The Desert Song

Ben Mankiewicz introduces The Desert Song, 1944.

Ben Mankiewicz introduces The Desert Song, 1944.

Working in the song from the 1926 Sig Romberg operetta (lyrics credited to Otto Harbach, Oscar Hammerstein II and Frank Mandel), American Paul (Dennis Morgan) entertains the French commander (Bruce Cabot), joined by singer Margot (Irene Manning), but really alerting the local Moroccan rebels, Gene Lockhart the club owner, in The Desert Song, 1944.

Big action perhaps refers to the title, as a guy in a red mask, apparently the rebel leader in Morocco (could he be top-billed Dennis Morgan, an itinerant piano player?) leads a raid on a French forced-labor camp Gerald Mohr his aide, as Tarbouch (Marcel Dalio) is captured, in Warner Bros.’ The Desert Song, 1944.

Joining the uncommonly complex early exposition, we’ve barely met Dennis Morgan, a guy who shares bathing facilities in Morocco with a reporter (Lynne Overman), then the new singer in town (Irene Manning) converses with her boss (Nestor Paiva) and a French colonel (Bruce Cabot), in Warner Bros.’ The Desert Song, 1944.

In a still nameless Moroccan city, piano player Paul (Dennis Morgan), whom we suspect might support the local rebels, has a friendly joust with Margot (Irene Manning), the new singer from France, who is friendly but seems to still prefer the French officer Fontaine (Bruce Cabot), in The Desert Song, 1944.