Flower Drum Song (film)
| Flower Drum Song | |
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1961 theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Henry Koster |
| Produced by | Ross Hunter |
| Screenplay by | Joseph Fields |
| Based on |
Flower Drum Song by Oscar Hammerstein II Joseph Fields |
| Starring |
Nancy Kwan James Shigeta Miyoshi Umeki Jack Soo Benson Fong Juanita Hall |
| Music by | Richard Rodgers |
| Cinematography | Russell Metty |
| Edited by | Milton Carruth |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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132 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English Cantonese |
| Budget | $4 million |
| Box office | $5 million (US/ Canada rentals) |
Flower Drum Song is a 1961 film adaptation of the 1958 Broadway musical Flower Drum Song, written by the composer Richard Rodgers and the lyricist/librettist Oscar Hammerstein II. The film and stage play were based on the 1957 novel of the same name by the Chinese American author C. Y. Lee.
In 2008, Flower Drum Song was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
A young woman named Mei Li arrives from China as an illegal immigrant with her father in San Francisco to enter into an arranged marriage with the owner of a night club, Sammy Fong (inspired by the actual Forbidden City nightclub). Her intended is already involved with his leading showgirl, Linda Low, and does his best to dissuade Mei Li from marrying him, sending her to live in the house of Master Wang, where he presents her as prospect for Master Wang's son, Wang Ta. Dissolving the marriage contract is harder than either of them imagine. Master Wang is persuaded by his sister-in-law, Madame Liang, to allow Mei Li to fall in love naturally with Master Wang's son, Wang Ta. But Wang Ta is dazzled by the charms of Linda, who 'enjoys being a girl', and succeeds in landing a date with her, during which she convinces him to give her his fraternity pin (it symbolizes that they're "going steady"). Linda wishes to use Wang Ta to get a real commitment from Sammy Fong, who gets wind of her plan when Linda attends a party in honor of Wang Ta's and Madame Liang's graduation from university and citizenship classes, respectively. At the party, Linda has another club employee pretend to be her brother, and grant his permission for Linda to marry Wang Ta. Mei Li, hearing this, becomes discouraged, while Ta and his father argue over his marriage plans. Ta argues that he is old enough to make his own decisions, but the father says that he will be the one to let Ta know when he is old enough.
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Wikipedia