The Desert Song

Plot synopsis:
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.

Tags: violence

Review:
I like music as long as it has a melody and there's nothing more melodious than an operetta.
The Desert Song is filled with wonderful melodies and Gordon MacRae and Kathryn Grayson sing them to perfection in this third film adaption of the Romberg-Harbach-Hammerstein operetta.The real surprise for most people is that the Riffs are quite real.
A hardy fighting group they were led in the teens and twenties of the last century by a romantic hero very much like the Red Shadow(El Khobar)named Abdel-Krim.
During the post World War I years American correspondents reporting from those wars were pretty much on the side of the Riffs who were seeking independence from France and Spain.
A guy named Francisco Franco got his first military combat in the Riff Wars.Eventually the French entered the war in a big way and Abdel-Krim became a prisoner.
The guy most responsible for his capture was Marshal Phillippe Petain who led the French army, his most notable activity between both world wars.No doubt in my mind that Abdel-Krim was the model of our hero.
Of course since this is the west doing the story we make the hero a Frenchman named Paul Bonnard who by day is a mild-mannered archaeologist from a French University by day and the fearsome lion of the desert by night.
Gordon MacRae even dons glasses in his Paul Bonnard mode, just like Clark Kent.And the leading lady is Margot, daughter of the French commandant and a typical 1920s flirt.
But it's the wonderful romantic music that Sigmund Romberg wrote that will make the Desert Song last forever.
The main songs, The Desert Song One Alone, the Riff Song and Margot's soliloquy Romance are done in fine style by the leads.
I wish more of the score got into this version.Doing operetta, of necessity a lot of it is tongue in cheek.
Kathryn Grayson got to do a lot of classic operetta and opera while she was at MGM.
Gordon MacRae had a terrific baritone voice and sad to say in his case, he didn't come along in the 1930s or he could have done a lot of the operetta that was being filmed then.One more thing about Abdel Krim.
MacRae and Grayson are in fine voice for this well-worn operetta....
This is the third screen version of the operetta and, as far as the singing goes, probably the best.
Gordon MacRae is in splendidly robust baritone voice as the mild-mannered anthropologist who is asked to tutor the General's daughter (Kathryn Grayson), all the while being the leader of the Riffs being sought by her French legionnaire boyfriend (Steve Cochran).
The well-worn plot rambles on interspersed with some action scenes, silly comedy and exotic dances--all in keeping with the spirit of the desert adventure.
The two leads are charming in their roles and Raymond Massey is on hand as an evil sheik.
Good color photography and location filming make it a pleasant film to watch--but it's the music by Sigmund Romberg that makes it all worthwhile.
Grayson is especially good when she renders "Gay Parisienne" before an army of soldier admirers and gives her most flirtatious and colorful performance since 'Kiss Me Kate'.
Gordon MacRae firmly established himself as singer and actor, revealing a sense of humor along with his splendid singing voice.
El Khobar (The Red Shadow) was not based on Abd-el-Kader but instead on the exploits of one known as El Hadj Aleman, who gave the French Foreign Legion fits during the Riff War in the 1920's.
El Hadj Aleman was in fact a Legion deserter (Otto Klems) of German nationality.
Surrendering, he was sentenced to death by the French, but he had become a romantic hero in the U.S. due to dispatches by American reporters (witness Romberg's operetta, The Desert Song, as a result).
Though it seems many criticize this in comparison with the stage play, I have always been in love with this movie version.
The characters are fun (especially Benjy), the music is heavenly (I could sing it all day!), and the plot is nonstop action.
I look at the play and this movie almost as two different shows completely, since there are, admittedly, many differences.
Here, Margot is the general's daughter (as opposed to his child being the Red Shadow/El Khobar).
The finest film version of a great operetta by Sigmund Romberg and Oscar Hammerstein.
Spritely, joyous, full of heroics, romance and beautiful music, beautifully performed by Gordon McCrae and Katherine Grayson, a truly lovely actress, "The Desert Song" is simply one of the finest musicals of the first half of the twentieth century, and this 1953 version, the third filming by this studio, is by far the best.
From the "Drum, drum, drum of Hobart's in the sand," as the Riffs ride across the vast trackless desert at the beginning of the film, the music seems almost continuous.
On of the few disappointments of the film is the haunting "Azuri's Song" from the original musical, but the quality of acting, with Ray Collins, Raymond Massey, Frank De Cordova and William Conrad, assure that the action never becomes dull.
This is the way musicals should be filmed and the direction J.
Bruce Humberstone, who cut his teeth on the first Charlie Chan movies of the thirties makes it all come together in a real treat.
Released during the Silver Age of the comic book action hero genre with which this movie's plot bears similarities..
Gordon Macrae does look a lot like Superman and Clark Kent and in this film, he has a secret identity as a mild mannered professor as contrasted with his hero persona, El Khobar.I must admit I was a collector of Batman, Superman, The Flash, Green Lantern and Silent Knight comics when I first saw this movie as a boy in knee pants.
I simply can't let go of the melodies of The Desert Song and One Alone.On Gordon MacRae, what can I say?
Spoiler: Even my little sons who had no clue about Broadway musicals were in stitches when he pulled that stunt with the ethnic musical instrument that sounded like a cross between the bleating of an ass and a sheep.Kathryn Grayson who strikes me as prim and proper with a seriously classical singing voice gamely plays the role of a flirt.
Kathryn Grayson, and Gordon McCrae sang beautifully.
I haven't seen the movie since I saw it in the Music Circus, and the Theatre, but I will never forget the red in the costume that Gordon McCrae wore, and the white of the desert sands.
You would have never guessed that this man wearing glasses was the one who would come to the rescue of Kathryn Grayson.
Following John Boles in 1929 and Dennis Morgan in 1943, Gordon MacRae gives this outdated hokum his best shot in the silly role of Paul Bonnard, sometimes a timid academic, sometimes an adventurer.
He does get to sing some lovely songs though - it may be one of the most improbable musical plots, but 'The Desert Song' has one of the best scores of any musical.Kathryn Grayson is on hand with her trademark soprano trill as female lead, while Steve Cochran and Raymond Massey enjoy themselves in the supporting cast.
Recommended for musical fans who like to suspend belief and for those who have a long-term devotion to the lyrics of Oscar Hammerstein II..
I grew up listening to Gordon MacRae sing The Desert Song on an album that also featured him in the musical Roberta.
So it was with great interest that I watched "The Desert Song."Having myself appeared in "The New Moon," I can tell you that on stage, these operettas only work if done tongue in cheek.
If one were filming them for today's audiences, I suspect they would have to be done that way as well.However, for beautiful music, "The Desert Song" is operetta at its best.
Shiek Yousseff (Raymond Massey) secretly plots to overthrow the French, all the while pretending to be their friend.
El Khobar is in reality Professor Paul Bonnard who is making a study of the desert.
General Birabeau (Ray Collins) of the French Foreign Legion arrives to investigate, and his daughter Margot (Kathryn Grayson) accompanies him.
This is different from the actual operetta, in which Birabeau has a son, not a daughter; his son, Pierre, is actually the Riff leader The Red Shadow.
In the operetta, Margot is engaged to Claud Fontaine, but the Red Shadow is in love with her.
Gordon MacRae and Kathryn Grayson lend their beautiful voices to songs such as "The Desert Song," "One Alone," and "Romance." Grayson is not quite bubbly enough as the flirty Margot.
In the operetta he has a girlfriend, Susan.This is the kind of movie where you enjoy the music and the singing.
While not perfect, The Desert Song has a lot to like about it.
Gordon McRae is immensely charming and shows that he is natural in comedy, his voice, one of the beautiful on film, is as ever splendid.
It is the same with Kathryn Grayson, who brings personal charm and sass to her role, who is energetic in Gay Parisienne and really goes for it in One Alone that it is easy to feel the emotion.
Raymond Massey is a perfect villain and for me he was the best and juiciest performance in the film.
To conclude, The Desert Song is not quite glorious but it's well performed, handsomely made and makes for good entertainment.
8/10 Bethany Cox. THE DESERT SONG (H.
The third (and most popular) film version of the Oscar Hammerstein II-Sigmund Romberg operetta features an eclectic assembly of handsome singing stars (Gordon MacRae and Kathryn Grayson) and reliable character actors (Raymond Massey, Steve Cochran, Ray Collins and William Conrad).
While I cannot say that the song score was particularly memorable in itself, the film is made tolerable enough by its straight "Arabian Nights" trappings: a mysterious avenger (MacRae, of course, posing by day as a mild-mannered anthropologist) takes on the might of a tyrannical Sheik (Massey) and the French Foreign Legion (commandeered by Cochran and Collins) while romancing the latter's rebellious daughter (Grayson).
Also on hand to round up the colorful cast of characters are Dick Wesson as an indomitable reporter successfully providing the expected comic relief, Allyn Ann McLerie as the requisite dancer-temptress with a proverbial heart of gold and Frank DeKova as a typically hot-headed (and ultimately duplicitous) desert rebel..
Beautiful Music In Old-Fashioned Operetta.
This is an example of an extinct musical sub-genre, the operetta.
THE DESERT SONG has all these, plus, what I feel is one of the loveliest of all operetta scores, in this case, composed by Sigmund Romberg.
The story flows along with Kathryn Grayson and Gordon MacRae bursting into song in true operetta fashion.
It is stunning on the Warner Archive dvd, and the glorious voices of Grayson and MacRae are perfectly recorded.
Indeed, this was one of the last operettas filmed in the early '50s.
If you want to escape to another world, far far away from the problems of today, immerse yourself in the soothing melodies of THE DESERT SONG..
Good looking Sunday morning background movie!.
Glaring Technicolor, 'exotic' sets and costumes, and of course the trilling song stylings of Ms. Grayson and the rumbling song stylings of Mr. McRae. Look up at the TV and there's Kathryn Grayson in the desert, wearing a corseted lavendar gown, with what looks like a score of Foreign Legionaires at her feet (for all the world looking like a score of boy dancers ready to lift her over their heads and twirl her around).
If you like operetta, even more fun!.
The Technicolor photography is striking, the desert scenes very good, the secondary characters are good, the lead actors are good, but in spite of that it is rather disappointing.
Kathyrn Grayson's singing reminds of that of Snow White in the classic Disney animated movie from the 1930s: too sweet, too many trills and "ah-ah-ah"s.
Speaking of animation, the plot and feel of the movie remind me of a comic book.
Another poster here wrote of the Silver Age of comics, and that this movie seems to fit right in.
We have a "super hero" (Gordon MacRae) who wears a disguise and has an alter ego.
With his glasses, he looks remarkably like Clark Kent.
Grayson looks a lot like Lois Lane.
Too bad Perry White doesn't show up (but there is Ray Collins, soon to join the Perry Mason TV series).All in all, it has some good features but really seems too much like a B-western, in spite of the A- cast.-henry.
I like operetta, but this is a really corny movie.
How could anyone have made this with a straight face?Gordon MacCrea has a great voice and sings wonderfully.
Grayson and her voice are less annoying than usual, and she's got a great figure in this movie.Other than that, this is pure hokum from start to end.
If u want to listen to the music, some of which is very good, find a recording.
Grayson And MacRae In Good Voice But Weak Film.
In this film, the highlights are the singing performances of Kathryn Grayson and Gordon MacRae. Unfortunately, the songs they sing are not really memorable.
To make matters worse, these musical oases are separated by vast distances of desert-like story that are uninspiring.The tale that surrounds the music is about a tribal conflict in the Sahara and the political tensions between the locals and the French.
MacRae plays the good-guy-in-disguise Paul Bonnard, who moonlights as El Khobar--the mysterious opposition to Massey's plans.Comic relief is handled by Dick Wesson, but his performance is not very comic and it only intrudes on the real story.There is little to recommend this film, but fans of Grayson and MacRae will probably want to catch their performances..
Romance, Song and Conflict in the Desert.
It's beyond me why reviews of the major film roles of Kathryn Grayson and Gordon MacRae invariable ignore this unique operetta.
Kathryn was nearing the end of her Hollywood career, starring in the much better known "Kiss Me Kate", filmed the same year.
She had it all: classic beauty, a great operatic voice and very flirty looks at the men, yet prim and proper.
Gordon does a great job playing starchy, if handsome, French anthropologist Paul Bonnard, who doubles as El Khobar, the dashing leader of a band Riff Berbers in their fight against the French legionnaires and an evil sheik, played by veteran character actor Raymond Massey.
True, it does strain credulity that Gordon, as a rather thinly disguised El Khobar, could have avoided recognition by Kathryn and others as being the professor.
Steve Cochran makes a dashing-looking Captain Fontaine whom Kathryn, as the newly arrived daughter of General Birabeau, immediately falls for.
Both Kathryn and Gordon sing quite a few solo numbers as well as several duets.
Allyn Ann McLeries is fine in her supporting role as Azuri, a sensuous blue-eyed Riff dancing girl, presently employed in the evil sheik's palace, but in love with El Khobar, who inexplicably rebuffs her advances.
Having recently seen her in the supporting role in "Calamity Jane", filmed the same year, I was surprised how well she could be made to look and dance like a real knockout Berber temptress.
The Spanish were unable to defeat the Riff, but when the French entered the conflict, they brought overwhelming forces and technology that eventually defeated them.According to another reviewer, the character El Khobar is very loosely based on the life of the German Josef Klems, who joined the French army and spent some years fighting the tribesmen in Morocco.
A review said it is a good film, but not presently available..
Desert Song-It's Not Lawrence of Arabia With Music ***.
What saves this movie is the wonderful singing done by Gordon MacRae and Kathryn Grayson.
They actually played in a film that involved intrigue.Usual evil player, Steve Cochran, is given little to do in the role of a nice guy, most unusual for him.
Even in the Virginia Mayo-Danny Kaye films, Cochran got better parts as gangsters.Raymond Massey, who by this time had fallen into supporting roles, is evil as ever as the Arab to watch.
His game of blaming other Arab factions in the movie worked only for a while.Grayson and MacRae sing the title song with great beauty.Note an interesting part by Robert Conrad and the guy who played Edward G.
Americanized Arabs challenge this oft-filmed operetta..
With gorgeous music by Sigmund Romberg, lyrics by a variety of writers and its exotic setting, this fourth version of the 1926 operetta holds a special place in my heart simply because of how well it is sung.
With gorgeous soprano Kathryn Grayson and baritone Gordon MacRae in the leads, the music is superbly recorded even if MacRae is miscast as a supposed Arab hero.
However, it is the last version of the film which has made it out onto home video, and it is definitely worth viewing simply for the lushness of its score, if not some of the uninspired casting.Other than his appearance in drag in "Calamity Jane", I never found anything amusing about Dick Wesson, and as MacRae's sidekick (once again), I found him extremely trying as he tries to be funny and just can't even get a grin out of me.
William Conrad (as the main villain), Ray Collins, Raymond Massey, Steve Cochran and Allyn Ann McLearie fare better, but it really comes down to my love of the Sigmund Romberg score, particularly the title tune, "The Riff Song" and "One Alone", a gorgeous duet between MacRae and Grayson that is worth putting up with everything else.
It's ironic that the same year, MGM's Howard Keel (Grayson's partner in 3 musicals) came over to co-star opposite Doris Day (MacRae's partner in half a dozen films) in "Calamity Jane", scoring quite nicely.