Flower Drum Song (film)

Flower Drum Song is a 1961 film adaptation of the 1958 Broadway musical Flower Drum Song, written by the composer Richard Rodgers and the lyricistlibrettist 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.

Sammy, in an effort to keep Linda from marrying Wang Ta, arranges to have Wang Ta and his family see her nightclub act, where he is shocked at her performance. He leaves, distraught, accompanied by his friend since childhood, the seamstress Helen Chao, who also grew up in America and deeply loves Wang Ta. Ta becomes drunk in his misery over Linda, and Helen ends up letting him stay for the night in her apartment. She sings Love Look Away, about her unrequited love. In the morning, Mei Li comes to deliver a burned coat for Helen to mend, and becomes distressed when she discovers Wang Tas clothing in Helens kitchen. When Wang Ta wakes up seconds after Mei Li leaves, he still does not notice Helens affections, even as she pleads for him to stay, and he leaves quickly. He goes to speak with Mei Li, now realizing that she is a better match for him than Linda Low, only to have Mei Li reject him, saying that she once loved him, but not anymore. She and her father leave Master Wangs house and pursue the marriage contract between Mei Li and Sammy Fong. This is unfortunate in that Sammy has already proposed to Linda, but now will be unable to marry her the contract is binding. Before the wedding, Wang Ta goes to see Mei Li, and they both realize that they are deeply in love with one another. They agree to try to come up with a way to get Mei Li out of her marriage contract.The day of the wedding, right before she is to sip from a goblet which would seal her marriage to Sammy, Mei Li declares that, because she entered the United States illegally, the contract is null and void. Wang Ta can thus marry Mei Li, and Sammy decides to marry Linda right there as well, resulting in a double wedding. Helen ends up empty handed in fact, she does not appear again after Wang Ta leaves her apartment. In the novel, Tas rejection actually leads her to commit suicide. ........

Source: Wikipedia