BB17-077 — FLOWER DRUM SONG
Shop Now YEAR: 1961
FILM STUDIO / PRODUCTION: Hunter-Fields Productions / Universal-International Pictures
TAGLINE: “Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Most Joyous Musical Comedy”
DIRECTOR: Henry Koster
CAST: Nancy Kwan, James Shigeta, Miyoshi Umeki, Juanita Hall, Jack Soo, Benson Fong
SCREENPLAY: Joseph Fields, based on the Rodgers & Hammerstein musical and the novel by C.Y. Lee
PRODUCER: Ross Hunter
MUSIC: Richard Rodgers
LYRICS: Oscar Hammerstein II
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Russell Metty
GENRE: Musical / Romantic Comedy
POSTER PRINTER: Advertising and Commercial Printers Pty. Ltd., Sydney
FORMAT: Australian Daybill
Flower Drum Song is the 1961 film adaptation of the Rodgers and Hammerstein Broadway musical, starring Nancy Kwan, James Shigeta and Miyoshi Umeki. Set largely within San Francisco's Chinese-American community, it follows a young woman arriving from Hong Kong for an arranged marriage while romance, family expectations and generational differences complicate matters. The film received five Academy Award nominations.
POSTER DESIGN FEATURES: A superbly colourful Australian Daybill combining turquoise, brilliant red, yellow, green and black in a highly decorative illustrated design. The enormous FLOWER DRUM SONG title sits across a red panel surrounded by Chinese lanterns, a festival dragon, Chinatown street scenes and character illustrations. Nancy Kwan is prominently illustrated at lower left holding a fan, while the principal cast is boldly billed against the red background. The Australian “FOR GENERAL EXHIBITION” classification and Universal-International logo complete a particularly strong example of early-1960s Australian musical-poster design.
COLLECTOR'S NOTE: This is a culturally significant Hollywood musical as well as a highly decorative poster. Flower Drum Song was notable for its predominantly Asian-American cast at a time when this was extremely unusual in major Hollywood filmmaking. It received five Academy Award nominations, and in 2008 the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry as culturally, historically or aesthetically significant. Nancy Kwan also gives the poster strong crossover appeal following her breakthrough role in The World of Suzie Wong.
