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Blue Bird
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Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
Find all by 20th Century Fox
Directed By: Walter Lang
Audience Rating: G (General Audience)
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Theatrical Release: January 19, 1940
Average Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars
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Retail Price: $14.98
Online Sale Price: $13.49
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Starring: Shirley Temple, Spring Byington, Nigel Bruce, Gale Sondergaard, Eddie Collins
Visually beautiful, full of imaginative sets, and splendidly photographed in rich Technicolor, this enchanting fantasy was Twentieth Century Fox's answer to "The Wizard of Oz". In a rare departure from her usual screen persona, Shirley plays a selfish, spoiled little girl named Mytyl, who doesn't appreciate her loving family. Only after a good fairy sends her and her brother (Johnny Russell) on a journey to find "the bird that means happiness" does she end up discovering happiness right in her own home.
User Submitted Blue Bird Reviews
July 3, 2008
A Child's Bluebird of Happiness
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.
May 27, 2008
pure and simple story
My grandchildren ( ages 7 and 4) love this movie. They have found a new friend in Shirley Temple and have totally embraced the moral of the story. They understand and explain it to me. My daughter, their mother, remembers it from her childhood and has said she is going to sit down with them for one of their multiple viewings. So glad to find a story that is really pure and simple.
January 8, 2008
shirley Temples Blue Bird
Very disappointed. This is one of the worst Shirley Temple movies I have ever owned. Should be priced in the $1.99 movie section - a BIG yawner.
November 11, 2007
HORRIBLE MOVIE,,,Be warned
I don't think I have ever seen such a tacky, low budget offering in my life. This movie had a confusing, boring storyline, phoney looking settings...and here's the kicker...there is no real Bluebird in the whole thing. The packaging tricks you. Obviously they graphically inserted a real Bluebird in Shirley Temple's hand for the DVD. And,the Bluebird is only seen briefly in the very end. Sadly, this was made back before animals were treated humanely by Hollywood. It looks as if they spray-painted the poor bird blue. He doesn't look too healthy to me. (I don't know if you're aware of it, but for example, Tarzan really did kill the lion in the old Tarzan movie.) I imagine this bird didn't live long after that scene. I bought this movie for my Granddaughter, because she loves The Wizard of Oz,,,but to mention W of Oz in the same sentence with this movie is an abomination. Save your money.
August 23, 2007
Early Color Classic
Our grandchildren fell in love with Shirly Temple the way we did 70 years ago... Beautiful movie - be sure to watch it with the kids.
June 12, 2007
Charming
I had only seen this movie twice - both times in my childhood - but it stayed vividly in my memory over the years. It made a huge impression on me. I enjoyed watching it again last night after all this time, and it was as wonderful as I remembered.
A shock at first to see delightful Shirley Temple playing a spoiled brat, in time I began to feel that she enjoyed the different role and embraced the chance to play a character so different from any in her earlier works. The movie is beautifully filmed and in gorgeous colour.
The story is the usual moral fare for the period - an ungrateful child learns to appreciate the life she has after she sees life from the other side of the fence. Not a sophisticated tale by any means, but one that still left an impression on this reviewer when she was a child.
I don't think I could recommend it to adults who enjoy contemporary movies as it lacks so much when put beside the modern cinematic fare, but for those who enjoyed it as a child or who enjoy other movies of the time, it's a sweet piece of nostalgia that is well worth a look.
May 22, 2007
Love it!
I was counting the days for this movie to come out on DVD! I love it!
May 12, 2007
The Wizard of Oz it's not.
MGM and 20th Century Fox battled nastily over the rights to the Wizard of Oz for over a decade. When MGM won, they wanted to "borrow" Shirley Temple from Fox to play Dorothy. A bitter Fox refused and decided to counter with "The Bluebird". Eddie Collins, Fox's staple comedian, played Temple's dog, Tylo. Had Fox won the rights to "Wizard of Oz", he probably would have been the cowardly lion. So instead of Bert Lahr fame, he became an little known actor that only great nephews like me remember.
It was one of his last films before he died. In 1944, while in the middle of his first lead role, he died suddenly of a heart attack. The film was canned and had to be refilmed giving a young actor his big break. His name was Danny Kaye.
March 29, 2007
Still Looking For Extras
I have to agree with another reviewer that the Technicolor portions of this transfer look great, but the BW opening is fairly poor. I am also surprised that they didn't even bother to tint it to its original sepia color. And lastly, although I am glad that Fox is releasing these movies on DVD, would it really cost them that much more to put some REAL extras on these? It would open them up to a much wider market and boost sales. This series is a vast improvement over the first DVD releases Fox did a few years back, but there is still ample room for improvement for the girl who saved the studio 70 years ago. For those not familiar with the story, Shirley plays against type as the bratty Mytyl, daughter of a poor but hardworking woodcutter. After one of her outbursts about not having enough luxuries, her father is unexpectedly called to war and must leave in the morning. She apologizes to her mother at bedtime, but her mother finds little contentment in Mytyl's empty apology. After she falls asleep, Mytyl and her brother, Tyltyl, are summoned by the Fairy Berylune to find the Blue Bird of Happiness (this is where the film changes from black & white to glorious technicolor). Mytyl & Tyltyl visit the land of the dead, the land of luxury, and the land of the future, in addition to encountering a scary forest fire.
The film was Shirley's first big flop (her previous film, "Susannah of the Mounties" already showed a slip in attendance), which was made worse by the fact that "The Blue Bird" had a larger than normal budget for a Temple film. It failed for many reasons; Shirley's faithful audience did not want to see her as a brat, and this film was unfairly compared to "The Wizard of Oz." "The Blue Bird" was much heavier in tone and even a little creepy at times--especially the visit to the land of the dead/past. However, when watched today, it can be appreciated on its own. It does seem a little sluggish at times, which can be blamed on the director, Walter Lang, who should have used a tighter pacing. Often it seems like a filmed stage play, rather than a motion picture. The special effects are fantastic, Shirley's performance is wonderful, and the sets are nothing less than lavish and arty--a true feast for the eyes. It is a little too mature for children, and a little too simple for adults; it falls somewhere in between. Ironically, Gale Sondergaard, who plays the evil villainess of the piece, was offered the role of the Wicked Witch in "The Wizard of Oz," but turned it down when she discovered that she would have to play it as an ugly hag, and not a glamorous witch (like the Queen from "Snow White").
March 29, 2007
The B/W Scenes Look Awful
Remastered and restored, really? From bad VHS copies, I'm guessing. While the color portion of the movie looks okay, the black and white portion at the beginning is downright awful. Whoever "restored" this film ought to be fired if they haven't been already. We have waited years for this to be realeased on DVD and they offer us this low-quality garbage. The studio should be ashamed.
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