This two reel short from Warner Brothers is a real find if you can get it. Alexander Gray and Bernice Clare did a number of early sound musical adaptations for the screen of some of the great operettas back in the day. Their brief moment of popularity was passing when this abbreviated version of The Desert Song was done. But the fact that Alexander Gray appeared in the original stage production, replacing the original Pierre/Red Shadow is a chance to see a Broadway star recreate his stage performance.
The Desert Song was topical back in the day with news of the Riff revolt in colonial French Morocco under Abdel Krim. It took the combined forces of two European governments, France and Spain, to put the Riff revolt down. American coverage had Krim as a most romantic figure and I'm sure the coverage of Krim may have also been responsible for Rudolph Valentino's emergence as a screen star in The Sheik. Krim was not a terrorist by any means, he was a real warrior in the tradition of Saladin.
The acting is stagy to say the least, but we're only in it for the songs folks.
The Desert Song was topical back in the day with news of the Riff revolt in colonial French Morocco under Abdel Krim. It took the combined forces of two European governments, France and Spain, to put the Riff revolt down. American coverage had Krim as a most romantic figure and I'm sure the coverage of Krim may have also been responsible for Rudolph Valentino's emergence as a screen star in The Sheik. Krim was not a terrorist by any means, he was a real warrior in the tradition of Saladin.
The acting is stagy to say the least, but we're only in it for the songs folks.