Mandelaugen und Lotosblüten

INHALT

Interminable and grotesquely over-produced (by the king of "camp" glamour Ross Hunter) this screen version of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Broadway success about life in San Francisco's Chinatown was woefully patronising and under-directed by Henry Koster. On Broadway, the tale had charm and style but this overblown and overlong movie just lies there and dies there. However, there's some bracing dance numbers from veteran choreographer Hermes Pan and, mercifully, the endearing score has survived almost intact. Nominated in music and art direction categories at Oscar time, this lost out on everything - unsurprisingly - to West Side Story.