ST. JAMES

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 916, 8 March 1930, Page 14

ST. JAMES

“THE DESERT SONG” The most brilliant accomplishment of Vitaphone, Warner Brothers’ finest achievement oji the audible screen is undoubtedly “The Desert Song,” <he first complete screen operetta ever filmed which is now in its second week at the St James Theatre. It is a complete triumph for Warner Brothers and for Vitaphone alike and greatly enlarges the field of entertainment of motion and talking pictures. Every film patron will go to 6ee it because of its novelty, and remain to be enchanted by its visual and audible beauty. Sigmund Romberg’s delightful music loses none of its charm and allure on the screen for it is magnificently played by the Vitaphone Symphony Orchestra and capably rendered by a cast of singers who possess excellent voices and know how to use them for recording purposes. John Boles, tenor, who plays and sings the role of the Red Shadow, and .Carlotta King, lyric soprano, in the role of Margot, held the audience captive by their numbers as surely as though they had been on the stag© in the flesh. Their duo, “The Desert Song,” is one of the moments of high and exquisite beauty in the operatta, while their “Then You Will Know” was also received with great applause. Mr. Boles’s singing of “Ho!” the Riff riding song, and the “Farewell” to his desert followers delighted the audience as did Miss King’s “Romance” and the “Sabre Song.” Marie Wells, Louise Fazenda and Johnny Arthur proved themselves to be highly gifted singers as well‘’as excellent actors, Edward Martindel acted a non-singing role as the Commander of the French garrison. Roy Del Ruth directed with a constant flair for the romance and drama and the lyric beauty of the operetta. It is a constant delight. The chorus is said to contain one hundred voices, and the volume of the chorus numbers makes it entirely credible. They were selected for their ability as singers and they put the ensembles across with stirring effect.

The story is a highly colourful and dramatic presentation of life in the desert and of a French garrison in Morocco. Pierre Birabeau, son of fche French commander, sympathises with the mistreatment of the natives and, disguised as the Red Shadow, he becomes the leader of a band of tribesmen who seek justice for the natives, attacking their oppressors.