The first Hollywood studio musical film that featured a majority Asian and Asian American cast, Flower Drum Song is the onscreen adaptation of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical by the same name, which was based on a 1957 novel by Chinese American author Chin Yang Lee. New immigrant Mei Li (Miyoshi Umeki), nightclub owner Sammy Fong (Jack Soo), showgirl Linda Low (Nancy Kwan, who had just starred in The World of Suzie Wong the year prior), and young bachelor Wang Ta (James Shigeta) become entangled between love and duty, and contend with the tensions between tradition and assimilation in San Francisco Chinatown. Legendary silent screen actress Anna May Wong had been tabbed to star in the film but passed away a month before shooting began. As one of the first films to present the Asian American experience and the specificities of Chinatown life to mainstream audiences, Flower Drum Song remains significant not only for its cultural and historical value but also as a reminder of a bygone era in cinema.

Henry Koster (1905–1988) was a German-born film director and the husband of actress Peggy Moran. Before moving to the United States, Koster was a short story writer and cartoonist and had also directed two films in Berlin. Koster achieved great success working with Universal Pictures to direct Three Smart Girls (1936) and One Hundred Men and a Girl (1937); he is also known for The Bishop’s Wife (1947), Désirée (1954), and Harvey (1950). His film adaptation of Flower Drum Song (1961) garnered multiple award nominations and was inducted into the National Film Registry.