There were times when watching and listening to Nancy Kwan that her energy and attitude reminded me of Ann-Margret. Kwan never achieved the career of Ann-Margret which is yet another example of Hollywood's lack of imagination. Not that things have changed that much in the fifty years since the Broadway show opened, and the forty-seven years since the film's release. Flower Drum Song took advantage of Kwan's dance training. That ability was ignored until the end of the decade when Kwan appeared in The Wrecking Crew with the dance transposed to martial arts.

The other standout scenes involve talented Patrick Adiarte as the very American young man who loves baseball and rock and roll, dancing with Kwan as well as showing his solo abilities. The show's best song, "Love, Look Away" is part of a ballet on an abstract set, performed by Reiko Sato, with the singing voice dubbed by Marily Horne.

As one whose interest in Asian films has directed me to seeing some of the recently released DVDs of Hong Kong musicals made during that time, there are questions on how Flower Drum Song would have been perceived had there been awareness of the musicals that usually starred Linda Lin Dai. The Shaw Brothers produced musicals were Hong Kong versions inspired by the musicals Hollywood produced at the time. Of course the only people aware of Linda Lin Dai would be the residents of the real Chinatowns. That the dance sequences are reasonably filmed documents of the performances probably has more to do with choreographer Hermes Pan, than director Henry Koster. Serious thoughts get pushed aside when one considers that the best reason to bother with Flower Drum Song is the sight of Nancy Kwan's legs.