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Pretty Good

Absolutely Fantastic

Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

How dated. Sexist. Racist. Stereotypical. Sometimes disgusting in the depiction of Asians coming to America.Adjusting to life in America. Reminds one of the stereotypical Puerto Ricans in West Side Story. America annoying in some ways, they said, but it beats bad conditions in the old country.Jack Soo refreshing to see. Deadpan. Future player on Barney Miller.Women put on makeup. We are no longer 'girls'. We still dress up for "dates", or dress down, for that matter. We don't always enjoy looking forward to living in the home of a free male. Ugh.Too many old movies had Caucasians playing other ethnic types, whether they be portraying Native Americans, African Americans, Asians, et al. This movie mostly had Asian actors, which is somewhat a plus.5/10

Mail-order bride Miyoshi Umeki (as Mei Li) arrives in San Francisco from Hong Kong, to marry nightclub owner Jack Soo (as Sammy Fong). But, the older man doesn't want to stop seeing sexy star attraction Nancy Kwan (as Linda Low). They decide to unload Ms. Umeki on James Shigeta (as Wang Ta), but he prefers locking lips with Ms. Kwan. This long, ludicrous Rodgers and Hammerstein musical could be compared to "Chop Suey" (herein a song by Juanita Hall). It isn't one of the legendary duo's best."The Other Generation" was reincarnated as "(How Do You Solve a Problem Like) Maria" for "The Sound of Music" (1965). The silly "I Enjoy Being a Girl" (sung here by Betty Jane Baker) is almost a companion to "I Feel Pretty" (from that other 1961 musical). They help make the soundtrack appealing, but Umeki's "A Hundred Million Miracles" is a winner on its own. At least, filmmakers earn points for casting charming originals like Umeki and Mr. Soo, then not pairing them with Sandra Dee and Bobby Darin. Baseball playing little brother Patrick Adiarte utters the film's best line, "Don't Take Any Wooden Chopsticks." ***** Flower Drum Song (11/9/61) Henry Koster ~ Miyoshi Umeki, Nancy Kwan, James Shigeta, Jack Soo

A Chinese woman and her father illegally enter San Francisco. This is to fulfill a marriage promised by mail to Sammy Fong (Jack Soo). But Fong is head over heels in love with Linda Low (Nancy Kwan). He tries to pawn the girl off on Wang Ta (James Shigeta)...but HE'S in love with Linda also.Pretty unknown Rodgers and Hammerstein musical. This almost never plays on TV and the last Broadway revival didn't do too good. Purportedly this film is accused of racism by Asian-American groups. Aside from a few stereotypical Chinese characters I didn't find this racist at all--I think anyone accusing this film of that is way off base. But it's not a good movie either.It's colorful and the songs are not bad but, aside from "I Enjoy Being a Girl", there isn't one memorable song here. Also some of the songs just bring the film to a screeching halt and some pretty needless dances don't help. The main problem is this film is just too long. There's no need for it to go on over 2 hours.The cast is pretty good considering they're playing stock characters. The only three that really come through are Kwan, Soo and Shigeta. So, all in all, it's an OK musical that just runs on far too long.

The 1961 musical "Flower Drum Song" is a fabulous Ross Hunter [1] production (top-notch art direction, cinematography, costume design, set decoration, film editing and sound). I found myself enjoying it more and more. I do like "The King and I" "Oklahoma!" "Carousel", yet "Flower Drum Song" is culturally diverse, 'oriental USA' and very much San Franciscan. Directed by Henry Koster [2], music and lyrics from the popular pair of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein 2nd, with Alfred Newman supervised & conducted the music score which included a wide spectrum from Asian 'flower drum song' tune, to jazzy rhythm, strings orchestral for ballet/dance pieces, to montage songs and cabaret show numbers / big band melodies; associate vocal music arranger Ken Darby, and simply marvelous choreography by Hermes Pan.Such a stellar cast: Nancy Kwan as Linda Low and Jack Soo as Sammy, Miyoshi Umeki as Mei Li and James Shigeta as Ta, Juanita Hall (of "South Pacific" 1958 fame) as Madam Liang / 'my wife's sister,' Benson Fong as Ta's father / 'my sister's husband,' Reiko Sato as Helen Chao (the seamstress), and what an amazing, versatile dancer Patrick Adiarte is (his debut role was in "The King and I" 1956 as the eldest prince opposite Yul Brynner). The musical numbers and songs are catchy and entertaining, matching key segments of the storyline: A Hundred Million Miracles; (What Are We Going To Do About) The Other Generation; Chop Suey; I Enjoy Being A Girl; Sunday (Sweet Sunday); Fan Tan Fannie; Grant Avenue; Love Look Away (sung by Marilyn Horne); Don't Marry Me; and more. Turning on the subtitles feature, one can see the lyrics and easy to sing along, too.Based on C.Y. Lee's novel of the same name, Joseph Fields (also associate producer) wrote an engaging screenplay, blended humor and 'coined' words of the times within the dialogs. Juanita Hall's grocery food order ("four pounds of seahorse, two pounds of dry snake meat, a box of longevity noodles") over the phone ending with "and a dozen thousand-year eggs, and be sure they're fresh" is an absolute gem. Imagine TV turned out to be a resource of solution to our heroines and their beaus romantic predicaments. Unforgettable: Mei Li said to Ta, "tomorrow we must go to Temple of Tin How and thank the Goddess of Heaven for television." Such quality produced films are rare these days. If you don't usually watch musicals, give "Flower Drum Song" a try, it's drama and humor would provide an enjoyable time.[1] Memorables produced by Ross Hunter: "The Chalk Garden" 1964 (d: Ronald Neame; Hayley Mills, Deborah Kerr, John Mills); "Pillow Talk" 1959 (with Doris Day, Rock Hudson, Thelma Ritter, Tony Randall); "Imitation of Life" 1959 (d: Douglas Sirk; Lana Turner, Juanita Moore, Sandra Dee) [2] Favorites directed by Henry Koster: "Three Smart Girls" 1936 with Deanna Durbin; "The Singing Nun" 1966 with Debbie Reynolds. Highly recommend - intelligent drama with suspense (in B/W, not a musical): "No Highway in the Sky" 1951with James Stewart as an aeronautical engineer who's steadfast and persistent, Glynis Johns as the sensible and caring air hostess, and Marlene Dietrich as only Dietrich could. (VHS only as yet)