The Desert Song (1929 film)

The Desert Song
theatrical release poster
Directed by	Roy Del Ruth
Screenplay by	Harvey Gates
Story by	Otto A. Harbach Oscar Hammerstein II Frank Mandel
Based on	The Desert Song 1926 play/book by Oscar Hammerstein II Otto A. Harbach Frank Mandel Laurence Schwab Music: Sigmund Romberg Book & Lyrics: Otto A. Harbach Oscar Hammerstein II Frank Mandel[1]
Starring	John Boles Carlotta King Louise Fazenda Myrna Loy
Cinematography	Barney McGill (part-Technicolor)
Edited by	Ralph Dawson Furusawa[2]
Music by	Irving Berlin Sigmund Romberg Lyrics: Oscar Hammerstein II Otto Harbach
Production company	Warner Bros. Pictures
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Pictures
Release date	April 8, 1929 (1929-04-08) (New York City)[2]
Running time	125 minutes[2]
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$354,000[3]
Box office	$3,022,000[3]

The Desert Song is a 1929 American pre-Code operetta film directed by Roy Del Ruth and starring John Boles, Carlotta King, Louise Fazenda, and Myrna Loy. It was photographed partly in two-color Technicolor, the first film released by Warner Bros. to include footage in color. The film included a 10-minute intermission during which music was played.

It was based on the hit musical play with music by Sigmund Romberg and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein, Otto Harbach, and Frank Mandel, which opened at the Casino Theatre on Broadway on November 30, 1926, and ran for a very successful 465 performances.^[4][1] Although some of the songs from the show have been omitted, the film is otherwise virtually a duplicate of the stage production and extremely faithful to it.

On the basis of the success of The Desert Song, Warner Bros. quickly cast John Boles in an all-color musical feature called Song of the West, which was completed by June 1929 but had its release delayed until March 1930.