The Desert Song (1929 film)

The Desert Song
theatrical release poster
Directed by	Roy Del Ruth
Screenplay by	Harvey Gates
Story by	Otto A. Harbach Oscar Hammerstein II Frank Mandel
Based on	The Desert Song (1926 operetta) Music: Sigmund Romberg Book & Lyrics: Otto A. Harbach Oscar Hammerstein II Frank Mandel
Starring	John Boles Carlotta King Louise Fazenda Myrna Loy
Music by	Irving Berlin Sigmund Romberg Lyrics: Oscar Hammerstein II Otto Harbach
Cinematography	Barney McGill (Technicolor)
Edited by	Ralph Dawson Furusawa
Production company	Warner Bros. Pictures
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Pictures
Release dates	April 8, 1929 (1929-04-08) (NYC)  ()
Running time	125 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

The Desert Song is a 1929 American Pre-Code operetta film directed by Roy Del Ruth and starring John Boles, Louise Fazenda, and Myrna Loy. It was photographed partly in two-color Technicolor, the first film released by Warner Bros. to be in color. 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. It was based on the hit musical play with music by Sigmund Romberg and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein, Otto Harbach and Frank Mandel

The stage musical opened at the Casino Theatre on Broadway on November 30, 1926 and ran for a very successful 465 performances. Based on the success of this film, Warner Bros. quickly cast John Boles in an all color musical feature called Song of the West 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 Riffs, 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 (e.g. Johnny Arthur plays a character who is obviously gay). Consequently, a cleaned-up remake was released in 1943, with a third version following in 1953.

Cast

• John Boles as The Red Shadow
• Louise Fazenda as Susan
• Myrna Loy as Azuri
• Carlotta King as Margot
• Johnny Arthur as Benny Kidd
• Edward Martindel as General Bierbeau

• John Miljan as Captain Fontaine
• Marie Wells as Clementina
• Jack Pratt as Pasha
• Otto Hoffman as Hasse
• Roberto E. Guzmán as Sid El Kar
• Del Elliott as Rebel

• Source:

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 disks.

Warner Brothers color movies in order of release date

Title	Year	Preservation
The Desert Song	1929	Survives in black and white with missing musical number.
On with the Show	1929	Only survives in black and white.
Song of the West	1929	Lost film. Completed in June 1929. Release delayed until March 1930.
Gold Diggers of Broadway	1929	Lost film. Only two reels survive and full soundtrack on phonographic disc
Paris	1929	Lost film.
The Show of Shows	1929	Photographed almost entirely in color by Technicolor, but today only survives in black and white television copy's with only one surviving color sequence in color, The Chinese Fantasy with Myrna Loy and Nick Lucas
Sally	1929	Only survives in black and white except The Wild Rose scene.
General Crack	1930	Survives in a silent copy.
No, No Nanette	1930	Lost film.
Hold Everything	1930	Lost film.

See also

• List of early color feature films

External links

• The Desert Song at the American Film Institute Catalog
• The Desert Song (1929) at IMDb