Practically all of the lyrics for "The Riff Song" have been rewritten, even the words that did not have to be changed. This was common practice in several Broadway musical adaptations made before 1955; it was done frequently in the Nelson Eddy- Jeanette MacDonald operettas and it was done in the 1954 film version of "The Student Prince". Movie studios did this so that royalties from all sales of sheet music for the film versions would go to the studios that made the films, not to the original lyricists. Exceptions included the 1936 film version of "Show Boat" and all of the songs except "Cotton Blossom" in the 1951 "Show Boat", as well as the 1943 film version of "Girl Crazy".
The movie was shot at the Algodones Dunes near El Centro, California. The Sheik's palace, always seen at a distance, was a matte painting. The scenes of the entrance, walls, garden, etc. of the palace were shot on a sound stage.
This was the third and last time Warner Brothers produced a film version of this operetta. Films were 1929, 1943, and 1953.
The names of most of the main characters were changed from previous versions to avoid legal issues.
The Desert Song opened at the Casino Theatre, 1404 Broadway in New York City on November 30, 1926 and ran for 471 performances. There were much less successful revivals in 1946 and 1973.
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