MovieChat Forums > The Desert Song (1944) Discussion > Bad copy - but sounds good

Bad copy - but sounds good


I got a bad copy of this from [email protected] for something like $15.00.

Run off in black and white.


The visual is indescribably bad; you can scarcely tell one character from another; hence the exquisite vision of Irene Manning and the transcendently mick Irish visage of Dennis Morgan are severely reduced in their intensity.
Happily, the sound quality is largely intact; thus one can still relish the exquisitely rendered delivery of this, the most lyrical and lovingly executed of the three versions.


(Okay, God knows Kathryn Grayson of the fifties version is the most superb creature to ever fall upon eye and ear that God ever created, but paired opposite Gordon MacRae with his head wrapped up in that … burkah? … and contrasted against no less than Steve Cochran as the loser heavy … ? All pretty strange. )

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I just acquired a terrible copy on eBay. However my copy is in color. It is barely viewable with numerous drop-outs. The audio is also marginal. This poor quality makes the story hard to follow, however I saw the original release some 60 years ago and was happy to see this movie for the second time.

I understand the reason this movie has never been released for TV or on video format is due to a copyright problem on one of the songs. This being the case, how a copy exists at all is surprising to me. I would think Warner Bros could re-edit that copyrighted problem song out and re-release the movie. It won an award for art direction and is also timely for World War II events. It would warrant a second release.

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Does anyone have a copy of this movie?

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