Lucybespro It is a performances centric movie

ChanBot i must have seen a different film!!

WillSushyMedia This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

Lachlan Coulson This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

oinokoi Warner Archive has it available! It was released less than two weeks ago, and I just ordered it! I can hardly wait! I was a small child when I saw The Desert Song with Dennis Morgan and Irene Manning. I saw it more than once at that time, and have never forgotten it. The scenery, the singing, and the story are all brought together for a delightful and memorable movie. Dennis Morgan remains my favorite movie actor, and I have VHS/DVD copies of almost all his other movies. This one should be in the mix! The fact that it hasn't been released to VHS or DVD is at tragedy and a travesty. Whatever the problems are in releasing - can someone either delete that portion or get the required permission? it has been more than fifty years. Surely whatever it is, it is now in the public domain. Is there no one at Turner who could manage to get this wonderful movie released? I have heard for a number of years that "someone is working on it," but see no evidence of it. How sad that so many unbelievably bad movies are available everywhere, but one of the best remains hidden. It may be hidden, but certainly not forgotten by so many fans of this wonderful movie.

bkoganbing The Sigmund Romberg-Otto Harbach-Oscar Hammerstein, II operetta from the Twenties, The Desert Song is given an update and World War II worked into the plot about the Caucasian leader of the Riff tribesmen of Morocco in revolt against the French Colonial government. It's in this version that the real Riff leader from the Twenties, Abdel Krim is acknowledged as reporter Lynne Overman is phoning in a story as he tells them that the new leader of the Riffs is a mysterious masked man named El Khobar.In this version Dennis Morgan is a saloon entertainer in Gene Lockhart's place by day and by night, he's the mysterious El Khobar. Like Humphrey Bogart's Rick Blaine in Casablanca he's an anti-fascist, unlike Bogey he doesn't have to be coaxed back into the fight, he's fighting the good fight albeit from a secret identity. Gene Lockhart stands in quite nicely as the intriguing saloon keeper for Sydney Greenstreet. The Ingrid of the piece is Irene Manning, another entertainer who matches her soprano to Morgan's tenor. Most movie fans remember Irene best from Yankee Doodle Dandy where she played Fay Templeton.Which brings us to the Claude Rains part, the guy who's chasing El Khobar for the Vichy government, Bruce Cabot. This film contains the most charitable view of Vichy that I've ever seen on the screen. My guess is that this one came from the top as we were probably still in negotiation with the Vichy government in what was unoccupied France.The Nazis have set up a dummy corporation in Switzerland which is funding a railroad to Dakar, the western most part of Africa, then in French West Africa. Victor Francen is the duplicitous Arab sheik who's cut a deal with them. They will build a railroad using slave labor from the Riffs who are Francen's enemies. All this under the French noses. The fact that a couple of Teutonic looking gentlemen are around Francen doesn't give anyone, but Morgan and his allies a clue, is a bit much.Morgan and Manning sing The Desert Song score beautifully, the main songs are all retained for this film. That's the main reason to see this dated film. In fact with events moving as rapidly as they were in North Africa starting in September, 1943, this version of The Desert Song dated before it hit the screen.For myself, I certainly recognized some of the interior sets that were used on Casablanca. I'm not sure which came out first, but since everybody comes to Rick's, you'd best be going there unless you like operetta.

nataliej5243 I have always loved this movie but couldn't remember the actress/singer, only that she was called Margot. My grandmother took me to the movie when I was 9 yrs. old. Since it has been so long ago I didn't know the plot, just loved the color and the music. We had a Music Festival in our town with Dennis Morgan as a guest and of course he sang One Alone, I'll never forget that day. I would like to hear & see him again someday so I hope the movie will be released . My daughter loves the old musicals & I would like her to see this version of The Desert Song. Is there any thing we can do to get this movie released so more people could enjoy??

joeygranma As to why this film is not available, my sister who formerly lived in California thought this movie was privately owned by Irene Manning's and/or her husband and that is why it has not been released to the general public. I was very young when I saw this but remember the beautiful technicolor and music. When video came to be, I looked and looked but never saw anything about the movie and not even about the main stars Dennis Morgan and Irene Manning. I assumed that the decision not to put it on video and TV might have been a commercial one.