"Flower Drum Song" finally on DVD Nov. 7th

[jimnysf]

Posted: 7/19/06 at 1:25am

http://www.dvdactive.com/news/releases/flower-drum-song.html

Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Flower Drum Song"---Nov 7th.

"Universal Home Video has announced a brand new special edition of the 1961 musical comedy Flower Drum Song... Nancy Kwan, Miyoshi Umeki, and James Shigeta. This Henry Koster directed film will be available to own from the 7th November, and should set you back around $29.98. The film itself will be presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen, along with an English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo. English, French and Spanish subtitles will also be included. I'm afraid Universal has yet to reveal the extra material for this one, but we'll bring you further details very shortly..."


http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054885/

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 7/19/06 at 1:50am

I liked the movie.
I will buy it.
Great Score.

The revival was ill conceived except for the Costumes
and Hot Asain Boys.

Hope the revival of SOUTH PACIFIC will be more Faithfull to the Original.

[nobodyhome]

Posted: 7/19/06 at 1:52am

I'm sure it will be. It could hardly be less.

[best12bars]

Posted: 7/19/06 at 8:46am

I love this movie, but for those of you who know it from the recent revival, hold onto your wigs. This is a screen adaptation of the original book and score, complete with dated references and racial cliches.

That said, it's better than the R&H film adaptation of Carousel by a MILE. At least this one didn't wreck the entire story in the first 5 minutes.

It has a really top-notch cast, with some of the OBC leads reprising their roles on film.

[Smaxie]

Posted: 7/19/06 at 10:04am

The orchestrations for the film are also pretty damned fabulous. I like the Hermes Pan choreography too.

[JohnBoy2]

Posted: 7/19/06 at 10:22am

Next to THE SOUND OF MUSIC, it is my favorite film version of a R&H show. The orchestrations, by Alfred Newman, are masterworks!

[Nycboi23]

Posted: 7/19/06 at 11:00am

I've only seen the recent revival, I'm excited to see the show in some form of the original. Thanks for the info.

[WonderBoy]

Posted: 7/19/06 at 11:23am

The film, in my opinion is far superior to the revival. I mean come on, how can you top Nancy Kwan? And Miyoshi Umeki is just precious as Mei Li and of course anything Juanita Hall is in is fabulous as well. Pan's choreography is absolutely fabulous but I would have loved to have seen Carol Haney's.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 7/19/06 at 11:36am

At least the score is more or less intact

It was quite enjoyable. It was not the greatest but was good. I give it an 8.5 . I already burned it to DVD from TV so unless the extras are over the top I will pass on it

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 7/19/06 at 11:36am

Sorry, double post

Updated On: 7/19/06 at 11:36 AM

[best12bars]

Posted: 7/19/06 at 11:39am

Mr. Roxy, I don't know how much you care about picture and sound quality, but this DVD will sport a new anamorphic widescreen transfer with remastered sound. That's reason enough for me to buy it, even with NO extras.

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 7/19/06 at 11:42am

Does this DVD star Bombay Dreams-tour star Sandra Allen?

Updated On: 7/19/06 at 11:42 AM

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 7/19/06 at 11:46am

I have so many DVD's now it is sickening. I am not much on the remastered stuff. As long as I can see it watching TV I am happy

[best12bars]

Posted: 7/19/06 at 11:46am

Yes! Yes it does, muscle23ftl! So hurry up and order it now!

[WonderBoy]

Posted: 7/19/06 at 11:49am

Hahahahahaha

[MrMidwest]

Posted: 7/25/06 at 6:06pm

They have the cover artwork up on the page now.

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 7/25/06 at 6:15pm

Dedicated to all the A-holes making fun of me:

[MrMidwest]

Posted: 10/9/06 at 1:59pm

I'm hoping the commentary with Kwan will be interesting.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 10/9/06 at 2:16pm

muscle, the movie was made in 1960!

[VIETgrlTerifa]

Posted: 10/10/06 at 2:33am

As an Asian-American, I've always been conflicted with this material. In one way, I hate how dated some of the material is (both in race and in how old-school Nancy Kwan's character is in terms of womanhood). All of those elements make some of the material sort of cringe-worthy.

However, the music, performances from the actors, and the choreography is really great, IMO.

It seems as though they made a lot of great decisions in making this film, from the excellent choreography (especially the ballet after "Love Look Away") to having James Shigeta's rough and unseasoned voice accompany Juanita Hall's rendition of "Chop Suey" (usually that wouldn't be a good idea, but James's rough voice full of earnest trying and Juanita Hall's seasoned voice make an excellent combination). I also love how they make Miyoshi Umeki sing "One Hundred Million Miracles" more than once. They recognized the beautiful haunting quality of her voice. A lot of people might think it's a bit off-putting, but I think her voice was perfect for this role and I'm glad Rodgers and Hammersteing recognized what it brought to their score. I also love when she sang "I'm going to Like it Here" It felt very raw and sincere. You totally forgive Nancy Kwan's sort of wooden acting because she somehow wins you over with her charm. She convinces you that she could win any guy if she put her mind to it. One of my favorite performances, if not my favorite, definitely goes to Jack Soo as Sammy Fong. The filmakers totally captured the early 60s Kennedy era and Jack Soo's Sammy Fong really brought it to life. I know many think that the look makes the film dated, but I think that they unintentionally captured the feeling and look of a specific time period in America that we can now reference and sort of "get" thanks to this film.

I guess to me, the movie succeeds in that you felt the actors really loved the material or at least they really loved to be in a movie-musical about Asian-Americans. Not only did they show that they have the ability to act, but to sing and dance as well. Basically...perform! Everything just seemed inspired to me.

[Marquise]

Posted: 10/10/06 at 3:11am

WOW! I posted this news to the board way back on August 21, 2006!
Marquise's FDS DVD Thread

[nobodyhome]

Posted: 10/10/06 at 4:10am

Marquise. If you look at the date on the beginning of this thread, you'll see that it predates yours.

VIETgrlTerifa wrote, "As an Asian-American, I've always been conflicted with this material. In one way, I hate how dated some of the material is (both in race and in how old-school Nancy Kwan's character is in terms of womanhood). All of those elements make some of the material sort of cringe-worthy."

But the attitudes of Linda Low reflect the way many women felt at the time. Indeed, I suspect that there are women today who feel more or less the same way. (And probably some men who feel similarly as well.)

And if the other characters also seem dated in some ways, again it's reflective of the time period. Indeed, you seem to realize this yourself when you write, "The filmakers totally captured the early 60s Kennedy era and Jack Soo's Sammy Fong really brought it to life. I know many think that the look makes the film dated, but I think that they unintentionally captured the feeling and look of a specific time period in America that we can now reference and sort of 'get' thanks to this film."

Of course, neither the original show nor the film is intended as a serious, realistic exploration of the problems faced by Chinese immigrants. It's meant to be light and charming, although serious issues are present.

Some people find it condescending, but if more or less the same show had been written about Jews on the Lower East Side with jokes riffing on Jewish issues and customs rather than Chinese, I don't think anyone would find it condescending. Indeed, some of the details that I've read complaints about stem from things in C. Y. Lee's novel. And presumably he knew what he was writing about.

Some people seem to feel that only members of a specific nationality or ethnic or religious group have the right to write about that group. (I'm not saying that you're one of them, VIETgrlTerifa.) By extension you might say that gay people shouldn't write about straight people or vice versa. An awful lot of great plays and novels have been written by people writing in whole or in part about other groups.

Sometimes I think that people feel guilty about liking something like FDS, they feel they shouldn't. But if you do, you do.

[Marquise]

Posted: 10/10/06 at 4:24am

It most certainly does nobodyhome. My humblest of apologies.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 10/10/06 at 7:26am

I don't get the "dated" argument.
The show was written over 40 years ago!
Of course ideas and politics were different, that's not dated that's History.

[VIETgrlTerifa]

Posted: 10/10/06 at 9:52am

The reason why I said it seemed dated is that I can see things in the film that would prevent other people to not like it, which I feel is a shame because I love FDS. I wasn't saying that only Asians had the right to feel they are the only ones who can comment on FDS, it's just that it affects them more because they have very few films in Hollywood and very few shows on Broadway that they can say that it's about them. It's a much less extreme version of Mickey Rooney ruining Breakfast at Tiffay's for many Asians. Again, I am able to get past it because I know that it's not meant as serious social commentary and it showcases one of the finest scores and cast, but I get why people would have a problem with it to some extent.

The reason why some feel it's condescending is that they feel that it's a show about Asians written from the POV of white men. Not that I think it's right or wrong, but many groups have expressed similar attitudes when they are in the same position. Also, don't a lot of Jews also have similar feelings toward Fanny Brice? I mean she was a pioneer for Jews in theatre and was so ridiculously talented. However, she was also a victim of her time where she played on stereotypes and exaggerations to get laughs.

You know, it's weird that I'm sort of taking the other side of the issue, but I am usually the one defending FDS or things that deal with themes similar to this.