376:, a band of Arab rebels, who threaten the safety of the French outpost in the Moroccan desert. Their dashing, daredevil leader is the mysterious "Red Shadow". Margot Bonvalet, a lovely, sassy French girl, is soon to be married at the fort to Birabeau's right-hand man, Captain Fontaine. Birabeau's son Pierre, in reality the Red Shadow, loves Margot, but pretends to be a milksop to preserve his secret identity. Margot tells Pierre that she secretly yearns to be swept into the arms of some bold, dashing sheik, perhaps even the Red Shadow himself. Pierre, as the Red Shadow, kidnaps Margot and declares his love for her.
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the Riffs. Azuri, the sinuous and secretive native dancing girl, might be persuaded to answer some of these riddles if only she can be persuaded by
Captain Fontaine. Meanwhile, two other characters, Benny (a reporter) and Susan provide comic relief. Eventually, the Red Shadow's identity is discovered, a deal is struck with the Riffs, and Pierre and Margot live happily ever after.
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won Best
Picture in 1929, modern audiences find more to love in this Moroccan desert operetta... not only because of the Oscar Hammerstein lyrics but the snappy direction of Roy Del Ruth, the shadowy, sensuous cinematography by Barney McGill, and how stars John Boles and Carlotta King can (belt) out
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To her surprise, Margot's mysterious abductor treats her with every
Western consideration. When the Red Shadow comes face to face with General Birabeau, the old man challenges the rebel leader to a duel. Of course Pierre will not kill his own father, so he refuses to fight, losing the respect of
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A complete 35mm nitrate print of the film is held by the BFI archive. A 16mm black and white print also exists from which all circulating collector prints have been made. The film elements from this 16mm source are missing a small portion of one of the musical numbers but the complete soundtrack
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on
Broadway on November 30, 1926, and ran for a very successful 465 performances. Although some of the songs from the show have been omitted, the film is otherwise virtually a duplicate of the stage production and extremely faithful to it.
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Warner Bros financial information in The
William Schaefer Ledger. See Appendix 1, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, (1995) 15:sup1, 1-31 p 7 DOI: 10.1080/01439689508604551
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Catalog of
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According to Warner Bros records the film earned $ 1,549,000 domestically and $ 1,473,000 foreign.
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After 1935, the original 1929 version became impossible to exhibit in the United States due to its
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the bold music with more power than other wispy singers in the early days of amplified sound.“
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593:List of early sound feature films (1926–1929)
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588:List of early color feature films
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354:On the basis of the success of
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1478:Films directed by Roy Del Ruth
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319:, the first film released by
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758:AFI Catalog of Feature Films
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419:Carlotta King as Margot
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1012:The Life of the Party
860:The Little Irish Girl
772:at fineartamerica.com
672:Musical Theatre Guide
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490:observes on TCM.com:
215:Warner Bros. Pictures
205:Warner Bros. Pictures
1523:1920s American films
1498:Films set in deserts
1483:Films set in Morocco
1412:The Alligator People
1356:The West Point Story
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524:"Then You Will Know"
467:Del Elliott as Rebel
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119:Oscar Hammerstein II
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69:Oscar Hammerstein II
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455:Jack Pratt as Pasha
449:as Captain Fontaine
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292:is a 1929 American
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45:Roy Del Ruth
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1140:Upper World
1132:Lady Killer
980:The Aviator
828:Eve's Lover
518:"Riff Song"
447:John Miljan
317:Technicolor
281:$ 3,022,000
249:125 minutes
156:Technicolor
41:Directed by
1443:1929 films
1437:Categories
1380:About Face
940:The Terror
599:References
414:John Boles
305:John Boles
278:Box office
232:1929-04-08
197:Production
130:John Boles
1340:Red Light
1244:Tail Spin
1116:Captured!
1044:Side Show
576:Vitaphone
548:One Alone
479:Reception
429:Myrna Loy
313:Myrna Loy
273:$ 354,000
164:Edited by
140:Myrna Loy
1372:Starlift
924:Conquest
746:AllMovie
582:See also
461:as Hasse
431:as Azuri
425:as Susan
294:pre-Code
262:Language
176:Music by
171:Furusawa
126:Starring
77:Based on
61:Story by
1028:My Past
755:at the
703:(1978)
643:at the
578:disks.
472:Source:
265:English
254:Country
230: (
199:company
186:Lyrics:
1423:(1960)
1415:(1959)
1407:(1954)
1399:(1953)
1391:(1952)
1383:(1952)
1375:(1951)
1367:(1951)
1359:(1950)
1351:(1949)
1343:(1949)
1335:(1948)
1327:(1947)
1319:(1944)
1311:(1944)
1303:(1943)
1295:(1942)
1287:(1941)
1279:(1941)
1271:(1940)
1263:(1939)
1255:(1939)
1247:(1939)
1239:(1938)
1231:(1938)
1223:(1937)
1215:(1937)
1207:(1936)
1199:(1936)
1191:(1936)
1183:(1935)
1175:(1935)
1167:(1935)
1159:(1934)
1151:(1934)
1143:(1934)
1135:(1933)
1127:(1933)
1119:(1933)
1111:(1933)
1103:(1933)
1095:(1933)
1087:(1932)
1079:(1932)
1071:(1932)
1063:(1932)
1055:(1931)
1047:(1931)
1039:(1931)
1031:(1931)
1023:(1930)
1015:(1930)
1007:(1930)
999:(1930)
991:(1930)
983:(1929)
975:(1929)
967:(1929)
959:(1929)
951:(1928)
943:(1928)
935:(1928)
927:(1928)
919:(1928)
911:(1927)
903:(1927)
895:(1927)
887:(1927)
879:(1926)
871:(1926)
863:(1926)
855:(1926)
847:(1925)
839:(1925)
831:(1925)
823:(1924)
560:
336:lyrics
311:, and
270:Budget
154:(part-
106:Music:
1060:Taxi!
508:Songs
374:Riffs
727:IMDb
707:p.42
408:Cast
402:1953
398:1943
368:Plot
334:and
332:book
330:and
744:at
725:at
619:on
338:by
88:by
1439::
653:^
627:^
607:^
404:.
342:,
799:e
792:t
785:v
550:"
546:"
234:)
158:)
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