The Desert Song (1929 film)

The Desert Song
theatrical release poster
Directed byRoy Del Ruth
Screenplay byHarvey Gates
Story byOtto A. Harbach
Oscar Hammerstein II
Frank Mandel
Based onThe 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]
StarringJohn Boles
Carlotta King
Louise Fazenda
Myrna Loy
CinematographyBarney McGill
(part-Technicolor)
Edited byRalph Dawson
Furusawa[2]
Music byIrving Berlin
Sigmund Romberg
Lyrics:
Oscar Hammerstein II
Otto Harbach
Production
company
Distributed byWarner Bros. Pictures
Release date
  • April 8, 1929 (1929-04-08) (New York City)[2]
Running time
125 minutes[2]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
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.

  1. ^ a b The Desert Song on Internet Broadway Database
  2. ^ a b c The Desert Song at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
  3. ^ a b Warner Bros financial information in The William Schaefer Ledger. See Appendix 1, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, (1995) 15:sup1, 1-31 p 7 DOI: 10.1080/01439689508604551
  4. ^ Musical Theatre Guide