The Desert Song (1953 film)
Encyclopedia
The Desert Song is a 1953 film version in Technicolor
of Sigmund Romberg
's operetta
. It is the third film version of the operetta, the third made by Warner Brothers, and the second in full three-strip Technicolor. Although it was released in 1953, it was not made in widescreen
; at that time Twentieth-Century Fox held the rights to Cinemascope
, which was introduced that year in the film The Robe
.
-like coward, but not as a sissy. El Khobar's alter ego is that of a mild-mannered (but not squeamish) Latin tutor and anthropologist, whom Birabeau hires to keep Margot from flirting with his regiment.
The conclusion to the film is slightly different, since El Khobar is not Birabeau's son here. After the final battle, the General's soldiers realize that El Khobar and the Riffs were actually on their side and helped in preventing an uprising. When one asks, "And where is El Khobar?", MacRae, as the professor, enters carrying El Khobar's clothes, and quietly announces "El Khobar is dead". Margot is grief-stricken, but Birabeau, suspecting the truth, mischievously says that they can all be grateful to "the ghost of El Khobar", winking as he says this. As soon as they are alone, MacRae begins to sing the song One Alone to Margot, making her realize that her boring Latin tutor and the dashing El Khobar are one and the same. She rushes into his arms.
One song not by Romberg, Gay Parisienne, written for the 1943 film version of the show, is retained for this film.
as Margot and Gordon MacRae
as the dashing outlaw leader (again called El Khobar) and his alter ego, Latin tutor Paul Bonnard. Steve Cochran
plays Claud Fontaine, El Khobar's rival for Margot's affections, and Raymond Massey
portrays Sheik Youseff, the villain. Comic relief is provided by Dick Wesson
as Benny (not Benjy) Kidd, and Allyn McLerie
is the voluptuous Azuri.Ray Collins
, of Perry Mason
fame, portrays General Birabeau, here depicted as Margot's father, rather than the hero's.
Technicolor
Technicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and improved over several decades.It was the second major process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952...
of Sigmund Romberg
Sigmund Romberg
Sigmund Romberg was a Hungarian-born American composer, best known for his operettas.-Biography:Romberg was born as Siegmund Rosenberg to a Jewish family in Gross-Kanizsa during the Austro-Hungarian kaiserlich und königlich monarchy period...
's operetta
The Desert Song
The Desert Song is an operetta with music by Sigmund Romberg and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, Otto Harbach and Frank Mandel. It was inspired by the 1925 uprising of the Riffs, a group of Moroccan fighters, against French colonial rule. It was also inspired by stories of Lawrence of...
. It is the third film version of the operetta, the third made by Warner Brothers, and the second in full three-strip Technicolor. Although it was released in 1953, it was not made in widescreen
Widescreen
Widescreen images are a variety of aspect ratios used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ratio greater than the standard 1.37:1 Academy aspect ratio provided by 35mm film....
; at that time Twentieth-Century Fox held the rights to Cinemascope
CinemaScope
CinemaScope was an anamorphic lens series used for shooting wide screen movies from 1953 to 1967. Its creation in 1953, by the president of 20th Century-Fox, marked the beginning of the modern anamorphic format in both principal photography and movie projection.The anamorphic lenses theoretically...
, which was introduced that year in the film The Robe
The Robe (film)
The Robe is a 1953 American Biblical epic film that tells the story of a Roman military tribune who commands the unit that crucifies Jesus. The film was made by 20th Century Fox and is notable for being the first film released in the widescreen process CinemaScope.It was directed by Henry Koster...
.
Plot
The original plot is more-or-less adhered to, with some significant alterations. Benny is depicted as a comic Bob HopeBob Hope
Bob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS was a British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel...
-like coward, but not as a sissy. El Khobar's alter ego is that of a mild-mannered (but not squeamish) Latin tutor and anthropologist, whom Birabeau hires to keep Margot from flirting with his regiment.
The conclusion to the film is slightly different, since El Khobar is not Birabeau's son here. After the final battle, the General's soldiers realize that El Khobar and the Riffs were actually on their side and helped in preventing an uprising. When one asks, "And where is El Khobar?", MacRae, as the professor, enters carrying El Khobar's clothes, and quietly announces "El Khobar is dead". Margot is grief-stricken, but Birabeau, suspecting the truth, mischievously says that they can all be grateful to "the ghost of El Khobar", winking as he says this. As soon as they are alone, MacRae begins to sing the song One Alone to Margot, making her realize that her boring Latin tutor and the dashing El Khobar are one and the same. She rushes into his arms.
One song not by Romberg, Gay Parisienne, written for the 1943 film version of the show, is retained for this film.
Casting
The 1953 Desert Song stars Kathryn GraysonKathryn Grayson
Kathryn Grayson was an American actress and operatic soprano singer.From the age of twelve, Grayson trained as an opera singer. She was under contract to MGM by the early 1940s, soon establishing a career principally through her work in musicals...
as Margot and Gordon MacRae
Gordon MacRae
Gordon MacRae was an American actor and singer, best known for his appearances in the film versions of two Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals, Oklahoma! and Carousel and films with Doris Day like Starlift.-Early life:Born Albert Gordon MacRae in East Orange, New Jersey, MacRae graduated from...
as the dashing outlaw leader (again called El Khobar) and his alter ego, Latin tutor Paul Bonnard. Steve Cochran
Steve Cochran
Steve Cochran was an American film, television, and stage actor, the son of a California lumberman. He graduated from the University of Wyoming in 1939...
plays Claud Fontaine, El Khobar's rival for Margot's affections, and Raymond Massey
Raymond Massey
Raymond Hart Massey was a Canadian/American actor.-Early life:Massey was born in Toronto, Ontario, the son of Anna , who was born in Illinois, and Chester Daniel Massey, the wealthy owner of the Massey-Ferguson Tractor Company. Massey's family could trace their ancestry back to the American...
portrays Sheik Youseff, the villain. Comic relief is provided by Dick Wesson
Dick Wesson (actor)
Dick Wesson was a prolific character actor, comedian, comedy writer, and producer...
as Benny (not Benjy) Kidd, and Allyn McLerie
Allyn McLerie
Allyn Ann McLerie is a Canadian-born, Brooklyn-reared actress, singer and dancer who worked with most of Golden Age musical theatre's major choreographers, including George Balanchine, Agnes de Mille, and Jerome Robbins.McLerie made her Broadway debut as a teenager in Kurt Weill's One Touch of Venus...
is the voluptuous Azuri.Ray Collins
Ray Collins (actor)
Ray Bidwell Collins was an American actor in film, stage, radio, and television. One of Collins' best remembered roles was that of Lt. Arthur Tragg in the long-running series Perry Mason.- Biography :...
, of Perry Mason
Perry Mason
Perry Mason is a fictional character, a defense attorney who was the main character in works of detective fiction authored by Erle Stanley Gardner. Perry Mason was featured in more than 80 novels and short stories, most of which had a plot involving his client's murder trial...
fame, portrays General Birabeau, here depicted as Margot's father, rather than the hero's.