Taraparain
Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.
Skyler
Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.
Roxie
The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;
gkeith_1
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
skiddoo
My parents enjoyed this when it first came out and had the album but I never listened to it. I hadn't researched it before I saw it. I didn't know the controversy or that it was based on a book--which sounds like something I'd like to read. Only the artwork was familiar from the album cover.I felt the plot was sketchy. I didn't know what the back story was with Helen Chao so her actions seemed abrupt and strange. I didn't think Mei Li and Wang Ta had any chemistry together. She only came alive in the number Don't Marry Me with Sammy Fong and I felt disappointed when I saw her in the kissing scene with Wang Ta afterward. That was my favorite song of the musical and I loved that they didn't dub it so I could hear it in Soo's own distinctive voice. He reminded me of Marlon Brando singing Luck Be a Lady and added a touch of reality to the proceedings. If Mei Li and Sammy could have made a go of it they might have rubbed off on each other a little and she wouldn't have spent the rest of her life humbly conversing in low tones. He might have even made her angry enough to yell at him! Sammy had his faults, heaven knows, but at least he had some zip to him which was sadly lacking in everyone else. I don't know if the flatness of the feeling overall was supposed to reflect the restraint of the Chinese culture or if it came from casting and directing.My biggest problem with this movie wasn't its doing. I kept picturing these actors in other, later roles, and in some cases speaking more famous lines.It seems to me a movie of and about its time. A lot of people could identify with the Old Country/New Country theme. The generation gap theme wasn't as fully realized and was mostly about bop slang. I thought it was done better in Bye, Bye, Birdie. The main character was torn between two cultures, and apparently too sheltered (strict father, nose to the grindstone at school?) to understand women, but he didn't seem to be a rebel and didn't stop the wedding. Some romantic hero HE turned out to be! :) It was up to the submissive little woman to save the day. That was my second favorite part of the movie! I'm guessing that was what appealed to my mother the most.
ilprofessore-1
Much is made today of the stereotypical roles African-American actors once played in cinema in Hollywood's golden age. Everything from Hattie McDaniel's Oscar-winning part as the Mammy in "Gone With the Wind" to the banned (and absolutely hilarious) Amos & Andy television series seems to have given offense. But has there ever been a film more offensive to a racial minority –-in this case, the Chinese— than this dreadful Rodgers and Hammerstein travesty? Given the limitations of their roles, Hattie, Ethel Waters, Rochester and all the usual suspects were all brilliant performers, but this cutesy disaster is cursed not only with fortune-cookie dialogue but some of the absolutely worst acting and bad line-readings ever seen and heard in an American film. (What's more, to add insult to injury a number of actors were not even Chinese!) Even the Charlie Chan flicks treat their Asian characters with more dignity and reality than this condescending story set in Hollywood's idea of San Francisco's Chinatown. Why hasn't anyone banned this?
evanston_dad
Popular consensus holds that "Flower Drum Song" is a weak link in the Rodgers and Hammerstein canon, and that's mostly true. It doesn't have as important a story to tell, and since it's not a period piece it's the most badly dated. And certainly, in cinematic terms alone, the film version is one of the worst of the stage-to-screen R&H adaptations.But all of that aside, there's something about this film that utterly charms me. A great deal of that charm resides in Nancy Kwan, who looks sexy and gorgeous in this and played a large role in many an adolescent fantasy as a result of her appearance in this film. But beyond her, there's much to like about the movie. It tells a sweet, simple story that may not be profound, but is certainly harmless enough. The score, while not R&H's best, is still full of enjoyable and hummable tunes. And there are a couple of truly memorable production numbers, like the "Sunday" sequence, or the lengthy and trippy ballet in the middle of the film, that stops the show even if it feels somewhat out of place.All in all, you could do much worse.Grade: B
