Very loosely based upon the book.

The 1955 novel by C.Y. Lee is not much like the romantic comedy musical produced in 1961. I enjoyed them both. It would be nice to see a faithful adaptation of the novel some day.

The book is centered around the relationship between the old world Master Wang and his Americanized elder son Wang Ta. The film has a more ensemble cast.

The two female lead characters of the film, Linda Low and Mei Li, are minor parts in the book. Wang Ta meets and briefly dates Linda before dumping her after learning she has many male suiters. Linda leaves San Francisco after she is involved in a shooting.

May Li only shows up in the last half of the book. Sammy Fong and the characters associated with him are not in the book. There is no double wedding at the end.

I remember watching the film nearly 20 years ago and being impressed by the dance between the Wang Ta and Helen Chao characters. It was only after reading the book that I realized how subtly the film depicted her disappearance from the world. In the book Helen killed herself after Wang Ta rejected her.

I compared the book and the film here;http://thatwasnotinthebook.com/diff/flower-drum-song/0#diffPage