Flower Drum Song is a 1961 film adaptation of the 1958
Broadway musical play
Flower Drum Song, written by the composer
Richard Rodgers and the lyricist/librettist
Oscar Hammerstein II. The film and stage play were based on the 1957 novel of the same name by the
Chinese American author
C.Y. Lee. This movie was unusual (for its time) in featuring nearly all
Asian American cast members (one of the few speaking Caucasian parts being that of a
mugger), including dancers, though two of the singing voices were not by Asian ones. Starring in this movie were
Nancy Kwan,
James Shigeta,
Benson Fong,
James Hong,
Reiko Sato and the original Broadway cast members
Jack Soo,
Miyoshi Umeki and
Juanita Hall (an
African American actress who previously played the Pacific Islander
Bloody Mary in the Broadway and film productions of Rodgers and Hammerstein's
South Pacific).
Among various changes for the film, the song "Like a God" was changed from a song into a
beat poetry presentation. The singing voice of the character "Linda Low" was that of B. J. Baker, a non-Asian studio singer who had worked with
Elvis Presley,
Frank Sinatra,
Bobby Darin, the
Righteous Brothers, and
Sam Cooke. The song "Love, Look Away" was also dubbed in by the American opera singer
Marilyn Horne.
In 2008,
Flower Drum Song was selected for preservation in the United States
National Film Registry by the
Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Although the score of
Flower Drum Song did not produce many hit tunes, its song "I Enjoy Being A Girl" has been widely used in other movies. The song has become familiar to many Americans, perhaps most recently with
Sarah Jessica Parker in a nationally telecast
Gap company commercial. It was covered by the
lesbian folksinger Phranc. As of October 2006, there were 13 versions of the song on
YouTube, including performances by
Pat Suzuki and parodies based on
Harry Potter and
Battlestar Galactica.
Here's the Gap commercial as well as the original rendition from the film: