The Rogue Song reconstructed

[Mike Gebert]

Somebody has taken the surviving footage, the soundtrack, and some stills, and put together as much of The Rogue Song as there is. Sounds like a tough sit to me, but maybe some will find it irresistible:



Hat tip to Greenbrier Picture Shows, which has more to say here.

[earlytalkiebuffRob]

Spotted a reconstruction on YT a while back so wasn't sure if this was the same. Looks like there's some footage I've not seen, so will have to be worth a look. One person on IMDb has done a 'review' which is plain ridiculous as he / she (can't remember) is claiming to criticise a film which is only a shadow of the original...

[Mike Gebert]

It looks like this is an updated version, probably of what you saw before.

[bobfells]

Among my interests I'm a buff of historic opera recordings with an FB group and a YT channel devoted to the subject. THE ROGUE SONG was based on a 1912 operetta, Gipsy Love, by Franz Lehár of The Merry Widow fame. Mostly new songs were written for the film by Herbert Stothart and Clifford Grey. Only one of Lehár's songs made it into the film, "The White Dove," with English lyrics by Grey. Laurel & Hardy were added to the cast only after filming had wrapped. Lawrence Tibbett had to fly from NYC back to LA to film additional scenes with L&H. Years ago I listened to the soundtrack and got the impression that it was a typical early MGM talkie. In other words the pace was pedestrian. If you've seen John Gilbert's REDEMPTION (1930) you have a good idea of ROGUE's leaden pace.

Met Baritone Tibbett was a recent star of the opera having emerged from the ranks only in the late 1920s. His appearance in any Met opera guaranteed big ticket sales and he remained a major draw through the 30s. But he never made the grade in films. His head had an odd boxy look and his low speaking voice didn't go with his body. MGM signed him to a four-film contract but ROGUE SONG was the only one that made money. Even Jimmy Durante as his sidekick and Lupe Velez as his girlfriend couldn't make a hit out of CUBAN LOVE SONG (1931), my favorite among Tibbett's films. Zanuck hired Tibbett in 1935 to make two more films but neither was a hit.

Tibbett might be called a "party-hearty" guy and his collegues warned him that his lifestyle was a threat to his voice. He laughed off these warnings until early in 1940 when his voice went into a sudden and premature decline. He was only 43 and should have had many years of prime singing ahead of him. His heyday was ended though his appearances at the Met still sold tickets but were increasingly rare as the 1940s wore on. He retired from the Met in 1950 but made headlines in 1954 when he was arrested for DUI. He had been an alcoholic for years since his vocal decline but not even his Met colleagues were aware of it. He died in 1960 after falling in his home and bashing his head against his television. Today his admirers seem to know little about his life and despite his climb from poverty to great success, it's ultimately a tragic tale.

[silentfilm]

[IA]

I watched an earlier reconstruction and enjoyed it. My review:

The Rogue Song is best described as a lost film, but its complete soundtrack has survived, along with enough short clips and stills for someone to have posted a "reconstruction" online. Having watched this, I can post a tentative "review."

Let's get the (many) negatives out of the way first. This is an early musical, so you'll need to adjust to the slow pacing, awkward transitions, clumsy acting, and lethargic direction (courtesy of Lionel Barrymore, more suited to hamming than directing). And it's an operetta, not the most popular or well-loved musical form around nowadays. Nor are the songs first rate.

But none of this matters too much, because the heart and soul of The Rogue Song is Lawrence Tibbett, who joyfully breathes fire into the film. Despite the limitations of early film sound equipment, Tibbett's voice remains one of the most powerful to ever boom from the screen. He's in magnificent form and clearly having a ball (he loved making the film and showed a personal print to friends for decades). His zest informs his acting too--forget all those stuffy, stick-up-the-a$$ opera stars who infested so many other early musicals, this guy is larger-than-life in the best way. Tibbett's shattering baritone throbs with a vitality that rescues the otherwise humdrum score, turning "The White Dove," "When I'm Looking at You," and the title song from limp operetta fodder into passionate statements of intent.

The Rogue Song has a couple of other attractions too. As adapted for the screen, the plot has some pre-code kinkiness--murder committed by the good guys, a horny countess, and a sensational scene of the hero flogged shirtless while singing away like a madman. There's also Laurel and Hardy, popping in between major scenes to add brief comic relief. Their material is hardly top-notch, but they add tonal balance to an otherwise heavy film.

The Rogue Song has many of the usual faults of early musicals, but they fall away at the sound of Lawrence Tibbett's voice.

[smokey15]

It would be nice if TCM would show the reconstruction of "The Rogue Song" in prime time. I'd especially love to hear Ben M. discuss the film with the person in charge of the reconstruction. They've shown reconstructed films before such as "The Young Rajah" so why not show this one?

[Richard P. May]

I seem to remember that back in the Turner days a reconstruction was proposed by Rick Schmidlin, who had done a "complete" GREED. The more I think about it, maybe it was discussed, but never took place due to lack of interest.

[bobfells]

Besides the curiosity value of L&H's scenes that are available for viewing at least in part, IMHO the attraction of ROGUE SONG is the singing of Tibbett. That need is met thanks to the availability of the soundtrack online and that can be upgraded these days thanks to audio software. Even then, Tibbett made several more films that are more or less in circulation so ROGUE can't even be called the sole sound film footage of him - unlike say THE PHANTOM PRESIDENT (1932) which is George M. Cohan's sole surviving talkie. If a pot of money were available to do a reconstruction or an upgraded reconstruction of an early talkie, ROGUE SONG wouldn't be on my list.

Bob

[Brooksie]

I can never look at Catherine Dale Owen without thinking of a quote that came up one year at Cinecon (I don't recall from who): "Even in stills, she can't act!"