1953 Motion Picture

JimThe Desert Song

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1953 Motion Picture

Directed by Bruch Humberstone | Screenplay by Roland Kibbee | Based on the play by Oscar Hammerstein II, Otto A. Harbach, Frank Mandel & Laurence Schwab

Ten years after the Dennis Morgan/Irene Manning version of The Desert Song, Warner Brothers released yet a third film adaptation of the operetta. Directed by Bruch Humberstone, this remake starred Kathryn Grayson and Gordon MacRae and featured Allyn McLerie as Azuri. The film’s plot was similar to that of its predecessor, and nearly all the same songs were used; only “Fifi’s Song” was omitted.

Critical response was mixed; Paul V. Beckley of the New York Herald Tribune called it “bright and spirited… a pleasant package of romance and adventure for the warm weather,” but Howard Thompson of the New York Times said, “At this point, The Desert Song may be considered dying of thirst.”