was prompt and DVD in excellent condition.

Wow, one returns to the 1950's and lives with families adjusting to being Modern while parents want them to stay the same. Could relate to any family bringing their culture to America, although told through Chinese eyes. Wonderful Music, and acting and singing and dancing. A real Classic.

Though somewhat dated, the songs are marvellous and the production is excellent. Recommended.

We had not seen this film since it first came out so it was a trip down memory lane. This was not one of Rogers and Hammersteins most favourite show but the standard of filming and choreography was superb. Several of the songs were hits in their day and surprisingly we remembered the words. The sound quality was very good and the dialogue clear. Arrow are to be congratulated in releasing a quality recording.