Flower Drum Song

[Lincsong]

(1961) About a Chinese girl who comes to America as an arranged marriage, but falls in love with another man. The man she comes to marry is a Chinese American playboy. Set in 1961 San Francisco it is a musical comedy, starring Jack Soo (of Barney Miller fame), James Shigeta and Nancy Kwan. It was on TCM this morning. I caught the last 45 minutes of it. Although I'm not a big musical fan, I liked it. Anyone else familiar with this movie?

 

[beaucaillou]

I am familiar with it, but it has been over ten years since I've seen it, so it's a bit foggy.

I can barely deal with musicals, but I remember this being a bit more tolearble. Like most musicals, it's great to look at, and thankfully the story and characters don't get entirely lost behind the songs.

It does have some good pace and humor, but I think that in process of translating from the original book, much was probably lost. Isn't that usually the way?

I did find it to be Americanized (obviously given the screen writer, director, and production team), stereotypical, and a bit pandering, especially when there was such great cinema being made in China at the time.

 

[Harp]

Nancy Kwan, what a fox.

 

[Hondo]

Rodgers and Hammerstein

Rodgers and Hammerstein had many hit musicals, this one is fun, filled with great songs, a good movie to view with many well known Asian actors, a romantic Rodgers and Hammerstein musical set in San Francisco. Im just romantic at heart. Sad they don't make movies like this any more. And its a reminder that needs to be added to my DVD collection, so if you get a chance, sit back and enjoy

 

[Doctor Strange]

Sorry, this is probably my least favorite Rodgers & Hammerstein musical - and I think the film version has dated pretty badly. I find it downright cringeworthy.

 

[Hondo]

Well Mr. Roger Ebert, (Doc, just kidding) its not all that bad, sure its dated but it gave many asian actors work, maybe even stereo type casting, that was the 60s, the time does seem long ago. Camelot with Richard Harris (if I'm not mistaken) was Rodgers & Hammerstein musical [huh]
My fault Camelot was not R&H but the music of Frederick Loewe and Lyrics of Alan Jay Lerner. Sorry, see what do I know? :eusa_doh:
I enjoyed this one as well. I wasn't a big fan of musicals back then. just renewal interests, it did seem like fun to me, but your welcome to your opinion

 

[Doctor Strange]

Well, I've always been pretty well-versed in musicals. Since we lived just north of NYC, my parents regularly attended Broadway shows (back when it was astoundingly inexpensive by modern standards!) when I was a little kid in the 50s/early 60s, and I grew up memorizing all their cast album LPs. I don't claim to have exhaustive knowledge, but I know my way around most of the major shows, and I have seen most of the film adapations, plus a few of the important Broadway revivals going back to the 70s (e.g., Yul Brynner in his last go-round with The King and I).

Which is a long way of saying that I have nothing but ga-ga admiration for the works of Rodgers & Hammerstein! Most of their shows hold up very well, and some are undisputed masterworks, with certain caveats (e.g., South Pacific obviously spoke to those who actually experienced WWII in a way that later generations can't quite understand). Anyway, Flower Drum Song has always left me cold, though I'm willing to bet that a good modern production (along the lines of 90s revivals of Carousel and Oklahoma) would prove superior to the film... which as I said before, I find awfully dated and lame.

But this is just my own opinion, of course. If you dig it, who am I to complain?!?

((EDIT: A quick look at Wiki indicates that there was a major revision/revival on Broadway in 2002 - I guess I will have to check that new version out, in some recording/production or other.))

 

[Hondo]

You da man Doc!!! lol I'll check'em out, I never saw broadway production shows, it must have been interesting to live in NY and see these, Wow! Yul Brynner in his last The King and I? Always enjoyed him, for he is sadly missed I see you on Park Ave. lol But seriously you explained it perfectly.
Thanks!!!

 

[Doctor Strange]

There's a cool documentary about Broadway making the rounds on PBS these days in which Stephen Sondheim speaks of the days when live theater was cheap - sometimes less than going to a movie - "and seeing Broadway shows was the birthright of every New Yorker". My parents didn't have much money, but they saw stuff like the original productions of My Fair Lady and West Side Story for under $5 a ticket. (And I've heard them say many times, "When we were first going out in the forties, we saw Carousel for only 85 cents a seat - and those weren't even the worst seats in the theater."!) Hard to believe, no?

My own theater-going started when I was 11, at the original production of Man of La Mancha, and I've never gotten over it. I saw great stuff in the 70s and 80s (like the original production of Amadeus, with Tim Curry as Mozart and Ian McKellen as Salieri!), largely because my best friend's father had an old army buddy who was a Broadway ticket agent: Twice a year, he'd go downtown with a bottle of Scotch, and for the next couple of months, we'd get phone calls about having extra tickets for... The King and I, My Fair Lady, NY Shakespeare Festival productions of The Mechant of Venice and The Threepenny Opera, and lots of others that I can't recall just now.

But that was a long time ago. Broadway has priced itself out of my league. I rarely go these days: I took my daughter to see Wicked last year - for $130 a ticket!

There's still nothing like live theater, so I make a point of taking my kids to the local high school theater productions, which are frequently remarkably good, for a mere $5 or $10 a pop...

 

[Marc Chevalier]

"Flower Drum Song" collapses like a souffle when compared to Stephen Sondheim's brilliant "Pacific Overtures" from 1976, a far better musical that also gave work to Asian actors -- including the late, lamented Mako.


You can hear samples of some of the songs here (scroll down the link a bit):

http://www.amazon.com/Pacific-Overtures-1976-Original-Broadway/dp/B000002W6P

.

 

[goldwyn girl]

Personally, I love Flower Drum Song on both stage and screen.

 

[Lincsong]

Dated??? This is no more dated that any other musical from the 1950's and 1960's. No more dated than South Pacific (One of my Dad's sister-in-law was an extra in that one) and/or West Side Story.

This was supposed to be a musical/comedy, not a documentary so with any comedic element there is going to be some satire taken to the extreme, that's what makes it funny.:eusa_doh: Then add in a little exagerration, some blending of traditional practices with a television and clothes washer, some mixed syntax and it made for a highly enjoyable film.

I think that Jack Soo did a great job. He reminds me so much of people I know. I only caught the last part of it, but I wish I had seen it from the beginning. I'll have to keep checking the listings for when it comes back on TCM. Musicals bore me, so I usually hit the mute button when they start singing. Such as when James Shigeta was singing to Mei Li. But the sequence where Jack is singing that he'd not be a good husband to Mei Li was very hilarious.

With the exception of James Shigeta and Nancy Kwan this is the same cast as the Broadway musical, according to the synopsis on Amazon.com. Jack Soo played the same role on Broadway.

It appears that a version was done as a Broadway remake in 2002 and it flopped. The script was entirely rewritten and the public stayed away.

Marc, Pacific Overtures may be a good play, but from reading the review on Amazon, it appears to be a little too serious for my tastes. I like the comedic approach of Flower Drum Song.

 

[Lincsong]

Well, it was on last night at 1:00 a.m. I watched it from start to finish. I like the film, for a musical that is. The story is funny, the actors comedic timing is perfect and the satire rings true.lol Nothing pandering, or stereotypical here. To me it seems like the 1990's film; Fools Rush In has the same story line without the music. I especially liked Nancy Kwans "I love being a girl number". I'm sure I and many other men enjoyed her being a girl in that film. Ah hell, every number she did was awesome.

 

[Roger]

Great film. I didn't know that Maoist propaganda films were "great" cinema?[bad] :eusa_booh :fing28:

But back on topic. The dance and music sequences were perfect. A very nicely casted film.:eusa_clap

 

[Marc Chevalier]

I didn't know that Maoist propaganda films were "great" cinema?[bad] :eusa_booh :fing28:

Neither did I. Which Maoist propaganda films are you referring to? [huh]


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[Marc Chevalier]

Earth to Roger. Earth to Roger. Over.

.

 

[Martinis at 8]

I've seen it several times as a child, then again as an adult. It's a fun movie.

Nancy Kwan still looks good IMO.

M8

 

[Roger]

Earth to Roger. Earth to Roger. Over.

.

Roger, over and out.lol

 

[Lincsong]

This movie ain't dated

I've seen it several times as a child, then again as an adult. It's a fun movie.

Nancy Kwan still looks good IMO.

M8

You're right, beauty like this doesn't go out of style;

 

[Harp]

Nancy Kwan is a timeless beauty.