"Flower Drum Song" ran just over 600 performances on Broadway, not bad at all, but nothing compared to the runs of the other major R&H shows. Still it was a financial success, after the mild failure of "Me and Juliet" and the flop "Pipe Dream", so for that reason alone, it deserved a film version. While the material is in no way the strongest, "Flower Drum Song" is a total charmer, and the film version keeps all the charm in tact. Keeping most of the original cast was a smart move, Myoshi Umeki is perfect as the timid young Mei Li. It's too bad Pat Suzuki couldn't also recreate her role of nightclub singer Linda Low, but Nancy Kwan is very amusing in the role. So far, this is the only R&H film not to have a DVD release, (the abysmal remake of "State Fair" was just released) which is somewhat surprising, since the film is actually considerably stronger than the films of "Oklahoma!", "Carousel", and "South Pacific".
Review of Flower Drum Song
