Flower Drum Song - again! (1 Viewer)

[William Miller]

TCM shows this in 100% mono.

Today and every time in the past.

 

[DeeF]

Maybe Time Warner cable in NY isn't showing full stereo broadcasts of these movies.

The entire movie (today) came from my center speaker. Mono.

 

[JPCinema]

It was in MONO here in Chicago!!!! I have Direct TV and when a film is shown in stereo it sounds great!!! Sadly...not with Flower Drum Song.

 

[Jefferson]

Just thought i'd add my few cents to this discussion:

YES! TCM only shows this film in MONO,
even though the film is actually in stereo and was like
that on vhs.

YES! the R and H titles should be revisited as special and anamorphic editions.
It irritates me so that there are great SEs of title after title....and not of these best selling perennials.

 

[Roger Rollins]

It was M O N A U R A L, here in Studio City, CA too...

Screwy!

Problem is that Universal surrendered all its other rights in this film, in exchange for being able to release it on home video. So the Samuel Goldwyn Company is the TV distrib, and their assets are currently held by MGM/SONY.
What a mess.

Meanwhile, Universal still DOES own this terrific, fun picture for DVD, and has done nothing with it on DVD. No surprise from a company that puts more stock into a Deanna Durbin Sweetheart Pack that nobody bought..:wink:

It's no big secret that Fox is building a hefty R&H reissue program this 4th quarter around the "anniversaries" of SOUND OF MUSIC (40th!), OKLAHOMA (50th!) STATE FAIR (60th!). [How ground-breaking a marketing concept!], why Universal wouldn't see the value in this film is beyond me.
It would make a great DVD, and the demand is obviously there.



While I would welome a proper anamorphic (and not yellow and pulsating) OKLAHOMA!

 

[DeeF]

I bought the Deanna Durbin set...

 

[Will Krupp]

I bought the Deanna pack too and thought it was wonderful. Don't slam that release simply because you personally aren't a fan.

For the record, Deanna Durbin saved that studio from bankruptcy and, in my estimation, has NOT gotten her due from Universal.

While I am not a fan of FLOWER DRUM SONG, I'm not going to bash it or the people who love it (because these things are subjective). And I'm not going to complain if Universal does a nifty dvd release of it just because it isn't on my "to buy" list.

 

[Roger Rollins]

No offense intended...I bought the Durbin release as well.
I was just using it as an example of a release that sold very poorly, as opposed to something like FLOWER DRUM SONG which, while not SCARFACE, would certainly sell more units than poor Deanna did.

 

[DeeF]

There are a lot of different legal contracts, but I personally don't understand why R&H doesn't control the rights to this one. It may have something to do with it being the first of the team's works to be filmed after Hammerstein's death -- Rodgers may have agreed to sell the rights, or something.

I believe most of the other works are jointly held by R&H, and Fox.

 

[MatthewA]

The 45th anniversary is next year...

 

[Jo_C]

To clear the air, the R&H estates took control of all rights (except home video) to "Flower Drum Song" (as well as some rights to "Oklahoma" and "South Pacific")--the theatrical and television rights are now owned by MGM, which is why when you see "FDS" on TCM the Samuel Goldwyn logo appears at the beginning (MGM acquired the Goldwyn company some years back). Universal, of course, remains the home video rights holder (and also is the copyright holder), so it's up to Universal to make the next move for the DVD release.

 

[RobertSiegel]

ANY word about the release of this film? With the special editions of the other Rodgers and Hammerstein movies, one would think it would be a perfect time, but then the Marketing department at Universal doesn't seem to take advantage of marketing for their movies. FLOWER DRUM revival on Broadway last year would have been a great time too. Thoroughly Modern Millie played for 2 years on Broadway and Universal waited until after that to release it:frowning: wow!

 

[Greg_M]

I've given up on Universal

 

[Shawn Cornwell]

Next year marks the 45th anniversary of the film's release, making the prospects less-than-dour that the movie might soon (well, within the next year at least) see the light of day on DVD.

 

[Joe Caps]

R and H does NOT have all rights to Flower Drum Song, and I am told, they are now owrking to get them so they can release the film themselves.
I hope this all works.

 

[edelweissflower]

First, let me apologize for dredging up a subject explored in recent threads, but a search in those discussions yielded no concrete information relative to the status of this fine musical on DVD (some brief mention of rights issues, yet again).

The recent Broadway revival which apparently, according to another group discussion, flopped in its silly PC update approach, reminded those who went to see it just how good the film version is.

The Nancy Kwan website, in a February 22 news release, states that the DVD is coming soon! News on FDS DVD

Anyone with more to report? My P&S Beta copy is worn thin! There is something irresistable about this last R&H collaboration and a widescreen stereo home video presentation is LONG overdue.

 

[edelweissflower]

Next year marks the 45th anniversary of the film's release, making the prospects less-than-dour that the movie might soon (well, within the next year at least) see the light of day on DVD.

Should be released on Blu Ray or 4k UHD by now come on Universal