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The Desert Song (Max Liebman Presents)

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"The Desert Song"
Max Liebman Presents episode
Episode no.Season 1
Episode 15
Directed byMax Liebman
Written byWilliam Friedberg
Neil Simon
Will Glickman
Based onThe Desert Song
Featured musicSigmund Romberg
Original air dateMay 7, 1955 (1955-05-07)
Running time75 minutes
Guest appearances
  • Nelson Eddy
  • Gale Sherwood
  • Otto Kruger
  • John Conte
  • Earl William
  • Salvatore Baccaloni
  • Viola Essen

The Desert Song is an American live telecast of the 1926 operetta The Desert Song, which was based on a true event - an uprising of the Riff tribes against French colonial rule in Morocco in 1925.

The music for the operetta was composed by Sigmund Romberg. The book and the lyrics were written by Oscar Hammerstein II, Otto Harbach, Frank Mandel, and Laurence Schwab. Writers for the television adaptation were William Friedberg, Will Glickman and Neil Simon. First telecast live in the United States on May 7, 1955, the conductor for the production was Charles Sanford - while the choreographer for all of the dances and musical segments was Rod Alexander. Due to the time constraints for a live telecast, the television version had to be abridged and adapted and is therefore slightly different from the original operetta. It was made two years after the The Desert Song (1953 film) version with Gordon MacRae and Kathryn Grayson.

The television version features the only surviving footage of Nelson Eddy in a complete live musical.[1][2]

Max Liebman Presents was a United States series of spectaculars - presenting full musicals, plays or revues in live telecasts on NBC (from 1954 to 1956). The Desert Song was the fifteenth live broadcast of the series.[2][3]

Plot

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The French are trying to turn Morocco into a modern colony. However, they are balked from doing so by a native Riff rebellion, led by the mysterious Red Shadow, who tells Hassi, his second-in-command, that the men should be proud of themselves. The Red Shadow also shows his playful boyish side by roughhousing some unappreciative Riffs.

At the French Foreign Legion outpost, 50,000 francs is offered as a reward for information leading to the capture of the Red Shadow, by order of the commanding officer General Birabeau, who is unaware that his unassuming son, Pierre, is actually the daring and fearless rebel leader. To hide his secret identity, Pierre pretends to be a meek, mild-mannered man who cannot join the soldiers in their search for the Red Shadow because of having very sensitive skin and, therefore, not being able to stay in the sun for very long. When General Birabeau returns from a day in the desert, Pierre tries to convince him to make a truce with the Riffs, but the general disagrees, saying the Riffs needed discipline.

Captain Paul Fontaine arrives with his fiancée, the beautiful Margot Bonvalet, and she is made welcome by everyone. The adventurous Margot dreams of an oasis, an Arab camp, riding beneath a desert moon and romance, and Pierre falls in love with her. Paul comments that Margot has left the comforts of Paris behind to marry him and live the soldiers' way of life. Later, when the captain mentions to Pierre and Margot that he had General Birabeau's permission to marry Margot on the Sunday, Pierre is despondent, but makes light of the situation and Margot, who is unsure of her feelings towards Paul, tries to get the marriage postponed. However, Paul insists that their wedding would take place in the outpost on the Sunday and Margot looks helplessly at Pierre. That night, Margot is advised to go indoors, because the Red Shadow has been sighted in the vicinity but Margot, who wonders what he is like, stays outside. There she is unexpectedly joined by the rebel leader, who tries to persuade her to accompany him to the desert. Margot resists and the Red Shadow abducts her, taking her to the fortress of Ali Ben Ali, the caliph. Hassi and Ali Ben Ali are upset that the Red Shadow has kidnapped a French woman, saying that the French would take revenge against them, and Ali Ben Ali offers him twenty girls if he releases her. Ali Ben Ali and Hassi then try to interest the Westerner in the Eastern way of love (with a harem of women), but the Red Shadow remains adamant that he only wants the one woman.

After Azuri tells General Birabeau where to find the Red Shadow and Margot, the general arrives at the fortress, saying he is there for the girl. Ali Ben Ali tells him that Margot was not his prisoner, but that of the Red Shadow. The general asks Ali Ben Ali, as caliph, to order the Red Shadow to release her, but Ali Ben Ali tells him that the Red Shadow won't take orders from anybody. Ali Ben Ali tells him that he would have to defeat the Red Shadow in a one-on-one armed combat, warning the general that the Red Shadow is an expert swordsman who has never been defeated. When the Red Shadow comes face to face with General Birabeau, he surprises everyone by refusing to fight, thereby losing the respect of the Riffs. Hassi tries to get him to fight, saying that the men would have no choice but to send him into the desert to die, but the Red Shadow turns his head away and General Birabeau calls him a coward. The Red Shadow releases Margot to the general, followed by Hassi breaking the Red Shadow's sword in half and handing the hilt of the shortened broken sword to him. The dispirited Red Shadow then leaves Ali Ben Ali's fortress for the desert, with the Riffs saying that they will pray for him.

General Birabeau sends Captain Fontaine into the desert to find the Red Shadow so that the rebel leader could be executed at the outpost. Instead, the soldiers come across Pierre wandering the desert, and rescue him, believing that he has killed the Red Shadow.

The general is acclaimed for his courage and, delighted with the accolades, he says that the Red Shadow would be put in front of a French firing squad. When General Birabeau gives the reward money to Azuri, for her help in locating the Red Shadow, he tells her that the Red Shadow would be dead in the morning. Azuri, who is shocked at this, reveals the true identity of the Red Shadow to him and the distraught general is horrified that he has given orders for his own son to be killed. Then soldiers, led by Captain Fontaine, return from the desert, with Paul saying that the Red Shadow would give no more trouble because he is dead. When asked if he had killed the Red Shadow, Paul comments that he did not, that the Red Shadow had been killed by the last man you would ever suspect.

Pierre carries in the Red Shadow's cloak, hat, broken sword and mask and is given a hero's welcome. A smiling, very happy General Birabeau shakes Pierre's hand, saying that he now understood him. Better, perhaps, than Pierre would ever guess.

Margot, who has fallen in love with the Red Shadow, is grief-stricken by the news of his death. Then, when they are alone together, Pierre proves to her, through song, that he is the Red Shadow and all ends happily, with an overjoyed Margot melting into Pierre's embrace.[4]

Cast members

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Songs

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Act 1

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  1. Overture (music only)
  2. "Ho! Bold Men of Morocco" — Red Shadow, men's ensemble
  3. "The Riff Song" — Red Shadow, men's ensemble
  4. "Why Did We Marry Soldiers?" — women's ensemble
  5. "French Military Marching Song" — ensemble
  6. "O! Pretty Maid of France" / "Margot" — Paul, Margot, men's ensemble
  7. "Romance" — Margot, women's ensemble
  8. "Soft as a Pigeon Lights Upon the Sand" — Hassi
  9. "Then You Will Know" — Pierre, Margot
  10. "Romance" (last part of song, only) — Margot
  11. "The Desert Song" — Red Shadow, Margot

Act 2

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  1. "My Little Castagnette" — women's ensemble singing off stage, accompanying dance
  2. "Let Love Go" — Ali Ben Ali
  3. "One Flower In Your Garden" — Hassi
  4. "One Alone" — Red Shadow
  5. "The Sabre Song" — Margot
  6. "One Alone" (reprise) — Red Shadow
  7. "French Military Marching Song" (reprise) — Paul, men's ensemble
  8. "The Desert Song" (reprise) — Pierre, Margot
  9. "One Alone" (reprise) — sung by the entire company during the closing credits

Dances

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  1. A brief Arabian dance — dancer's name is unknown
  2. Azuri's dance — Viola Essen and dancers — dance music: Soft as a Pigeon Lands Upon the Sand
  3. Ballet — Bambi Linn and Rod Alexander (as the Red Shadow and Margot) — dance music: The Desert Song
  4. Spanish dance — Felisa Conde and dancers — dance song: My Little Castagnette
  5. Moroccan dance — Viola Essen and dancers — dance music: One Alone

Broadcast

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The live operetta was originally telecast on May, 7, 1955 on NBC.[5][6][7][8]

Home media

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A DVD-version was published by Video Artists International.[1]

Reception

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A retrospective review wrote, "The picture is a kinescope (a camera filming a television screen) and the sound is obviously not up to today’s standards. But it is such fun and a must for lovers of the old romantic times when Romberg gave the people what they wanted."[9]

References

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  1. ^ a b Leonard, William T. (1981). Theatre : stage to screen to television. Internet Archive. Metuchen, N.J. : Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-1374-8.
  2. ^ a b "THE DVD SHELF: "A Connecticut Yankee," "Desert Song," "Four Weddings and a Funeral," "Honeymoon in Vegas" and More".
  3. ^ "More vintage TV musicals from the '50s". Brattleboro Reformer. October 12, 2012. Retrieved September 16, 2024.
  4. ^ "Max Liebman Presents Season 1". Shows+ Discover & Track Series. Retrieved September 21, 2024.
  5. ^ "The Desert Song". FILMED LIVE MUSICALS. Retrieved September 21, 2024.
  6. ^ kevin (June 23, 2010). "THE DESERT SONG Musical play in 3 acts". Operetta Research Center. Retrieved September 21, 2024.
  7. ^ The Desert Song (1955) - ESAN.tv™. Retrieved September 21, 2024 – via www.esan.tv.
  8. ^ "Summary". www.paleycenter.org. Retrieved September 21, 2024.
  9. ^ "CD and DVD Reviews". www.arttimesjournal.com. Retrieved September 21, 2024.
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