Shiek Yousseff, poses as a friend of the French while secretly plotting to overthrow them. Apposing Yousseff are the Riffs, whose secret leader, The Red Shadow, is Paul Bonnard, a professor who is studying the desert, and whose attacks on the supply trains intended for Yousseff keep the Riff villages in food. Foreign Legion General Birabeau arrives to conduct an investigation, accompanied by his daughter, Margot. Birabeau hires Bonnard to tutor her, and she is attracted to a Legionaire captain, Claud Fontaine. While the general, Bonnard and Fontaine pay a visit to Yousseff, an American newspaper man, Benji Kidd, discovers a secret way in and out of Yousseff's palace, with the aid of Azuri, a dancing girl in love with Bonnard. The latter is forced to resume his role as the Riffs leader, and kidnap Margot until he can convince her of Yousseff's treachery. But Yousseff's men attack the Riff camp and take Margot prisoner.
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hyped garbage
It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.
Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable
This is an example of an extinct musical sub-genre, the operetta. You get a dashing hero, a hissable villan, and a damsel in distress in any typical example. 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. This is the third film by Warner Brothers of this show. A few details have been changed from the 1926 stage show, but that is not important. The story flows along with Kathryn Grayson and Gordon MacRae bursting into song in true operetta fashion. Allyn McLerie does an exotic dance, and there are some gorgeous settings and scenery. I saw this years ago on a vhs tape, and, the Technicolor was a bit washed out. 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. They're out of style, and, I suppose, laughable to more sophisticated audiences of today, but they and this one in particular possess a great deal of charm, not to mention talent. 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.
In this film, the highlights are the singing performances of Kathryn Grayson and Gordon MacRae. Unfortunately, the songs they sing are not really memorable. They certainly are not the quality of songs that you find yourself humming as you leave the theater. 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. A wily but deceitful sheik is portrayed by Raymond Massey. 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.
While not perfect, The Desert Song has a lot to like about it. The story is very improbable and does drag in spots, and Steve Cochran is sadly underused to the point he was wasted although he does do his best. However, the cinematography is absolutely gorgeous, the sets are handsome and the costumes are colourful, if anything the production values are one of the film's strongest attributes. The Desert Song has a very pleasant and lively score and the songs are great, especially The Desert Song, One Alone and Gay Parisienne. The dialogue is snappily written without ever been corny and there are some very sweet moments without being saccharine, the conflict is also convincing. The dancing is deliciously exotic and choreographed in a way that doesn't interfere with the story or the pacing of it and the direction is not too flashy and never indifferent. 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
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.
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