Customer Reviews

Blue Bird

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

Attacked by critics and a failure at the Box Office at the time of it's release in 1940 "The Blue Bird" has with time been redeemed and is now quite rightly viewed as a classic film of it's time containing one of Shirley Temple's most interesting performances. The public and critical indifference to the film at the time of its release had alot to do with the fact that Hollywood's formerly adorable moppet and sweetheart of the depression years was now playing a selfish young girl who is only reformed near the conclusion of the story and also because film's less upbeat story suffered when inevitably compared with "The Wizard of Oz" released just the year before. I truly love this film with its strong message of appreciating what we actually have in our lives as opposed to always thinking other things are better. Shirley Temple I believe, has never been better than in this slightly older more serious role made just as she was unfortunately slipping from being Hollywood's number one attraction at the Box Office. This film's failure, combined with Shirley's declining popularity finally broke the long string of successes Twentieth Century Fox had enjoyed through the 1930's with Shirley Temple films and after one more unsuccesful release with "Young People", also in 1940 the reign of Shirley Temple as the Box Office Queen of Hollywood was definately over forever.

Certainly the "The Blue Bird" lacks the great songs and show bizzy appeal ...but its theme is a much more serious one with indeed many morbid qualities to it. I believe the two should be viewed as totally separate. ...The whole production is a ravishing feast for the eyes. The sumptous sets, gorgeous color and the costumnes make this film a sight for the eyes. Never has there been a more lavish Shirley Temple film. The graveyard scenes are very eerie and very well done and when Temple along with her younger brother played by child actor Johnny Russell visit the land of luxury the sets are unbelievably beautiful . Nigel Bruce and Laure Hope Crews lend their considerable talents to the scenes in the land of luzury and Gale Sondergaard makes a deliciously wicked Cat.The film , despite the two young children starting off as selfish individuals, has many touching moments in particular when they visit their long dead grand parents. It is a very beautiful scene which stresses the importance of family ties even after death and it never fails to move me.The special effects in the film of the great forest fire, people being turned into animals etc are top notch and give "The Blue Bird" a magical quality that can be enjoyed by all.I think it is a film that should be in all lovers of family films collections. ...I think you will love "The Blue Bird" even if you aren't a fan of Shirley Temple but just love lavish well made classics from Hollwood's golden age when such things were done so well and with so much care.

THE BLUE BIRD was Twentieth Century-Fox's answer to MGM's THE WIZARD OF OZ. Shirley Temple was originally mentioned for the role of Dorothy in OZ, though Fox was leary about releasing her from her contract.

Based on the play by Maurice Maeterlinck, the story recounts one sad and angry little girl, Mytyl (Shirley Temple) who journeys with her brother Tyltyl (Johnny Russell) to find the 'bluebird of happiness'. Joining the children on the quest are the children's pets - cat Tylette (Gale Sondergaard) and dog Tylo (Eddie Collins) who have been magically changed to human-form.

Just like in OZ, the film changes from drab black-and-white to glowing and rich Technicolor, though OZ is of course the superior of the two. Shirley Temple is given more of a dramatic range to work with here, playing a little girl with rougher edges and thus more 'real' than her previous film roles.

Gale Sondergaard is deliciously-devious as the children's cat, and Spring Byington is perfect as Mummy Tyl. Sybil Jason who co-starred with Temple the previous year in THE LITTLE PRINCESS, plays Mytyl's afflicted friend Angela.

This is my favorite Shirley Temple movie and I being a lover of "The Wizard of Oz," I fell in love with "The Blue Bird" also. I love stories that have fantasy plots and adventures of young children seeking love and/or happiness. The characters in the story are very creative and loveable-except for the mean Tylette and the greedy Luxuries. The setting is beautiful for being an early 1940's picture. I'm a big fan of Shirley Temple and love anything she does, but this is my favorite all time movie of hers. If you have children or are a child of the heart, rent or buy the movie from the trustworthy Amazon.com. If you miss out on this movie, you are missing out on a classic picture.

For those of you not familiar with the making of the film "The Wizard of Oz", let me give you a little background. MGM studios originally wanted Shirley Temple to play the part of Dorothy, but Twentieth Century Fox had the popular starlet under an exclusive long term contract and wouldn't lend her out to MGM. Also, actress Gale Sondergaard who plays the humanized version of the cat Tylette in the Blue Bird was originally cast as the Wicked Witch of the West, but MGM decided the part should be played by a not-so-glamorous actress; so eventually, the role went to Margaret Hamilton. "The Wizard of Oz" went on to make cinematic history as a contender for the 1939 Best Picture Oscar and a royalties magnet for MGM with annual television network presentations. Envious of the success of "The Wizard of Oz", Twentieth Century Fox decided to make their own children's fantasy film. Shirley Temple had been Fox's most popular young star and one of their biggest box office draws. The studio went all out with a sizable production budget and plenty of publicity, but this film was shunned by most of the general public and the critics, and turned out to be one of Fox's biggest financial disasters. Until just recently, the "Blue Bird" was pretty much appreciated by only the most ardent of Shirley Temple fans. With showings at Shirley Temple film festivals and the advent of VCR's, this film is beginning to be appreciated by new generations of Temple fans. Just like "The Wizard of Oz", the movie starts out in black and white and transforms into color just before the children start out on their adventure. The plot is very imaginative and entertaining while teaching the young that the most important thing in life is to find happiness and be content with what you have. Fans of the old series of Sherlock Holmes films may recognize Nigel Bruce (who played Dr. Watson) as Mr. Luxury.

I LOVE this movie, what a valuable message it teaches children. The scene where the grandparents plead with the children to think of them is so sweet I cry every time I watch that part of the movie, makes me think of my own dear grandparents. And the unborn children waiting for the boat to take them to their parents...now who could not be touched by that scene? I loved the part where the kids go to the house and are spoiled rotten. This movie is fun, colorful, imaginative, endearing... a movie you will never forget once you've seen it.

Perhaps Shirley Temple is the reason this movie is not given the merit it deserves, it unfairly gets lumped in with all her other vehicles. This is not your usual Shirley Temple Orphan flick!

Waiting for it to come out on DVD...hint hint

I'm prejudiced about this film, because I saw it as a small child, and was absolutely enchanted. From a child's viewpoint, everything looked magical. I especially loved the fairy, Light, and the Land of the Unborn Children. As a grownup, I can appreciate the slightly tacky, not to mention low-budget, nature of the costumes and settings, but I don't care. I still love it!!!

For one thing, the color has been restored beautifully; for another, Shirley Temple's terminal cuteness was finally curbed by a competent director, Walter Lang. Every curl still remains in place, but she puts in a more than creditable performance as the spoiled brat, Mytyl. The little boy playing her brother Tyltyl is also engaging, as are Sibyl Jason, and Juanita Quigley as children in supporting roles. And Gale Sondergaard is brilliant as Tylette the sneaky cat. Her exchanges with the growling dog Tylo are highly amusing.

If children have not become too jaded by their exposure to computers, and can still believe in magic and fairies, they will love this allegorical fable based upon the novel by Maurice Maeterlinck.

I loved this movie. It taught me and my son to be so thankful. He understood it and was only 6 at the time. I loved the part about Heaven. This is a great "Be Grateful" movie. Who cares about the black and white, and then color... the movie was worth it. Everyone should watch this movie around Thanksgiving/Christmas time. It has become a tradition at our house.

Curly Shirley Temple lends her dimpled, pouty-mouthed winsomeness to the tale of a young girl and her brother(Johnny Russell)who live in Austria/Bavaria during the Napoleanic Wars.
It is Christmastime of 1808, and young Mytyl is a selfish and unhappy woodsman's daughter whom we first encounter illegally trapping a bird in the King's forest. An opportunity to show kindness to an ailing neighbor (Sybil Jason), is discarded, as is an opportunity to accept kindness from a doorman outside the home of a wealthy family who offers cookies to the youngsters.
The family's problems stem largely from Mytyl's ingratitude for what she has. Her mother(Spring Byington) expresses her frustration with Mytyl's attitude. But family problems reach a critical point when the children's father(Russell Hicks) is called to arms to help hold Napolean's forces at bay.
At this low but critical ebb, the children are awakened in the middle of the night by a knock on their front door; it is the Fairy, Berylune (Jessie Ralph) who tells them that they must find the Blue Bird, the symbol of true happiness. She zaps them into their clothes, and then changes their faithful dog, Tylo (Eddie Collins, who lived just long enough to see the film's release) and conniving cat Tylette (Gale Sondergaard) into humans to provide them with escorts for their journey, and then presents them with light (Helen Ericson, who is as bright as she is benevolent).
The intial part of their journey is to the Past, represented in the form of a graveyard, where soon enough, their deceased paternal grandparents(Celia Loftus, and Al Shean) are revived, and the children recall joyous times at their home with a little song and dance along the way.
After their brief visit back in time, they rest by the roadside, and the cunning Tylette suggests the children search for the Blue Bird in the land of Luxury-a visit she will enjoy more than they will. They are greeted by the fashionable Mr. and Mrs. Luxury (Nigel Bruce and Laura Hope Crews) who comically slide down the balcony to greet them. There, they get a valuable lesson in what the lives of the rich children towards whom Mytyl had earlier expressed envy are really like. Materialism, class- consciousness, and the emotionally distant relationship with their elders make them yearn for the warmth and comfort provided by their parents. Despite Tylette's efforts to sabotage them, they escape. Mr. Luxury is sympathetic to their need to do so.
As Tylo and the children rest, Tylette goes to the woods to summon the trees of the forest to settle scores with their father, the woodcutter, who has chopped down so many of them, by summoning the natural disasters of the woods to destroy the children. I found the most memorable part of that episode to be the tragi-comic performance of Alice Armand's Weeping Willow. The costumes of the actors representing the various types of trees were brilliantly created.
After Tylette is justly condemned by her own treachery, Tylo and the children escape disaster and travel safely to shore, where Light guides them to the Kingdom of the Future. History students will recognize this as a foray into February of 1809, where among others, they meet the unborn Queen Victoria and soon-to-be-born Abraham Lincoln,whose onscreen time is accompanied by noble-sounding chords featured at other such moments of stateliness or anticipation of greatness in other movies produced by Fox. A bouncy, sweet little Ann E. Todd informs the brother and sister of a future joy for their family, and a future sorrow... Her greeting of her future siblings is expressed in a slow, sweet waltz that is both happy and wistful-sounding. Mytyl and Tyltyl witness impish little ones trying to be born before their time as well as the impending tragedy of soulmates who will not find each other during their time on Earth.
Soon, the children are home again, ready to make this Christmas Day, a happier one, to right a few wrongs of the previous day, and to be blessed with some important good news of their own.
At the end of this tale-which is every bit as lovely as its MGM counterpart, "The Wizard of Oz" , but which in some ways has more depth--we find Mytyl content to make the most of her circumstances, and through her new attiude towards life, to be more of a blessing to others rather than a burden.

This has got to be one of my all time favorite Shirley Temple movies. I'm a collector of Temple films and was proud to add this one to my collection. This was quite a change for Shirley as she always plays a sweet and loving child. In this film , she is rather mean and selfish. As she searches for the blue bird of happiness she learns alot caring for others rather than just about herself. While in Heaven , she meets several children who are waiting to be born. If you pay close attention, you will see Abe Lincoln and several other people who will be famous once they are born. I cry every time the 2 young lovers are separated. This film is a MUST SEE!!!

As a small child I remember seeing this lesser-known movie, and it so impressed me that I wanted our small grandchildren to see it. I hadn't seen it since then, so I watched it again to make sure it was as I remembered. I know that when our "grands" come soon, they will enjoy it as much as I did years ago. Shirley Temple was magical little child, and the story line is unusual for a Shirley Temple movie in that it is a fantasy tale. I heartily recommend it for small children!