Title:Flower Drum Song By: Henry Koster Released by: Universal International Pictures Released on: 1961 Rating (out of 10): 7 Date: 07/09/2001
Nancy Kwan, James Shigeta
Flower Drum Song
Flower Drum Song is a shiny happy movie taken from a shiny happy Broadway musical. It features music by Rodgers and Hammerstein, so you know what you're getting from the start. The novel (which bears the same name as the the stage play and the film) is dark, and discusses seriously the question of immigrants and their culture in a new land. The adaptations to both stage and screen lose all important considerations and settle for euphoric unreality.
The story uses Chinese customs to drive the action. You cannot marry so-and-so, because custom forbids it. You must do thus-and-such, because Chinese have done it so for a thousand years. It's a nice touch, but sometimes it seems a tad too contrived, too convenient.
The members of Wang Chi Yang's family are having a tough time adjusting to their new lives in San Francisco ("It's named after a saint, so it must be a very holy place"). Each family member has come a different length along the road to assimilation, from Mr. Wang's old-country ways to his sister-in-law's push for American citizenship. I think it's supposed to be funny, watching this family tear at itself, trying to decide who (and what nationality) they are, but it's rather sad. Times have changed since this film was made in '61, and the confusion immigrants feel is generally not a matter of amusement nowadays.
A pretty, mail-order Chinese girl and her father stow away on a ship bound for America. She's a mail-order bride for Sammy Fong, the owner-operator of the Celestial Bar. Fong is a thoroughly Americanized hepcat, and he's in love with someone else. He manages to palm her off on old Mr. Wang, who agrees she'll marry his elder son Wang Ta.
Wang Ta isn't having any of that, thanks. He's already in love with Linda Low, and has asked her to marry him. He doesn't know much about her, but hey, this is America, and family background doesn't mean as much here as it did in China. So Sammy Fong is stuck with Mei Li, the mail-order girl who, unfortunately, has already fallen for Wang Ta.
Well, it turns out the lovely Linda Low is a stripper at the Celestial Bar. Wang Ta's not Americanized enough to tolerate that in the woman he wants to marry, so he breaks up with her and notices what a charming little gem Mei Li is. She's now engaged to the unhappy Sammy Fong, however, and can't get out of her marriage contract. Finally, arrangements are made, and Sammy Fong and Linda Low—obviously two of a kind—get married, as do Wang Ta and Mei Li.
End of story, everyone's happy, big bright finale.
The music in Flower Drum Song is, for the most part, adorable and very light. There's no sorrow here, no minor keys to spoil a happy mood. Is it a little cloying? Sure it is, but you knew that when you saw Rodgers and Hammerstein as the composers, right?
"A Hundred Million Miracles" is the song Mei Li sings in the street, begging for money when she and her dad have just sneaked off the boat. It's light and charming, with plenty of Asian-sounding clinks and jingles. Nancy Kwan is a sweet singer, her girlish voice skipping lightly over the notes.
"I Am Going to Like It Here" is the song of a woman who has no home, and is thrilled she'll have one from now on. It drags a bit and slows down the picture. You might want to fast-forward through this one.
"Like a God" is so sexist it makes my teeth clench, but it's up to you whether the song bothers you. It's a man explaining how he'll propose to the lady he loves—and how she'll think of him. It's not too bad musically, though James Shigeta isn't much as a singer.
"Don't Marry Me" and "Fan Tan Fannie" are both big-band stuff. The first has the unforgettable Sammy Fong (Do Ho) telling the innocent Mei Li what a dreadful man he is and what a rotten husband he'll be. The second is showgirl stuff, featuring scantily clad women with fans selling their Chinese heritage for blasé Americans in a supperclub.
The last notable song in the Rodgers and Hammerstein score is a bit harder-core than the rest. "Gliding Through My Memory" is a strip number, and you can sure hear the va-va-va-voom tone in it. By today's standards it might be a bit overdone, but it's fabulous for what it is. I love it.
Howard Bristol's sets are lovely. Everything is simple, and the props and sets are perfect. There's somehow a light Asian-looking touch to everything, but I can't explain how he's done it. Exceptional work.
Irene Sharoff is to be commended for her costumes. She's managed, for the "respectable" women, to do something it's difficult to do: combine the extremely modest Chinese dressing style with a set of form-fitting, show-off-the-curves outfits. It's not authentic, if you look closely, but it appears so in the film—reality enhanced to look nicer than it is.
Bud Westmore, whose makeup jobs tend to be overdone and silly in most of his work, is exactly right in Flower Drum Song. This is nicely done, from the light-and-natural look of Mei Li to the hard, used look of Linda Low. I guess the best that can be said of screen makeup is that it doesn't intrude on the characters, and that's the case here.
The actors are all decent or better in their parts—there are no bad performances. Two special notes: Nancy Kwan is spectacular, and it's a shame she never really became a huge star. The other point is James Shigeta; the guy is Japanese, not Chinese, and anyone who can tell the difference by sight and voice may have a tough time mentally placing him in this movie.
Flower Drum Song is so sweet diabetics might want to check their sugar levels and keep insulin nearby while they watch. There's no sadness, no anger, no negativity at all. This film is relentlessly happy, and it's all shiny and smiling. You really have to be in the mood for it to enjoy it.
Buy a copy of this minor classic, and keep it handy. Watch it one day when you're almost suicidally depressed—Flower Drum Song will lift you up, teach you to believe in love and the rightness of things, and make you feel the world is grand.
