The Painted Desert selected Higgin to direct the film, as well as naming the stars of the film, William Boyd and Dorothy Burgess. Later in the month it was reported that Higgin would head to Arizona to begin location scouting for the film, accompanied by fellow director, Tay Garnett, however in August Higgin began scouting in the Arizona desert with the screenwriter, Tom Buckingham. It was announced that the film would employ over 300 extras. Higgin was familiar with the area, having working in and around Flagstaff, Arizona as a lumberjack prior to his entering the film industry. Towards the end of August
Painted Desert Serenade romance and losing romance". Painted Desert Serenade Painted Desert Serenade is the debut studio release from American pianist/singer-songwriter Joshua Kadison, released in 1993 on SBK (a subsidiary of Capitol Records). It featured two singles, both of which reached the top 30 on the "Billboard" Hot 100: "Jessie" peaked at number 26 in the US (while placing three spots in Sweden a year after its release), while the track "Beautiful in My Eyes" managed a chart placing of 19 in 1994. All songs written by Joshua Kadison. Reviewing the album for Allmusic, Bryan Buss called it "chock full of odes to