The Blue Bird (1940)
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71% of users liked it
(1,825 ratings)
When Darryl F. Zanuck's arrangement to loan Shirley Temple to MGM as star of The Wizard of Oz fell through, Zanuck hastily assembled a lavish Technicolor vehicle for his diminutive star which, he hoped, would match Wizard in popularity and appeal. The result was The Blue Bird, adapted from the… More When Darryl F. Zanuck's arrangement to loan Shirley Temple to MGM as star of The Wizard of Oz fell through, Zanuck hastily assembled a lavish Technicolor vehicle for his diminutive star which, he hoped, would match Wizard in popularity and appeal. The result was The Blue Bird, adapted from the allegorical stage play by Maurice Maeterlinck (previously filmed by director Maurice Tourneur in 1918). In emulation of The Wizard of Oz, The Blue Bird was bookended with black-and-white sequences, reserving Technicolor for the fantasy "body" of the film; similarly, Gale Sondergaard, who had been the first choice to play the Wicked Witch of the West in Wizard, was cast as Blue Bird's nominal villainess. Set in mid-Europe sometime in the late 18th century, the story concerns Mytyl (Temple and Tyltyl (John Russell), the children of a woodchopper (Russell Hicks) who has been called to fight in a faraway war. Heartbroken, the kids decide to run away from home in search of the Bluebird of Happiness, which will ostensibly solve all their problems. Falling asleep, Mytyl and Tyltyl dream that the good fairy Berylune (Jessie Berylune) is leading them on that search, accompanied by their household pets Tylo (a dog) and Tylette (a cat), who have assumed human form (and as such are repectively played by Eddie Collins and the aforementioned Gale Sondergaard). Before arriving at the far-from-unexpected realization that the elusive Bluebird of Happiness is no further than their own backyard, the two kiddies undergo a variety of astonishing experiences, including a raging forest fire (a triumph of 20th Century-Fox special-effects master Fred Sersen) and an oddly unsettling visit to "The Land of the Unborn". Rather heavy going for its intended family audience, The Blue Bird proved to be Shirley Temple's biggest flop, and a subsequent 1976 US-Soviet version starring Elizabeth Taylor fared no better at the box office. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Directed By
- Walter Lang
- Written By
- Ernest Pascal
- Genres
- Action & Adventure, Kids & Family, Classics, Science Fiction & Fantasy
G,
- In Theaters
- Jan 19, 1940 Wide
- Studio
- Twentieth Century Fox
Critic Reviews
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Renee Schonfeld, Common Sense Media
Shirley Temple fantasy has some scares, outdated ideas.
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Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com
Lavishly elaborate, but too leaden and allegorical for childre, this 1940 Fox fantasy was one of Shirley Temple's biggest commercial flops.
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Steve Crum, Video-Reviewmaster.com
Colorful, but failed attempt to emulate fantasy world of "Wizard of Oz," starring Shirley Temple.
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Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)
It's not at all a bad movie -- it's just not a lot of fun.
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Cast
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Shirley Temple
as Mytyl Tyl
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Spring Byington
as Mummy Tyl
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Nigel Bruce
as Mr. Luxury
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Gale Sondergaard
as Tylette
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Eddie Collins
as Tylo the dog
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Sybil Jason
as Angela Berligot
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Jessie Ralph
as Fairy Berylune
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Helen Ericson
as Light
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Johnny Russell
as Tyltyl Tyl
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Laura Hope Crewes
as Mrs. Luxury
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Russell Hicks
as Daddy Tyl
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Cecilia Loftus
as Granny Tyl
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Al Shean
as Grandpa Tyl
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Gene Reynolds
as Studious Boy
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Leona Roberts
as Mrs. Berlingot
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Stanley Andrews
as Wilhelm
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Dorothy Dearing
as Cypress
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Claire Du Brey
as Nurse
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Sterling Holloway
as Wild Plum
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Thurston Hall
as Father Time
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Edwin Maxwell
as Oak
- Scotty Beckett
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Edward Earle
as Maple Tree
- Diane Frances Fisher
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Brandon Hurst
as Footman
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Ann E. Todd
as Little Sister
- Laura Hope Crews
