''The Desert Song'' is a 1929 American
Pre-Code
Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the Cinema of the United States, American film industry between the widespread adoption of sound in film in 1929LaSalle (2002), p. 1. and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorshi ...
operetta film
Operetta films (German: Operettenfilm) are a genre of musical films associated with, but not exclusive to, German language cinema. The genre began in the late 1920s, but its roots stretch back into the tradition of nineteenth century Viennese ope ...
directed by
Roy Del Ruth
Roy Del Ruth (October 18, 1893, Delaware – April 27, 1961) was an American filmmaker.
Early career
Beginning his Hollywood career as a writer for Mack Sennett in 1915, Del Ruth later directed his first short film ''Hungry Lions'' (1919) ...
and starring
John Boles, Carlotta King,
Louise Fazenda
Louise Fazenda (June 17, 1895 – April 17, 1962) was an American film actress, appearing chiefly in silent comedy films.
Early life
Fazenda was born in her maternal grandparents' house in Lafayette, Indiana, the daughter of merchandise broke ...
, and
Myrna Loy
Myrna Loy (born Myrna Adele Williams; August 2, 1905 – December 14, 1993) was an American film, television and stage actress. Trained as a dancer, Loy devoted herself fully to an acting career following a few minor roles in silent films. ...
. It was photographed partly in two-color
Technicolor
Technicolor is a series of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes, the first version dating back to 1916, and followed by improved versions over several decades.
Definitive Technicolor movies using three black and white films ...
, the first film released by
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
to include footage in color. The film included a 10-minute intermission during which music was played.
It was based on the hit musical play with music by
Sigmund Romberg
Sigmund Romberg (July 29, 1887 – November 9, 1951) was a Hungarian-born American composer. He is best known for his musicals and operettas, particularly '' The Student Prince'' (1924), '' The Desert Song'' (1926) and '' The New Moon'' (1928).
E ...
and
book
A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physical arr ...
and
lyrics
Lyrics are words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist. The words to an extended musical composition such as an opera are, however, usually known as a "libretto" and their writer, a ...
by
Oscar Hammerstein,
Otto Harbach
Otto Abels Harbach, born Otto Abels Hauerbach (August 18, 1873 – January 24, 1963) was an American lyricist and librettist of nearly 50 musical comedies and operettas. Harbach collaborated as lyricist or librettist with many of the leading Broa ...
, and Frank Mandel, which opened at the
Casino Theatre on Broadway on November 30, 1926, and ran for a very successful 465 performances.
Although some of the songs from the show have been omitted, the film is otherwise virtually a duplicate of the stage production and extremely faithful to it.
On the basis of the success of ''The Desert Song'', Warner Bros. quickly cast John Boles in an all-color musical feature called ''
Song of the West
''Song of the West'' is a 1930 American Pre-Code musical western film produced by Warner Bros., and photographed entirely in Technicolor. It was based on the 1928 Broadway musical ''Rainbow'' by Vincent Youmans (music), Oscar Hammerstein II (ly ...
'', which was completed by June 1929 but had its release delayed until March 1930.
Plot
French General Birabeau has been sent to Morocco to root out and destroy the
Riff
A riff is a repeated chord progression or refrain in music (also known as an ostinato figure in classical music); it is a pattern, or melody, often played by the rhythm section instruments or solo instrument, that forms the basis or accompani ...
s, a band of Arab rebels, who threaten the safety of the French outpost in the Moroccan desert. Their dashing, daredevil leader is the mysterious "Red Shadow". Margot Bonvalet, a lovely, sassy French girl, is soon to be married at the fort to Birabeau's right-hand man, Captain Fontaine. Birabeau's son Pierre, in reality the Red Shadow, loves Margot, but pretends to be a milksop to preserve his secret identity. Margot tells Pierre that she secretly yearns to be swept into the arms of some bold, dashing sheik, perhaps even the Red Shadow himself. Pierre, as the Red Shadow, kidnaps Margot and declares his love for her.
To her surprise, Margot's mysterious abductor treats her with every Western consideration. When the Red Shadow comes face to face with General Birabeau, the old man challenges the rebel leader to a duel. Of course Pierre will not kill his own father, so he refuses to fight, losing the respect of the Riffs. Azuri, the sinuous and secretive native dancing girl, might be persuaded to answer some of these riddles if only she can be persuaded by Captain Fontaine.
Meanwhile, two other characters, Benny (a reporter) and Susan provide comic relief. Eventually, the Red Shadow's identity is discovered, a deal is struck with the Riffs, and Pierre and Margot live happily ever after.
Pre-Code Sequences
After 1935, the original 1929 version became impossible to exhibit in the United States due to its
pre-Production Code era content, which included sexual innuendo, lewd suggestive humor, and open discussion of themes such as
homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...
(e.g. Johnny Arthur plays a character who is obviously gay). Consequently, a cleaned-up remake was released in
1943
Events
Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix.
January
* January 1 – WWII: The Soviet Union announces that 22 German divisions have been encircled at Stalingrad, with 175,000 killed and 137,650 captured.
* January 4 – ...
, with a third version following in
1953
Events
January
* January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma.
* January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo.
* January 14
** Marshal Josip Broz Tito i ...
.
Cast
*
John Boles as The Red Shadow
*Carlotta King as Margot
*
Louise Fazenda
Louise Fazenda (June 17, 1895 – April 17, 1962) was an American film actress, appearing chiefly in silent comedy films.
Early life
Fazenda was born in her maternal grandparents' house in Lafayette, Indiana, the daughter of merchandise broke ...
as Susan
*
Myrna Loy
Myrna Loy (born Myrna Adele Williams; August 2, 1905 – December 14, 1993) was an American film, television and stage actress. Trained as a dancer, Loy devoted herself fully to an acting career following a few minor roles in silent films. ...
as Azuri
*
Johnny Arthur
Johnny Arthur (born John Lennox Arthur Williams; May 20, 1883 – December 31, 1951) was an American stage and motion picture actor.
Early years
Born in Scottdale, Pennsylvania, Arthur was a veteran of twenty-five years on stage before he made ...
as Benny Kidd
*
Edward Martindel
Edward Martindel (July 8, 1876 – May 4, 1955) was an American stage and film actor who appeared on Broadway and in more than 80 films between 1915 and 1946.
Born in Hamilton, Ohio, he was the son of Dr. and Mrs. Frank Martindell. His s ...
as General Bierbeau
*
John Miljan
John Miljan (November 9, 1892 – January 24, 1960) was an American actor. He appeared in more than 200 films between 1924 and 1958.
Biography
Born in 1892, Miljan was the tall, smooth-talking villain in Hollywood films for almost four deca ...
as Captain Fontaine
*Marie Wells as Clementina
*Jack Pratt as Pasha
*
Otto Hoffman
Otto F. Hoffman (May 2, 1879 – June 23, 1944) was an American film actor. He appeared in almost 200 films between 1915 and 1944. He was born in New York City and died in Los Angeles, California, from lung cancer.
Hoffman's Broadway credit ...
as Hasse
*Roberto E. Guzmán as Sid El Kar
*Del Elliott as Rebel
*
Source:
Reception
According to Warner Bros records the film earned $1,549,000 domestically and $1,473,000 foreign.
Film criti
Violet LeVoitobserves on TCM.com:
“If Warner Brothers had not sat on the completed reels of this two-strip Technicolor musical for five inexplicable months, it would have beat MGM's ''Broadway Melody'' (1929) into theaters and enjoyed the distinction of being the first all-talkie (all-singie?) musical. But while the considerably stiff and stodgy ''Broadway Melody'' won Best Picture in 1929, modern audiences find more to love in this Moroccan desert operetta... not only because of the Oscar Hammerstein lyrics but the snappy direction of Roy Del Ruth, the shadowy, sensuous cinematography by Barney McGill, and how stars John Boles and Carlotta King can (belt) out the bold music with more power than other wispy singers in the early days of amplified sound.“
Songs
*"Riff Song"
*"French Marching Song"
*"Then You Will Know"
*"The Desert Song"
*"Azuri's Dance"
*"Love's Dear Yearning"
*"Let Love Go"
*"One Flower"
*"
One Alone"
*"Sabre Song"
*"The Desert Song Ballet"
Preservation status
The film exists only in a black and white copy. The film elements are missing from a small portion of one of the musical numbers but the complete soundtrack survives intact on
Vitaphone
Vitaphone was a sound film system used for feature films and nearly 1,000 short subjects made by Warner Bros. and its sister studio First National from 1926 to 1931. Vitaphone was the last major analog sound-on-disc system and the only one th ...
disks.
American Film Institute
The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees.
Leade ...
(1978) ''Catalog of Holdings The American Film Institute Collection and The United Artists Collection at The Library of Congress'' p.42
See also
*
List of early color feature films
This is a list of early feature-length color films (including primarily black-and-white films that have one or more color sequences) made up to about 1936, when the Technicolor three-strip process firmly established itself as the major-studio fa ...
References
External links
*
*
The Desert Song (1929)' on Turner Classic Movies
*
*
Still of Myrna Loyat gettyimages.com
at fineartamerica.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Desert Song, The
1929 films
1929 musical films
1920s color films
1920s LGBT-related films
American musical films
1920s English-language films
American films based on plays
Films directed by Roy Del Ruth
Films set in Morocco
French Foreign Legion in popular culture
Warner Bros. films
Films set in deserts
American black-and-white films
Films based on operettas
Operetta films
Films partially in color
1920s American films