The Desert Song

Following John Boles in 1929 and Dennis Morgan in 1943, Gordon MacRae gives this outdated hokum his best shot in the silly role of Paul Bonnard, sometimes a timid academic, sometimes an adventurer.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. And there's some fabulous Technicolor. 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.

As I said in my summary, I would heartily recommend this movie to anyone who wants to see a classy movie. It has a very worn plot, but its simplicity would appeal to anyone who is tired of seeing violence and sex on the screen. It is like anything goes!! Kathryn Grayson, and Gordon McCrae sang beautifully. I've seen other movies that they have sung in and they always put on a good show. As far as the scenery, it was very authentic, and the color was awesome. 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. I wish that they would show it on AMC or TCM; I'd love to see it again even if it's shown on a small screen.

I have to say from the outset I'm a sucker for operettas. 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. They are the indigenous folk who inhabit in and around the Atlas mountains of Morocco and what was at that time Spanish Morocco.

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. Spain which was not a combatant in World War I took the brunt of the fighting. And Abdel Krim led them on a merry chase for a decade. The Spanish army was beaten at every turn. 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. He went into exile after release and died in the mid 60s. He was a warrior, Abdel Krim in the tradition of Saladin of the Crusades, not at all like today's terrorists. He never made war on civilians. 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. In this version that would be Kathryn Grayson.

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. As villains Raymond Massey and Frank DeKova seem to be having a great old time, hamming it up.

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. I can't prove it, but I think he was the model for Rudolph Valentino's The Sheik and we all know how popular that was.

For us operetta fans of all ages.

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). Pierre is now Paul. Captain Fontaine's first name is Claude. Benjamin Kidd's nickname is now Benjy instead of Bennie, and his secretary Susan is absent. And there's an evil sheik, making two different foes for the Riffs: The Legionaires and the sheik and his men. All in all, I find the movie quite satisfying.

I grew up listening to Gordon MacRae sing The Desert Song on an album that also featured him in the musical Roberta. The soprano in both cases was Lucille Norman, and both recordings were wonderful. 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.

The story is not unfamiliar -- just think Superman or Zorro.

Shiek Yousseff (Raymond Massey) secretly plots to overthrow the French, all the while pretending to be their friend. Opposing him are the Riffs and their leader, El Khobar. El Khobar is in reality Professor Paul Bonnard who is making a study of the desert. The Riffs' attacks on supply trains keep the villages in food.

General Birabeau (Ray Collins) of the French Foreign Legion arrives to investigate, and his daughter Margot (Kathryn Grayson) accompanies him. He hires Bonnard to tutor her. Margot, meanwhile, has eyes for a Legionnaire captain, Claud Fontaine (Steve Cochran). El Khobar kidnaps Margot until he can convince her that Yousseff is not on the side of the French, but Yousseff's men attack the camp and take Margot prisoner.

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. I can't believe that with that size voice, she sang Butterfly on an opera stage, but I guess she did.

It's a pretty production, with Dick Wesson, playing a reporter, providing some comic relief. In the operetta he has a girlfriend, Susan.

This is the kind of movie where you enjoy the music and the singing. Well worth watching.