Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

Flower Drum Song Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman May 27, 2022

The list of Caucasian actors portraying Asians is long, going back to the silent era and such icons as Mary Pickford. If Mickey Rooney's turn in Breakfast at Tiffany's is often cited to this day as one of the more flagrant examples of egregious caricature and perceived inappropriateness, there are scores of others that are at the very least questionable, including John Wayne in The Conqueror and Tony Randall in 7 Faces of Dr. Lao. Interestingly in that regard, then, Flower Drum Song despite any assumed deficits is the rare example of a property that cast Asians almost exclusively to play Asians and/or Asian Americans, though even that decision has been derided by some since it doesn't pass an ostensible "purity test" in casting Chinese actors to portray Chinese characters. All of that controversy aside, Flower Drum Song is frankly not the best remembered Rodgers and Hammerstein musical for a number of reasons, in either its original Broadway incarnation or its film adaptation. The mid to late fifties were an interesting time for the now legendary songwriting pair. Oklahoma!, Carousel and The King and I had all made it to the silver screen, and at least two of the three had connected significantly with ticket buying audiences. That said, Rodgers and Hammerstein's two "new" stage musicals from that same general period, Me and Juliet from 1953 and Pipe Dream from 1955, had not fared as well as previous shows by the pair, though their first foray into an original television musical, Cinderella, had been well received and at least helped to catapult Julie Andrews to superstar status. That kind of intermittent insecurity may have played into Rodgers' now famous bouts with depression, but that may make the innovative qualities of at least the general focus and casting of Flower Drum Song all the more impressive, since it must have seemed like a major risk at the time.

For the team that dealt so incisively with plot elements like bigotry and intercultural if not specifically interracial clashes in such pieces as South Pacific and The King and I, they could be at least occasionally a little tone deaf (no pun intended), sometimes aided and abetted by librettists other than Oscar Hammerstein II. For just one infamous example, think about this now lamented and frankly shocking line delivered by Julie as she reminisces about her relationship with Billy Bigelow in Carousel: "It is possible, dear, fer someone to hit you — hit you hard — and not hurt at all". Wow. Broadway musical lovers will probably know that Flower Drum Song was famously refashioned by David Henry Hwang circa 2002 in an effort to ameliorate aspects that even then Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization President Ted Chapin deemed "need changes". That may seem kind of shocking given Rodgers and Hammerstein's outsized reputation, but as innovative and perhaps even provocative as the casting of Flower Drum Song was back in 1958 (and arguably even in 1961, when the film premiered), in many ways the musical's book by Hammerstein and Joseph Fields is "old fashioned", potentially both intentionally and unintentionally.

That said, when taken on its own perhaps "second tier" merits, Flower Drum Song can be an amazingly charming and heartfelt piece, with some really winning performances by the largely Asian American cast. The story concerns an illegal immigrant named Mei Li (an impossibly sweet and touching Miyoshi Umeki), who arrives in San Francisco with her father, Dr. Han Li (Kam Tong). For reasons which are only quickly alluded to, Mei Li has been promised in an arranged marriage to local nightclub impresario Sammy Fong (Jack Soo), who has conveniently forgotten about the arrangement and has been in a multi-year relationship with Linda Low (Nancy Kwan), a singer and dancer at Fong's club, The Celestial Gardens. The long relationship between Sammy and Linda which has yet to result in Linda's wish for a marriage may recall a somewhat similar formulation between Adelaide and Nathan Detroit in Guys and Dolls, though in this case Linda's only "psychosomatic illness" may be a fiery temper which isn't going to take Sammy's procrastination lying down.

In the meantime, Sammy attempts to finagle a "rearranged" marriage between Mei Li and Wang Ta (James Shigeta), courtesy of Sammy's friendship with Madame Liang (Juanita Hall, the one non-Asian in the principal cast), who is sister-in-law to Wang Chi-Yang (Benson Fong), who is actually now a widower (i.e., Madame Liang's sister has died). A lot of probably silly and unnecessary dynamics are introduced before the almost pre-arranged couples emerge intact at the end, but at its core Flower Drum Song may be more about matriculation into American culture and what came to be known as "the generation gap" than it is about anything "inherently" Chinese.

Flower Drum Song may have been thought of as an at least relatively "big" screen musical even in 1961, but its premiere date of November 9, 1961 means it came out in the sizable wake that had been caused by the release of West Side Story, which came out just a couple of weeks before, something that may have made this film seem "old fashioned" in a whole new way, separate and apart from any built in elements with regard to the original stage property. But I'd argue as uninspired as Henry Koster's direction is at times, there are at least a couple of standout "cinematic" moments here, notably the nice composite work featuring multitudes of Nancy Kwans in "I Enjoy Being a Girl" (and how cool is that verse where the character sings with herself in a kind of McGuire Sisters on steroids vocal arrangement that I suspect was the handiwork of Ken Darby).

There's also an especially fanciful late fantasy sequence involving Jack Soo and Nancy Kwan imagining married life which is a riot of midcentury modern production design and some rather cool effects, including having two black and white characters jump out of a television episode and begin interacting with characters "in living color". I'd also argue that the Rodgers and Hammerstein score has some unbelievably beautiful songs in it, and Alfred Newman's work on the film is lush and just flat out fun at times, especially in some of the dance arrangements. As for the dances themselves, the film may suffer from having so many group choreography numbers take place in confined spaces. There is one spectacularly odd ballet sequence that is like Agnes De Mille on acid (or something like that), with weirdly secondary and suddenly dismissed character Helen (Reiko Sato) traipsing around with milliner's dummies in "Love, Look Away".

Flower Drum Song Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Flower Drum Song is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.35:1. The back cover of this release offers only a generic "brand new 2K master" as its sole technical announcement. This is a beautifully colorful presentation that really supports the winning cinematography of Russell Metty extremely well for the most part. Jewel tones are in abundance and really resonate strongly, as can probably be made out in several of the screenshots I've uploaded to accompany this review. Densities and color temperature are mostly consistent, but you can spot occasional downturns, as at circa 10:06 during the "A Hundred Million Miracles" number where things look just a bit degraded and cooler for a moment. Some of the location photography, including establishing shots of San Francisco and some later actual work in Chinatown, doesn't have quite the clarity of the bulk of the studio set material. Speaking of studio sets, there are some really obvious backdrops in some scenes (pay attention to the background behind Mei Li and her father when they climb out of the shipping boxes), and the supposed "outdoor" material in Chinatown is more than obviously setbound.

Flower Drum Song Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Flower Drum Song has a really gorgeous sounding DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track that provides significant breathing room for Alfred Newman's impeccable orchestrations. There is decent if not overwhelming engagement of the side and rear channels for some ambient environmental effects, notably the big carnival in Chinatown. Dialogue is presented cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

Flower Drum Song Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

I no longer seem to have (or at least couldn't find) my old DVD of Flower Drum Song, but to my memory this Blu-ray ports over the supplements from that now long ago release:

• Commentary by Nancy Kwan is moderated by Nick Redman.


• A Classic Evolves: From Print to Stage to Screen (SD; 19:06) gets into some of the history of the piece and features a number of really good interviews. This is just one featurette that may be perceived as a subliminal advertisement for what was in 2002 the "new" revival on Broadway.


• Faces of the East: Casting Flower Drum Song (SD; 9:09) is another great piece talking about "yellowface" and what Flower Drum Song has meant for Asian Americans.


• The Songs of Flower Drum Song (SD; 11:00) focuses on the score.


• An All Access Pass to the Sets and Costumes of Flower Drum Song (SD; 5:52) looks at the production design.


• The Legacy of Rodgers and Hammerstein (SD; 4:24) is a very brief overview of the pair.


• Flower Drum Song Trailer (HD; 2:46)


• Thoroughly Modern Millie Trailer (HD; 2:39) is included I guess because Ross Hunter also produced it and it's out on Blu- ray from Kino Lorber.

Flower Drum Song Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

If there is a more winsome and heartbreaking presence than Miyoshi Umeki in Flower Drum Song, I'm not sure I want to know, because I find Umeki's work in this film to be absolutely sensational, despite any supposed deficits the story has. This is a little staid and, yes, old fashioned, but it's also quite stylish in its own way and it is certainly an unusual film in its casting alone, at least for its production era. Technical merits are solid and the supplements while now outdated are very enjoyable. Recommended.