Flower Drum Song (1961 Film Soundtrack)

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Music reviews of Flower Drum Song (1961 Film Soundtrack)

Music Review: Buy The CD But See The Movie Too
Rating: 4 Stars

The musical is just now being rescued on Broadway, with a totally new book and structure, and this has apparently prompted Decca-Universal to release the film soundtrack on CD, with liner notes by David Henry Hwang, the author of the revival's new book. But while the original Broadway cast album captures the magic of the musical, thanks to meticulous direction and superb work by Pat Suzuki, Larry Blyden, and Miyoshi Umeki, the film soundtrack's value is primarily nostalgic, as the magic of the movie was mainly visual.

The wonderful 1961 film, produced by Ross Hunter, is a splashy, colorful production that features attractive personalities, endearing performances, and classic dance numbers. The soundtrack alone can't relate those qualities, so it must be enjoyed as a complement to the film. For example, compared to the cast album, the new soundtrack CD suffers from poor vocal sound quality, lazier lyric readings by the supporting cast, and the un-Suzuki plainness (and faux-Asian accent) of Nancy Kwan's studio-issue stand-in. Juanita Hall and Umeki, recreating their stage roles, sound better on the cast album, as does Jack Soo, who was great in a small role in the Broadway production (played here by a fun but struggling Victor Sen Yung, alias Hop-Sing). But if Soo seems a bit over his head on this CD, his excellent film performance wasn't about his singing, so isolating it just further misses the magic. And since there's no Nancy Kwan here at all, one of the film's greatest assets is entirely absent. Only Alfred Newman's showy arrangements survive the translation to an audio-only representation of the film.

That said, however, the soundtrack does recall the joyous charm of the movie, which remains a milestone in American cinema as one of the few 20th century films to include a virtually all-Asian cast. It gave James Shigeta his most important role, and allowed Nancy Kwan to capitalize on the success she had just enjoyed in the film adaptation of "The World of Suzie Wong." (Broadway "Suzie" France Nuyen's abrupt exit from that film gave Kwan the break that allowed her to share with Nuyen their status as the century's only A-list Asian-American leading ladies, though their reign lasted all too briefly. Shigeta was their male counterpart, holding his title alone.)

Shigeta is a truly winning personality, and his pleasant, untrained baritone is a charming vehicle for "You are Beautiful" (as well as "Chop Suey," which, having cut his character's only other song, producers made Juanita Hall share with him). His star would never again shine as brightly, and he logged many playhouse performances of "FDS" after starring in the film. But this CD freezes him in time as a Hollywood star, and it's a great tribute to him and the other actors for whom "Flower Drum Song" would not only be a career highlight, but a way of life for much of the 1960's.

Description of Flower Drum Song (1961 Film Soundtrack)

Broadway & Vocalists CDs

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