I lived in San Francisco in the 70s, I had a Chinese-American friend who rather had a kind of an inferiority complex, I watched this with him (I had seen it before) He had not ever seen it. The movie was a kind of a revelation to him, he kept talking about how many talented oriental actors and actresses were in the movie lost track of him, but I think the movie might have changed his life
I'm kind of envious of you living in SF during the 70s...so much was happening for everybody. Young folks from all over the USA & other countries made their way there. That was the last decade for the magic.
@@jacquelynperry7941 And for the fellows visiting SF be sure to get ready for some very nice, lovely, & well-intended comments from gay men! ...Who can resist the happy gay receptions that SF offers?!
The sad thing is that many Asian-Americans now consider this lovely musical offensive. I'm sure some of them have never even seen it, but we're all being told what to think nowadays.
In 1964 I was 6 years old and we just got our first color TV. That same evening this movie was broadcast on the local CBS channel. We all watched it together.
This remarkable assembly of 1960's cast of Asian actors and actresses really brought so much creativity, talent and joy, to their audiences through this movie. I really enjoy watching this timeless musical. Nancy Kwan is great!
I'm here because of James Hong, who plays Gong-Gong in 2023 Oscar winning "Everything Everywhere All at Once". Here in "Flower Drum Song", he plays Sammy Fong's head waiter at the Celestial Garden night club. James Hong is now 94 years old and finally received his star on Hollywood of Walk of Fame in March 2022. I loved "Flower Drum Song" since watching it on TV as a little girl and growing up in San Francisco. This 1961 movie musical had amazing cast of Asian actors & actresses, not seen again until decades later with Joy Luck Club, Crazy Rich Asians, Shang-Chi and now EEAAO which won 7 Oscars with Michelle Yeoh as first Asian actress winning Best Actress, Ke Huy Quan winning Best Supporting Actor, Stephanie Hsu nominated as Best Supporting Actress, Jamie Lee winning Best Supporting Actress (is she not Asian?), Daniel Quan winning Best Director and EEAAO winning Best Picture! James Hong gave an amazing speech on the history of Asian actors at SAG Awards when he accepted Best Motion Picture Cast on behalf of EEAAO! Triumphantly, with the EEAAO cast behind him, James shouts "Look at us now!" ❤🥢🎞🎭🏆👀⛩🍜🐉😊🎵🎤
I wish the all-Asian cast of "Flower Drum Song" received recognition in 1961: Nancy Kwan, Miyoshi Umeki, Jack Soo, James Shigeta, Reiko Sato, James Hong, Benson Fong, Kam Tong.
She is wonderful. It's kind of obvious that her singing is dubbed by someone else. Her Barbara Walters-ish speech impediment disappears when she starts to sing- not saying it to be critical.
The scenes with theirs songs, 'Love, Look Away and 'Sunday' are both genius for completely different reasons: one is meant to be funny, the other, sad.
I saw this movie when I was a kid in the sixties. This movie just may have gotten better! I am 75 now, I remembered all the lyrics as the storyline played out, I think this was the most amazing musical of 1961, and the music was fabulous, I really enjoyed it this time!
I saw this movie back in the 60's. The memories, the music and the details still linger in my mind. Now I am 69 years old and looking at the story after so many years I can say that this was a very important and historical film, in which the traditional concepts of Chinese customs were being challenge by the newly acquired customs of living in America.
me too mr osuna....i saw this in the 1960s., now i am 69 also., it all brings back good warm memories. Sadly Shigeta and Umechi are no longer with us but at least nancy kwan is still around
I love this movie! It is so beautiful, and so beautifully done! The songs are very memorable, and the dancing is wonderful! Thank you for sharing this!! ~Janet in Canada
I remember when this came out, I was a child then and never got the chance to see it, now after all these years later I did get the chance, much better than I imagined it, nice love story, great acting, love the all Asian cast, (well almost all Asian ) just an entertaining movie and visually stunning !!
I got to see it on TV with my family in the sixties when I was a little girl . Today was the first time I've seen it since then but I did remember a lot of it ... certain scenes ... especially when they first are performing for money and then the beautiful courtyard where they are living and the end wedding scene .
A nice Lazy Sunday and a Oriental movie.....my mother adored this musical! She passed at age 96 several years ago. I watched musicals every Sunday in honor of her memory ! My mother was an Amazing Irish lady
San Francisco, Ca Chinatown.Grandma Was Here Then.Pass Down To Generations.Everything Then Is Not The Same Now. I live Here So I Know . Thank You For Sharing This. Grandma Said Everyone Who Was Young Is Beautiful. Anyway Half Asaian We Are Coming Out More Thank You.
From 1:40:34 to 1:41:57 I literally started to shed a tear when Mei Li is telling Wang Ta how she felt about him until she came to Helen Chao's apartment when she notices Ta's coat and his shoes and ends when she tells him that her heart was so hurt and tells him that she doesn't love him anymore. 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭..... Great performance by the late great actress, Miyoshi Umeki. God Rest Her Soul. But, everyone knows that the ending is a happy ending when Mei Li finally marries Wang Ta in a double wedding along with Sammy Fong and Linda Low. Greatest movie ever. Miyoshi Umeki has done a very wonderful performance as Mei Li in both the Broadway version and the film verison. I love this movie all the way. Though I first watched this movie last night on channel TCM and already I love this wonderful movie. #FlowerDrumSong #MiyoshiUmeki #JamesShigeta #NancyKwan 🎎🎎🎎🎎
Patrick Adiarte was very young, handsome and quite a gifted and talented dancer in his role as the younger, baseball uniform-clad brother. Born in 1942, in fact, Adiarte was 18 when the movie was filmed and 19 by the time it was released. Viewers of early episodes of _M*A*S*H_ may also recognize him as the actor who played character Ho Jon, and fans of the _Brady Bunch_ may remember him as the local Hawaiian "David" from the two episodes set in Hawaii. Unfortunately, his screen career appears to have ended in the early 70s, and I can find nothing more about him. If still living, he would be 77 as of this post.
@@sheilayungk7815 , thanks for your comment but don’t give me too much credit. I didn’t know all those facts off the top my head. I did a little research and shared some of what I learned, figuring if I find it interesting then others may as well. Glad you appreciated it.
Wonderful showcase for the great Miyoshi Umeki. Brilliant Dong Kingman title sequence, Alfred Newman overture, Hermes Pan choreography, and Russell Metty cinematography.
@padroneoso: You forgot to mention the costumes of the great Irene Sharaff. Also, the musical was based on the stage musical with a book by Oscar Hammerstein 2nd and Joseph Fields, that was not in the credits. The screenplay however was by Joseph Fields as stated.
@@beverlyledbetter4906 I've always enjoyed this musical film...the Asian aspect is present, but the theme of the film travels above that in many rich ways.
I'm white and watched this show where I was 6 and even then I cried 😢when she was mistreated no should go through that and I love they. Story it was beautiful ❤
There was no problem making this movie in 1960/61. In fact, the stage production of the 1950s was very popular. People were far less uptight as compared to now. Cancellation - and rewriting - of works of art due to nonconformity with contemporary moral codes is currently far more prevalent than at any time in American history. While religious zealotry has always been present, there has never been an order, in America, with the institutional power to enforce conformity that is currently wielded by the Liberal Church of Woke.
@@dckatyx9577 You guys spend too much time on youtube. It was "woke" to cast an all Asian cast and talk about subjects like what does it mean to be Chinese or Chinese American. But you probably didn't watch more than five minutes of the film. The song "Chop Suey" is legend.
@@rolandcuthbert784 Flower Drum Song thoughtfully develops its characters as individuals. Wokeism is an ideology that categorizes all people within racial and other identity groups. Identity politics was explicitly developed as a replacement to Marxism. It abandons the economic division of the proletariat versus the capitalist. The Church of Woke ordains that all people are permanently stratified by caste, according to their group’s (arbitrary) level of victimhood. The humanism of Flower Drum Song is a beautiful antithesis to the divisive ideology of Wokeism.
THE FIRST TIME I EVER HEARD OF THIS MOVIE WAS A FEW YEARS AGO, 2020 PERHAPS? WHEN I WAS WATCHING A REALITY SHOW. ALL OF THE CHARACTERS WERE GOSSIPING ABOUT ONE OF THEIR "FRIEND'S" RECENT FACELIFTS AND A MALE CAST MEMBER MADE A COMMENT ABOUT THE WOMAN'S FACE BEING STRETCHED SO TIGHT SHE COULD HAVE BEEN ON "FLOWER DRUM SONG." I LAUGHED SO HARD. HAVING NEVER SEEN THE MOVIE AND HEARING THE TITLE I IMAGINED THE CAST WAS ASIAN AND IT HAD TO DO WITH ASIAN CULTURE. I'M HALF JAPANESE AND I THOUGHT THE COMMENT WAS THE FUNNIEST THING I HEARD!
Im 71 and I fell in love with it when I saw it on TV when I was a teenager. I always loved Asian culture and I adored th emovie and the actors. Bravo all around.
Yep, I'm 74 & remember in jhs falling in love w/Pearl Buck & trying to read everything she wrote. I think my 1st take away from her stories was th fact that women were treated so poorly. I had seen this movie b4 & remember how "slick" movies were back then w/th sophisticated suits/skinny ties, real hip. This is a great movie about a forgotten time.
A really great musical movie. However, Japanese-American and Chinese-American actors play a central role in creating this movie. The music in the play is also really magnificent❗️
"Remember me? We were on a double date last week. I was the one with the wrong girl. " Hope there comes a day where the stars align and I get to use this on my future wife and nobody gets hurt.
Come on in, folks! Sit tight and be ethically enriched and magically bewitched by being fantabulously and miraculously transported to the time immemorial, and that's simply glidin' and pridin' in a most outglowing and mind-blowing viewing experience - as if leisurely and securely walking down the memory lane with the unparalleled sublimeness and primeness; with the pristinely appealing and thrilling moments; with the sanguinely gallant and scintillant sentimental values; with the distinctly periodic and methodic full flowering; and not least of all, with the most divinest and finest selection of the long-standing and outstanding theater / film musical classics that were unreservedly adapted from the best-selling, social values-unveiling literary works enlaced and graced with the historic dramedic elements or with the euphoric romedic elements for all the public viewers to ponder and to wonder with great pleasure and pride about the bygone periods of grandiosity, luminosity, and virtuosity in the Hollywood musicals-making sphere - which is to say such authentic and fun-centric audio-visual spectacles that were, in the truest sense, being artistically gentrified, thematically signified, and technically intensified as priceless gems of high standard and true merit. One fine example is this 1961 Mr Ross Hunter / Mr Joseph Fields-produced "Flower Drum Song", a deferentially and celestially treasured musical rom-com gem, that was freely based on the 1957 Mr Chin Yang-Lee's quite pithy and witty cultural difference / generation gap-related novel. In time it was feasibly and sensibly shifted to the major Broadway / motion picture musical with the quite sharply and subtly modified rendition of Mr Joseph A Fields in collaboration with Mr Oscar Hammerstein II that has indeed dynamically, euphorically, and humanistically rocked all the true-blue theater / film musical retros aficionados with sheer gaiety and premier quality. For there's something caressing and warm about this Dir Henry Koster's engrossingly and rousingly helmed rich Oriental familial values / East-and-West cultural conflict-themed musical film classic that will make every viewer in particular the Asian descents to be delightfully and sprightfully fascinated to a tee. His craftily and raptly directorial method was so markedly impressive and expressive with regards to the cinematic texture as well as the charismatic feature of the film so as to precisely and nicely bring on an awesome and wholesome family entertainment ambiance that was brilliantly set out with an edifying flying colour, with a burning and turning passion, and with the breezy and steezy tone. The well-balanced blending of the opulent song-pieces and the coherent spoken / singing parts was jauntily and prettily kept to the best of Mr Richard Rodgers, Mr Oscar Hammerstein II, and Mr Joseph A Fields' authentic cleverness, optimistic lyricalness, stylistic naturalness, formalistic ethicalness, and modernistic liberalness, plus the exceptional communal backings of the lead stars' endearing performances; the bit players' clear-cut presence; and the behind-the-scene crews' integral expertness. This quite dandy and handy ensemble did likewise pictorially exhibit Mr Dong Kingman's composedly and purposedly watercolor-illustrated art-works in the opening credits. Thus the entire members had achieved the best outcomes as a total package treat for all the fanbase to revel in. Just for the historical record, this is the first Hollywood film to roll out the Asian-American cast for the most part of every scene. It was a totally new viewing experience for the non-Asians back then. Still and all, it's been a real brill thrill to see this divinely and finely crafted musical classic since then - with the upfront jubilation in our hearts and the out-front adulation coming out of our mouths as if engagingly savoring and favoring the sweet aroma of "Flower Drum Song" that is fragrantly emanating a pageantry of unadulterated and envigorated beauty enlaced with romance, laughter, and music. A hundred million miracles are happ'ning everyday, everywhere, and to everybody up to the present time even in the course of personal or social issues. For this fancily mixed values-gilded classic can serve as sort of an expedient mood-energizer at just the right moment.There's no doubt that we are going to like it here. So let's altogether lift our glasses with the tiger bone wine and wish each other for harmony, happiness, and prosperity. It's a truly fair-and-rare celebration of a lifetime. A ten-thousand benedictions to all!!
@@cherylcampbell9369 Nope. I had a handicapped sister who would spend months at a time in Shriners Hospital in San Francisco until she was 17. When she was there we would visit her on Sundays. When we were younger we were not allowed in and SF was so safe my folks could leave their other 5 children outside on the lawn. That was normal back then. Then they would take us around the city and visit a museum, the zoo, Japanese Tea Gardens, Chinatown etc. It was beautiful, clean and safe because aside from Chinatown we were a homogenous demographic of people who are capable of having a civilized society.
This is another movie I saw maybe once on TV more than fifty years ago. When it came out I was a kid living in the back of the beyond in southeastern Idaho; no way a movie with Oriental stars was going to be booked into in one of the whitest patches in the USA. But I remember hearing "I Enjoy Being a Girl" on the radio long before that with never a clue it was a song from a Broadway musical..
She's phenomenal! I've had the great pleasure (many years ago) of hearing her on stage many times and getting to meet her. This was not her first encounter with Rodgers and Hammerstein, she sang with the studio chorus for the film of 'The King and I'. Viva Jackie!!
This is such exceptional film on so many levels of San Francisco Chinatown so many generations coming together of family values culture and being an Asian American balancing old and new and of San Francisco in the 60s
But it's a shame most of the San Francisco Chinatown is actually gone ... I saw a piece here just recently on the tube about how they're only down to two original restaurants in Chinatown ... and it showed how much it changed ... really a shame they couldn't hold on to some of these places
I always wondered why they left her alone at the end. I think in Rodger's and Hammerstein shows there usually has to be a bit of sad with the happy. (In the original book the musical was based on she commits SUICIDE!)
@@maestroclassico5801 But in real life, she probably wouldn't kill herself. She was pretty and sweet and talented. She could get over Tah and marry someone else.
I remember seeing this a young kid was not interested then in the 1980's when I was in the Navy was ready for the weekend couldn't not skeep turned my tv and watched the entire movie
Lost Horizon I Believe. It Came Out in 1973, A Remake Of the Original Lost Horizon Movie, that came out in 1937. Yes Ross Hunter Was Great with musical productions.
@@susanscheuermann4898Sadly, James Shigeta was the only actor/actress from Flower Drum Song used in Lost Horizon. Either Myoshi Umeki, Nancy Kwan, or Reiko Sato could have played Katherine. Liv Ullman was odd casting.
when Ta and his father were arguing I could see both sides of the argument. Ta was trying to make his father understand that in the United States a man has a right to choose his own wife. the father was saying Ta was being too naive and did not really know Linda as much as he thought he did
The big dance number at the commencement party would have been better if it included some traditional Chinese dance. Americans already know American dances. The charm of this musical is in the foreign customs and the efforts to achieve compatibility.
Nancy was 20 when this was filmed. GAWD was she hot. Kudos to the gal who dubbed for her. She sounds like Nancy. When I was younger, I really thought it was her.
Universal doing a Rodgers and Hammerstein musical for a change instead of Fox. But at least they still had Alfred Newman supervising, adapting and Conducting the score like he did for The King and I, Carousel, and South Pacific at Fox.
Made for the Asian Market Full of songs and dances! Kwans voice was dubbed She was chosen for her Looks rather than singing Talent much like Audrey Hepburn in my fair lady!
I lived in San Francisco in the 70s, I had a Chinese-American friend who rather had a kind of an inferiority complex, I watched this with him (I had seen it before) He had not ever seen it. The movie was a kind of a revelation to him, he kept talking about how many talented oriental actors and actresses were in the movie lost track of him, but I think the movie might have changed his life
Wow I think you were lucky to have lived in San Francisco in the 70s .
I'm kind of envious of you living in SF during the 70s...so much was happening for everybody. Young folks from all over the USA & other countries made their way there. That was the last decade for the magic.
If you're going to San Francisco, b sure to wear some flowers in your hair...and hav a concealed carry permit.
@@jacquelynperry7941 And for the fellows visiting SF be sure to get ready for some very nice, lovely, & well-intended comments from gay men! ...Who can resist the happy gay receptions that SF offers?!
The sad thing is that many Asian-Americans now consider this lovely musical offensive. I'm sure some of them have never even seen it, but we're all being told what to think nowadays.
In 1964 I was 6 years old and we just got our first color TV. That same evening this movie was broadcast on the local CBS channel. We all watched it together.
In 1964 I was 10 YO and we got our first B&W TV
This remarkable assembly of 1960's cast of Asian actors and actresses really brought so much creativity, talent and joy, to their audiences through this movie. I really enjoy watching this timeless musical. Nancy Kwan is great!
I'm here because of James Hong, who plays Gong-Gong in 2023 Oscar winning "Everything Everywhere All at Once". Here in "Flower Drum Song", he plays Sammy Fong's head waiter at the Celestial Garden night club. James Hong is now 94 years old and finally received his star on Hollywood of Walk of Fame in March 2022. I loved "Flower Drum Song" since watching it on TV as a little girl and growing up in San Francisco. This 1961 movie musical had amazing cast of Asian actors & actresses, not seen again until decades later with Joy Luck Club, Crazy Rich Asians, Shang-Chi and now EEAAO which won 7 Oscars with Michelle Yeoh as first Asian actress winning Best Actress, Ke Huy Quan winning Best Supporting Actor, Stephanie Hsu nominated as Best Supporting Actress, Jamie Lee winning Best Supporting Actress (is she not Asian?), Daniel Quan winning Best Director and EEAAO winning Best Picture! James Hong gave an amazing speech on the history of Asian actors at SAG Awards when he accepted Best Motion Picture Cast on behalf of EEAAO! Triumphantly, with the EEAAO cast behind him, James shouts "Look at us now!" ❤🥢🎞🎭🏆👀⛩🍜🐉😊🎵🎤
Not only that, Jack Soo, who has a role in the movie version, was also in the original Broadway cast.
@@johneddy908 Thank you for that bit of trivia that Jack Soo performed on Broadway! I think he's best known for his TV role on Barney Miller.
I wish the all-Asian cast of "Flower Drum Song" received recognition in 1961: Nancy Kwan, Miyoshi Umeki, Jack Soo, James Shigeta, Reiko Sato, James Hong, Benson Fong, Kam Tong.
At 75 years old, I still love this. With Nancy Kwan's blended ethnicity, she paved the way for Asian Americans in Hollywood.
When in doubt - dance!
Yes she was really incredible ... I remember seeing her in this and also the world of Suzie Wong when I was a little girl in the 1960s
She is wonderful. It's kind of obvious that her singing is dubbed by someone else. Her Barbara Walters-ish speech impediment disappears when she starts to sing- not saying it to be critical.
Until Crazy Rich Asians and Shang-Chi made more acceptance for Asian Americans
@@kennethwayne6857Speech impediment???🤨
@@tessdurberville711 Perhaps I'm hearing it wrong. No offense intended.
my mother loved this movie. I watch it every so often with her in spirit, and to see San Francisco as it was when I was growing up.
I had forgotten just how WELL choreographed this film was. (And the beautiful opening title drawings by Dong Kingman..)
The scenes with theirs songs, 'Love, Look Away and 'Sunday' are both genius for completely different reasons: one is meant to be funny, the other, sad.
Yes that Sunday number is fantastic!
Hermes Pan. One of the best.
I loved the drawings! Wish I could buy a copy of them.
I saw this movie when I was a kid in the sixties. This movie just may have gotten better! I am 75 now, I remembered all the lyrics as the storyline played out, I think this was the most amazing musical of 1961, and the music was fabulous, I really enjoyed it this time!
I saw this movie back in the 60's. The memories, the music and the details still linger in my mind. Now I am 69 years old and looking at the story after so many years I can say that this was a very important and historical film, in which the traditional concepts of Chinese customs were being challenge by the newly acquired customs of living in America.
me too mr osuna....i saw this in the 1960s., now i am 69 also., it all brings back good warm memories. Sadly
Shigeta and Umechi are no longer with us but at least nancy kwan is still around
Me, too. Saw it way back when, and I am now 69 years old. Nice to feel that I have company. ; ))
Really needed to watch a cultural Chinese icon musical today lol
The same here.
62
I love this movie! It is so beautiful, and so beautifully done! The songs are very memorable, and the dancing is wonderful! Thank you for sharing this!! ~Janet in Canada
I remember when this came out, I was a child then and never got the chance to see it, now after all these years later I did get the chance, much better than I imagined it, nice love story, great acting, love the all Asian cast, (well almost all Asian ) just an entertaining movie and visually stunning !!
I got to see it on TV with my family in the sixties when I was a little girl .
Today was the first time I've seen it since then but I did remember a lot of it ... certain scenes ... especially when they first are performing for money and then the beautiful courtyard where they are living and the end wedding scene .
Watched this years ago. I am still enchanted by it.❤
Great movie. As a Japanese, how could I not know about this movie until now?
At least you finally found it. I’m glad it’s on TH-cam.
Loved this movie as a Boomer youth. Still do. The parts of this that have aged the least well are what was contemporary in the 1960's.
Only thing was when they made the set of Portsmouth Square, it was not very accurate, bit that was a minor thing.
A nice Lazy Sunday and a Oriental movie.....my mother adored this musical! She passed at age 96 several years ago. I watched musicals every Sunday in honor of her memory ! My mother was an Amazing Irish lady
San Francisco, Ca Chinatown.Grandma Was Here Then.Pass Down To Generations.Everything Then Is Not The Same Now.
I live Here
So I Know .
Thank You For Sharing This.
Grandma Said Everyone Who Was Young Is Beautiful.
Anyway Half Asaian We Are Coming Out More
Thank You.
back when the city of San Francisco truly was- " SO WONDERFUL".
that was before hipsters, techies and millennials
I like the kid
Beatniks who were proto-hippies are shown in this film at a club doing dancing during a poetry reading.
Reiko Sato, who mimes "Look away" is dubbed by the great operatic singer, Marylin Horne.
The music in this is beautiful. It makes me cry!!! "You are Beautiful". That's how emotional I get with music!!!
Great movie, fantastic dancing. Nancy Kwan very special in many ways.
I really like Miyoshi
What a wonderful movie, American Chinese people have lot of talented actors indeed! Love this movie and recommend it to my family members and friends.
Don Kingman’s watercolors are incredible!!!
From 1:40:34 to 1:41:57 I literally started to shed a tear when Mei Li is telling Wang Ta how she felt about him until she came to Helen Chao's apartment when she notices Ta's coat and his shoes and ends when she tells him that her heart was so hurt and tells him that she doesn't love him anymore. 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭..... Great performance by the late great actress, Miyoshi Umeki. God Rest Her Soul. But, everyone knows that the ending is a happy ending when Mei Li finally marries Wang Ta in a double wedding along with Sammy Fong and Linda Low. Greatest movie ever. Miyoshi Umeki has done a very wonderful performance as Mei Li in both the Broadway version and the film verison. I love this movie all the way. Though I first watched this movie last night on channel TCM and already I love this wonderful movie. #FlowerDrumSong #MiyoshiUmeki #JamesShigeta #NancyKwan 🎎🎎🎎🎎
Not "everybody" knows the ending of this movie, I never heard of it. Thanks for the spoiler 🙄 I'll watch it anyway...
@@MK-hh1vo you're welcome
Ah, Mrs Livingtone before she was on Courtship of Eddie's Father....what a delightful film!
Charming film, those beautiful R &H songs and dance numbers!
Wonderful musical , thank you so much for hosting it !
This might be the only musical movie with an majority of Asian cast
And The Handsome James Shigeta !!!!!!! UUUUUhhhhhhhhhh, I Always Had A Crush On Him Through The Years !!!!
Patrick Adiarte was very young, handsome and quite a gifted and talented dancer in his role as the younger, baseball uniform-clad brother. Born in 1942, in fact, Adiarte was 18 when the movie was filmed and 19 by the time it was released. Viewers of early episodes of _M*A*S*H_ may also recognize him as the actor who played character Ho Jon, and fans of the _Brady Bunch_ may remember him as the local Hawaiian "David" from the two episodes set in Hawaii.
Unfortunately, his screen career appears to have ended in the early 70s, and I can find nothing more about him. If still living, he would be 77 as of this post.
He's filipino right i know him because of his Filipino article. He was in the King and I too i think.
Wow. You sure know your stuff. You must like this movie!! I tend to look people up too.
@@sheilayungk7815 , thanks for your comment but don’t give me too much credit. I didn’t know all those facts off the top my head. I did a little research and shared some of what I learned, figuring if I find it interesting then others may as well. Glad you appreciated it.
He amazes me when i see this now. I almost fast forwarded to end credits to see who he was. Thank you!
@inkyguy: Patrick Adiarte also portrayed Prince Chulalongkorn in THE KING AND I (1956).
A hundred million miracles I love this movie 🍿
Absolutely delightful! Thanks for beautiful memories!
LOVE all the Mid-century modern furniture in this movie- what goes around comes back around!
I was in the furniture business too at the time I saw this movie W. & J. Sloane, San Francisco, so I loved the interior shots too...
Wonderful showcase for the great Miyoshi Umeki. Brilliant Dong Kingman title sequence, Alfred Newman overture, Hermes Pan choreography, and Russell Metty cinematography.
been to Grant Ave SF the heart of The City
@padroneoso: You forgot to mention the costumes of the great Irene Sharaff. Also, the musical was based on the stage musical with a book by Oscar Hammerstein 2nd and Joseph Fields, that was not in the credits. The screenplay however was by Joseph Fields as stated.
@@johnpickford4222 Ms Sharaff's work is wonderful. From the cast, Nancy Kwan, James Hong, and Patrick Adiarte are still alive.
I love this movie!! James Shigeta is wonderful!!
He really is, and so handsome. :)
I'm sure a lot of non-Asians enjoyed watching Kwan and Shigeta, whether they admitted it or not!
@@beverlyledbetter4906 I've always enjoyed this musical film...the Asian aspect is present, but the theme of the film travels above that in many rich ways.
I'm white and watched this show where I was 6 and even then I cried 😢when she was mistreated no should go through that and I love they. Story it was beautiful ❤
It is weird how this movie was so far ahead of its time. We would have problems making a movie like this even today.
No, only you have problems.
@@del7i540 Oh my problem is only with youtube trolls. You guys are professionals.
There was no problem making this movie in 1960/61. In fact, the stage production of the 1950s was very popular. People were far less uptight as compared to now. Cancellation - and rewriting - of works of art due to nonconformity with contemporary moral codes is currently far more prevalent than at any time in American history. While religious zealotry has always been present, there has never been an order, in America, with the institutional power to enforce conformity that is currently wielded by the Liberal Church of Woke.
@@dckatyx9577 You guys spend too much time on youtube. It was "woke" to cast an all Asian cast and talk about subjects like what does it mean to be Chinese or Chinese American. But you probably didn't watch more than five minutes of the film. The song "Chop Suey" is legend.
@@rolandcuthbert784 Flower Drum Song thoughtfully develops its characters as individuals. Wokeism is an ideology that categorizes all people within racial and other identity groups. Identity politics was explicitly developed as a replacement to Marxism. It abandons the economic division of the proletariat versus the capitalist. The Church of Woke ordains that all people are permanently stratified by caste, according to their group’s (arbitrary) level of victimhood. The humanism of Flower Drum Song is a beautiful antithesis to the divisive ideology of Wokeism.
THE FIRST TIME I EVER HEARD OF THIS MOVIE WAS A FEW YEARS AGO, 2020 PERHAPS? WHEN I WAS WATCHING A REALITY SHOW. ALL OF THE CHARACTERS WERE GOSSIPING ABOUT ONE OF THEIR "FRIEND'S" RECENT FACELIFTS AND A MALE CAST MEMBER MADE A COMMENT ABOUT THE WOMAN'S FACE BEING STRETCHED SO TIGHT SHE COULD HAVE BEEN ON "FLOWER DRUM SONG." I LAUGHED SO HARD. HAVING NEVER SEEN THE MOVIE AND HEARING THE TITLE I IMAGINED THE CAST WAS ASIAN AND IT HAD TO DO WITH ASIAN CULTURE. I'M HALF JAPANESE AND I THOUGHT THE COMMENT WAS THE FUNNIEST THING I HEARD!
I’ve never seen a Rogers and Hammerstein movie I didn’t love.
Thousand year old eggs. Make sure they are fresh ! Funniest line ever !
Im 71 and I fell in love with it when I saw it on TV when I was a teenager. I always loved Asian culture and I adored th emovie and the actors. Bravo all around.
Yep, I'm 74 & remember in jhs falling in love w/Pearl Buck & trying to read everything she wrote. I think my 1st take away from her stories was th fact that women were treated so poorly.
I had seen this movie b4 & remember how "slick" movies were back then w/th sophisticated suits/skinny ties, real hip.
This is a great movie about a forgotten time.
THANK YOU for uploading this!! Gorgeous movie!!
A really great musical movie. However, Japanese-American and Chinese-American actors play a central role in creating this movie.
The music in the play is also really magnificent❗️
And the wonderful Juanita Hall is African American. You remember her from Rodgers and Hammerstein's SOUTH PACIFIC.
@@padroneoso Yep, exactly！
She was so great actress.
This is one of my all time favorite musicals!
"Remember me? We were on a double date last week. I was the one with the wrong girl. " Hope there comes a day where the stars align and I get to use this on my future wife and nobody gets hurt.
Rodgers & Hammerstein's greatest musical comedy as apposed to their musical plays 'Carousel'; 'South Pacific 'etc
Been a fan of Jack Soo for.many years great movie haven't seen for many years thanks
Come on in, folks! Sit tight and be ethically enriched and magically bewitched by being fantabulously and miraculously transported to the time immemorial, and that's simply glidin' and pridin' in a most outglowing and mind-blowing viewing experience - as if leisurely and securely walking down the memory lane with the unparalleled sublimeness and primeness; with the pristinely appealing and thrilling moments; with the sanguinely gallant and scintillant sentimental values; with the distinctly periodic and methodic full flowering; and not least of all, with the most divinest and finest selection of the long-standing and outstanding theater / film musical classics that were unreservedly adapted from the best-selling, social values-unveiling literary works enlaced and graced with the historic dramedic elements or with the euphoric romedic elements for all the public viewers to ponder and to wonder with great pleasure and pride about the bygone periods of grandiosity, luminosity, and virtuosity in the Hollywood musicals-making sphere - which is to say such authentic and fun-centric audio-visual spectacles that were, in the truest sense, being artistically gentrified, thematically signified, and technically intensified as priceless gems of high standard and true merit. One fine example is this 1961 Mr Ross Hunter / Mr Joseph Fields-produced "Flower Drum Song", a deferentially and celestially treasured musical rom-com gem, that was freely based on the 1957 Mr Chin Yang-Lee's quite pithy and witty cultural difference / generation gap-related novel. In time it was feasibly and sensibly shifted to the major Broadway / motion picture musical with the quite sharply and subtly modified rendition of Mr Joseph A Fields in collaboration with Mr Oscar Hammerstein II that has indeed dynamically, euphorically, and humanistically rocked all the true-blue theater / film musical retros aficionados with sheer gaiety and premier quality. For there's something caressing and warm about this Dir Henry Koster's engrossingly and rousingly helmed rich Oriental familial values / East-and-West cultural conflict-themed musical film classic that will make every viewer in particular the Asian descents to be delightfully and sprightfully fascinated to a tee. His craftily and raptly directorial method was so markedly impressive and expressive with regards to the cinematic texture as well as the charismatic feature of the film so as to precisely and nicely bring on an awesome and wholesome family entertainment ambiance that was brilliantly set out with an edifying flying colour, with a burning and turning passion, and with the breezy and steezy tone. The well-balanced blending of the opulent song-pieces and the coherent spoken / singing parts was jauntily and prettily kept to the best of Mr Richard Rodgers, Mr Oscar Hammerstein II, and Mr Joseph A Fields' authentic cleverness, optimistic lyricalness, stylistic naturalness, formalistic ethicalness, and modernistic liberalness, plus the exceptional communal backings of the lead stars' endearing performances; the bit players' clear-cut presence; and the behind-the-scene crews' integral expertness. This quite dandy and handy ensemble did likewise pictorially exhibit Mr Dong Kingman's composedly and purposedly watercolor-illustrated art-works in the opening credits. Thus the entire members had achieved the best outcomes as a total package treat for all the fanbase to revel in. Just for the historical record, this is the first Hollywood film to roll out the Asian-American cast for the most part of every scene. It was a totally new viewing experience for the non-Asians back then. Still and all, it's been a real brill thrill to see this divinely and finely crafted musical classic since then - with the upfront jubilation in our hearts and the out-front adulation coming out of our mouths as if engagingly savoring and favoring the sweet aroma of "Flower Drum Song" that is fragrantly emanating a pageantry of unadulterated and envigorated beauty enlaced with romance, laughter, and music. A hundred million miracles are happ'ning everyday, everywhere, and to everybody up to the present time even in the course of personal or social issues. For this fancily mixed values-gilded classic can serve as sort of an expedient mood-energizer at just the right moment.There's no doubt that we are going to like it here. So let's altogether lift our glasses with the tiger bone wine and wish each other for harmony, happiness, and prosperity. It's a truly fair-and-rare celebration of a lifetime. A ten-thousand benedictions to all!!
This is one of my favorite movies of all time!!!
Great movie. Great cast. Thanks.
Didn't Miyosha Umeki earn an Oscar for Sayronara??? And appear on, The Courtship of Eddie's Father???
Jack Soo...Barney Miller ? ? Benson Forg appeared on a couple episodes of Perry Mason as did James Shigata.
Love Flower Drum Song. Best score, great cast, fantasticly great dancers!
Back when San Francisco was beautiful
It's mostly sound stages, i think.
@@cherylcampbell9369 Nope. I had a handicapped sister who would spend months at a time in Shriners Hospital in San Francisco until she was 17. When she was there we would visit her on Sundays. When we were younger we were not allowed in and SF was so safe my folks could leave their other 5 children outside on the lawn. That was normal back then. Then they would take us around the city and visit a museum, the zoo, Japanese Tea Gardens, Chinatown etc. It was beautiful, clean and safe because aside from Chinatown we were a homogenous demographic of people who are capable of having a civilized society.
@@lrealestate I believe you .
1:36:36 to 136:41
I always found that part hilarious:
father: "why are you not in school?"
son: "it's Saturday"
father: always some excuse!!!!
There are so many good retorts in this film!
This is another movie I saw maybe once on TV more than fifty years ago. When it came out I was a kid living in the back of the beyond in southeastern Idaho; no way a movie with Oriental stars was going to be booked into in one of the whitest patches in the USA. But I remember hearing "I Enjoy Being a Girl" on the radio long before that with never a clue it was a song from a Broadway musical..
I have watch this move over a dozen times, great film
I loved to sing Love Look Away - so beautiful. It's sung by mezzo Marilyn Horne.
The best number in the film, along with ‘You are Beautiful’.Generally, I find the film very sexist and Jack Soo is insufferable.
She's phenomenal! I've had the great pleasure (many years ago) of hearing her on stage many times and getting to meet her. This was not her first encounter with Rodgers and Hammerstein, she sang with the studio chorus for the film of 'The King and I'. Viva Jackie!!
@@davidallen508🤦🏼♀️.
1:02:37 “How could he help himself, baby? You’re a bunch of stuff!”
LOL what a line!
Yes, very cleverly written.
What a joyful enchanting movie. Thank you for making it available.
Love this musical!
Wonderful movie...I've never forgotten it.
Wonderful movie. Thank you for uploading it. Haven't seen it in years!!
I just love ❤️ this movie 🎥 the uncle is funny 😆 and it’s a good musical I missed this movie for a long time thank you 😊 again so much god bless you
Just watched this on the TCM App last night...it was FANTASTIC!!! The dance numbers were incredible.
Hermes Pan did the choreography. He used to work with Fred Astaire.
Never seen this. A friend told me about it. Love the Music so far. Here we go. Another Classic?
This is such exceptional film on so many levels of San Francisco Chinatown so many generations coming together of family values culture and being an Asian American balancing old and new and of San Francisco in the 60s
Chinese medicine I love acupuncture
I love the diet of Asian people ! A beautiful race of humans !
But it's a shame most of the San Francisco Chinatown is actually gone ... I saw a piece here just recently on the tube about how they're only down to two original restaurants in Chinatown ... and it showed how much it changed ... really a shame they couldn't hold on to some of these places
One of my all time favorite musicals 🥰
After all these years - a much loved movie and sing along - from now a granny in Australia-
I love this wonderful story and the music of my two favorite musical composer/writers.
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I never knew there was a movie like this! Awesome!
first watched this movie when i was about 13 and loved it!!!!!!!!!!!
Me also in Baltimore Maryland
Nancy Kwan is awesome, and i say this as a person who has never seen an Asian in their life (in my European country)
excellent movie!🙌🏾
My Father watched this with me when I was young. I love it!!! 🐉
Everyone is happy at the end. Except Helen Chow.
I always wondered why they left her alone at the end. I think in Rodger's and Hammerstein shows there usually has to be a bit of sad with the happy. (In the original book the musical was based on she commits SUICIDE!)
@@maestroclassico5801 But in real life, she probably wouldn't kill herself. She was pretty and sweet and talented. She could get over Tah and marry someone else.
@@Razmatazz522 Hey, I'm with you! Maybe the Emcee from the nightclub!
I remember seeing this a young kid was not interested then in the 1980's when I was in the Navy was ready for the weekend couldn't not skeep turned my tv and watched the entire movie
Love this movie- have for many years
I had never seen this before. Excellent!
Super Cinephile!! I freaking love this movie
I really love the plot twist at the ending!
"Mei Ling, you did think of something - we must visit the shrine of the God of Television!!!"
@@cynthiahawkins2389 That was so hilarious line!
i must say ross hunter and musicals productions are pretty great.his last film was a musical.
Lost Horizon I Believe. It Came Out in 1973, A Remake Of the Original Lost Horizon Movie, that came out in 1937. Yes Ross Hunter Was Great with musical productions.
@@susanscheuermann4898Sadly, James Shigeta was the only actor/actress from Flower Drum Song used in Lost Horizon. Either Myoshi Umeki, Nancy Kwan, or Reiko Sato could have played Katherine. Liv Ullman was odd casting.
send me a dozen thousand-year eggs, and be sure their fresh
That line made me laugh, too!
Loved it 💯 agree
i saw this movie when i was a child loved it thanks for the posting 😊
when Ta and his father were arguing I could see both sides of the argument.
Ta was trying to make his father understand that in the United States a man has a right to choose his own wife. the father was saying Ta was being too naive and did not really know Linda as much as he thought he did
A hundred million miracles
Wow! 100 million miracles! ♥️
Great cast and great movie! The dance scene at 1:31:31 is my favourite. Wonderful!
My first time to watch. Very cute. I like it.
Excellent, thank you!!👏🌹
great ending!
Helen was the prettiest.
The big dance number at the commencement party would have been better if it included some traditional Chinese dance. Americans already know American dances. The charm of this musical is in the foreign customs and the efforts to achieve compatibility.
chop suey !!!! all around the house on me !!!
Nancy was 20 when this was filmed. GAWD was she hot. Kudos to the gal who dubbed for her. She sounds like Nancy. When I was younger, I really thought it was her.
Universal doing a Rodgers and Hammerstein musical for a change instead of Fox. But at least they still had Alfred Newman supervising, adapting and Conducting the score like he did for The King and I, Carousel, and South Pacific at Fox.
Ive been to Chinatown San Francisco...truly a special place in a special city
Made for the Asian Market
Full of songs and dances!
Kwans voice was dubbed
She was chosen for her
Looks rather than singing
Talent much like Audrey
Hepburn in my fair lady!
And because she was a trained dancer, as were Reiko Sato and Patrick Ardiarte. You cannot except Hermés Pan to work with anything less.
I love this movie 💖
Wow, terrific movie. Thank you.
Mrs. Livingston brought me here.
Saw parts of the movie when I was very young and when I saw it again I knew that I was compelled to watch it and record it on my old VCR Recorder
Another great movie, thanks for sharing