| In the Book |
In the Movie |
|
The book is set in the mid 1950's. It is historical fiction and romance. The book is centered around the relationship between Master Wang and his eldest son, Wang Ta. May Li and Linda Tung (Linda low) are minor characters. Sammy Fong is not in the book.
|
The film is set in 1961; it is a romantic comedy musical. Master Wang, his eldest son Wang Ta, Linda Low, Sammy Fong and Mei Li are the main characters. |
|
May Li and Mr. Li arrive in San Francisco legally and get directions to an address they have for their landlord. But the house belongs to Master Wang now. Wang Ta lets them stay the night, then drives them around the city to look for a home. Master Wang's staff does not like May Li and her father. Wang Ta likes May Li. After talking to his father and aunt, May Li and her father are taken on as servants. The Li's do not appear in the book until towards the end.
|
Mei Li and her father, Dr. Li entered the USA illegally from Hong Kong and are looking for Sammy Fong's address in San Francisco. A police officer escorts Mei Li and her father to his night club where Sammy Fong feeds them. The film starts with the Li's arrival in San Francisco.
|
|
This does not happen in the book. Sammy Fong is not in the book. Linda Tung is a nightclub dancer.
|
Linda Low overhears Sammy's promise to honor the marriage contract to Mei Li; she runs away upset. Sammy tells Linda he will unload Mei Li on another man and buy Linda a convertible. Linda is a dancer at Sammy's nightclub. |
|
Wang Chi-yang only speaks a Hunan dialect. His only English words are yes and no. He escaped from mainland China five years ago with his sons. He is 63, his eldestson Wang Ta is 28 and his younger son Wang San, is 13.
|
Master Wang speaks English well. Little about his past in China. No ages given.
|
|
This does not happen in the book.
|
Sammy goes to Madame Liang to suggest that Mei Li would be a suitable wife for Wang Ta. She in turn tells Master Wang, but she suggests they should be allowed to fall in love first. Master Wang says he will give him one week. |
|
Wang Ta studied economics for four years and is now a medical student. His father gives him $100 every two months to spend. Wang Ta wants to be independent, so he got a job as a dishwasher, but his father forbid him to work at a lowly job. Wang Ta does not like medical school much, but now he can avoid getting a job for another six years. He once spent $5 on a prostitute.
|
Wang Ta is in law school to avoid getting a job for three years. No details about an allowance or going with a prostitute.
|
|
Wang Ta likes to date white women even though he knows he does not have a future with them due to racial issues. He finds Chinese girls to be a problem and there are very few in Chinatown, so competition is stiff. He dated a girl who was engaged to a deployed soldier for a while.
|
Nothing about Wang Ta dating anyone before Linda Low, he seems to be rather naive around girls. |
|
Wang Ta has a friend named Chang who he dines with and gets advice from. They discuss going back to China to live.
|
Chang is not in the film.
|
|
Wang Ta's friend Chang introduces him to Linda Tung. They plan to date.
|
Linda Low meets Wang Ta after her argument with Sammy Fong and invites him on a date. Chang is not in the film. |
|
This does not happen in the book.
|
Sammy Fong brings Mei Li and Dr. Li to Master Wang's house. She sings for him and he sees her as a favorable match for his son.
|
|
Wang Ta and Linda Tung park in her car and make out. Wang Ta asks Linda to marry him. She says she has to get her brother's approval first. She says they can go to Carmel and stay at a hotel registered as a married couple. Later on, Wang Ta sees that Linda is in relationships with several other men. He is disgusted and leaves her.
|
Wang Ta makes a date with Linda Low. She drives him to a lookout point in the convertible Sammy bought for her. She says her brother bought the car. Wang Ta says he wants to go to law school to avoid working for three years; he tells Linda his father is very rich. Linda asks to wear his fraternity pin, they make out briefly, but she is just leading him on and using him to make Sammy Fong jealous.
|
|
This does not happen in the book.
|
Wang Ta goes home and sees Mei Li in the garden. They talk for a while, then she tells him she expects to get married. Wang Ta does not know his father is trying to arrange his marriage to her.
|
|
Master Wang's $87,000 is deposited without incident. His sister in-law teaches him how to write a check by spending $120 on a new suit; he hates the suit. His house staff thinks they might be fired if Master Wang adopts American ways
|
Master Wang is taken to the bank by his sister in-law to deposit his money. He agrees to deposit his money there after he set off the bank's alarms. No new suit; his staff is not worried about being fired. |
|
Wang Ta befriends the forty-one year old and unattractive Helen Chao so he can learn more about Linda Tung's shadowy brother. Helen is unattractive due to her pockmarked face. She is unable to get a boyfriend even though there is a shortage of Chinese women in San Francisco
|
Helen Chao brings a new graduation robe to Wang Ta's room for him to try on. He invites her to his graduation, she is attracted to him, but he thinks of her as family. Helen Chao is rather attractive and about the same age as Wang Ta.
|
|
Linda Tung is later involved in a gun battle when one of her jealous lovers attacked another man she was dancing with.
|
This does not happen in the film. |
|
Wang Ta had previously, and impulsively, asked Linda to marry him prior to breaking up with her.
|
Linda Low tells Wang Ta she might have to break up unless Wang Ta gets serious with her. She wants to get married, he is spooked by her rush to get married.
|
|
Master Wang negotiates for a suitable wife through a man in Hong Kong for Wang Ta as he is concerned about his involvement with Linda Tung (the dancer) and Helen Chao (who killed herself).
|
This does not happen in the film. |
|
This does not happen in the book.
|
Master Wang buys an elegant dress for Mei Li. When Wang Ta sees her in it, he tells her she is very attractive.
|
|
This does not happen in the book. But Linda's date at another club is attacked (shot at) by one of her other boyfriends.
|
Linda Low arrives at a party with one of Sammy's employees dressed as a Navy Captain. Linda introduces him to Wang Ta and says her “brother” would like to meet his father. Linda tells Master Wang that that she lives alone in a small apartment. Linda's brother tells Master Wang that he would like his approval for Linda to Marry Wang Ta. Mei Li hears this and is upset. Helen Chao tells Nei Li that she thinks Wang Ta is not in love with Linda. Sammy confronts Linda, she says she needs some security after living with Sammy for five years.
|
|
This does not happen in the book.
|
Master Wang interrogates his eldest son about marrying Linda Low. Wang Ta says he would like to marry Linda, but his father objects.
|
|
Master Wang never approved of any marriage between Mei Li and his son. |
Mei Li's father tells Master Wang that he and his daughter must leave. Master Wang tells them that his son is foolish and rebellious. Master Wang still wants Mei Li to marry his son and she should give Wang Ta more time; she agrees. |
|
This does not happen in the book.
|
Sammy Fong greets Master Wang at the New Year's parade and invites him to his nightclub; he thinks it will make Wang Ta and Linda Low break up. Linda Low sings and dances on a parade float in front of the stand in which Master Wang and his sister in-law in watching.
|
|
This does not happen in the book as Wang Ta only courted Linda Tung briefly prior to leaving her.
|
Sammy Fong tells Linda Low that he is rethinking their relationship, but convinces her to do the first show. She does not know that Sammy has invited the Wang family so they can see her scandalous dance and make Wang Ta break up with her.
|
|
Wang Ta breaks up with Linda after finding out she has several boyfriends.
|
After Linda Low's dance in her skimpy costume, Wang Ta is embarrassed; his family leaves the nightclub. Linda is furious with Sammy.
|
|
Linda's friend, seamstress Helen Chao, who has been unable to find a man due to her unattractive pockmarked face, gets Wang Ta drunk and seduces him.
|
Wang Ta leaves the restaurant and drinks. Helen Chao finds him on the street and brings him to her home to sleep it off. Helen tells him that Linda has been Sammy's girl for five years. Wang Ta asks Helen not to leave him as he drifts off to sleep. Helen is fond of Wang Ta. |
|
May Li never meets Helen Chao, and never goes to her apartment. Upon wakening up in Helen's bed, Wang Ta agrees to an affair, but eventually abandons her. Helen eventually gets her face treated by a doctor and regains her good looks, but she commits suicide after Wang Ta rejects her.
|
Mei Li comes over to Helen Chao's apartment to drop off Master Wang's coat for repair. She sees Wang Ta's jacket on the chair and leaves. Wang Ta wakes up late and insists he needs to leave even though Helen begs him to stay. He leaves anyway. Helen is not seen or mentioned again in the film.
|
|
This does not happen in the book.
|
Wang Ta returns home to a lecture from his father and begs his forgiveness for dating Linda Low. Master Wang tells Wang Ta that he will arrange for his marriage with Mei Li. |
|
This does not happen in the book.
|
Mei Li is upset with Wang Ta for his being at Helen Chao's apartment. Wang Ta tells Mei Li how beautiful she is and says she is the girl he will love someday. Mei Li rejects him as she saw him with Helen Chao. She says she loved him from the first day she met him, but not any more.
|
|
This does not happen in the book.
|
Sammy's mother and uncle arrive at his place on the way to the family association. They are not impressed with Linda Low when they see her. His mother owns the business and Sammy needs to stay in his mother's good graces. Soon after, Sammy proposes to Linda, she very happily accepts. |
|
This does not happen in the book.
|
At a meeting between the Wang and Fong families, Sammy's mother is introduced to Mei Li as she was contracted to marry Sammy. Mrs. Fong introduces Mei Li and her father to Sammy, who pretends that he had not met her before.
|
|
This does not happen in the book.
|
Sammy goes to Linda's apartment to beg for forgiveness for the arranged marriage to Mei Li. He says he will fix things. |
|
This does not happen in the book.
|
Sammy brings Mei Li out on the town to get to know each other. He brings her to a gambling hall, a bar where he flirts/kisses other women, and to a sleazy bar. He is trying to convince her not to marry him. Mei Li is not turned off by his behavior and says it is too late to back down from the weddings.
|
|
Wang Ta shows May Li how to kiss shortly after she starts working for them as a servant. One of Master Wang's staff (Liu Ma) saw them and told Master Wang's sister (Madam Tung); they both disapproved of Wang Ta kissing May Li. Madam Tung tells Master Wang that May Li was making love to his son.
|
Wang Ta visits Mei Li at Sammy's residence to bring her a wedding present; his mother's jewelry. Mei Li asks if she will see him at the wedding. He accepts the invitation and teaches her how to kiss passionately; he says he loves her and will make a plan to do something about the wedding. Dr. Li says there is nothing they can do about the marriage contract with the Fong family.
|
|
Madam Tung recommends that Master Wang have his son marry the 2nd daughter of a local poet, Mr. Loo.
|
This does not happen in the film.
|
|
Wang Ta takes May Li out on a date where they see his friend Chang and his new Mexican wife. He has a great time and proposes to May Li the next day. She accepts.
|
This does not happen in the film. |
|
Before Wang Ta can tell his father about his proposed marriage to May Li, Master Wang tells his son that he has been engaged to marry the 2nd daughter of Mr. Loo. Wang Ta is very upset and tells his father he will choose his own bride, then leaves. Shortly after, Madam Tung informs Master Wang that Mr. Loo's daughter is already engaged to an American and cannot be married to Wang Ta. Master Wang is secretly relived by this.
|
This does not happen in the film.
|
|
May Li is accused, by the other servants, of stealing a gold clock that belonged to Master Wang's deceased wife. Wang Ta arrives home during the accusations and tells May Li that he has arranged to marry her that day. Everyone else is shocked. When the missing clock is found in May Li's luggage, she denies stealing it and flees the house along with her father.
|
This does not happen in the film. |
|
A guilt stricken servant (Liu Lung) confesses to Master Wang that his wife (Liu Ma) framed May Li. Wang Ta hands Liu Lung a bamboo stick; Liu Lungs gives his wife a harsh beating.
|
This does not happen in the film.
|
|
Wang Ta leaves his father's house to track down May Li and her father to explain that the other servants were the actual thieves. He denounces Madam Tang (his aunt) for her role in accusing May Li of theft. Master Wang curses at his son for leaving. Wang Ta tells his father that he needs to embrace modern American culture/medicine.
|
This does not happen in the film. |
|
Madam Tang tells Master Wang she will find Wang Ta and bring him to her house. She is unable to locate Wang Ta and returns with news that Wang Ta will go into the grocery store business with his friend Chang.
|
This does not happen in the film.
|
|
Master Wang realizes his son is right to embrace the new ways. He goes for a walk past the herbal stores where he had for years obtained useless treatment for his ten year chronic cough. He enters a modern Chinese run clinic for western medical treatment.
|
This does not happen in the film. |
|
This does not happen in the book.
|
At the marriage ceremony, Mei Li says she cannot marry Sammy as she entered the country illegally and their contract is void. She refuses to complete the ceremony and tells Mrs. Fong that she cannot marry Sammy. Mrs. Fong refuses to let Mei Li marry her son and walks out. Later Sammy introduces Linda as his Chinese-American girlfriend; his mother approves of the match.
|
|
This does not happen in the book.
|
Sammy and Linda along with Wang Ta and Mei Li get married at a temple in a double ceremony. |