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The Blue Bird (1940 film)
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Wikipedia article
(foreground), Eddie Collins, and Shirley Temple in a publicity photo for the film
'The Blue Bird' is a 1940 American fantasy film directed by Walter Lang. The screenplay by Walter Bullock was adapted from the 1908 play of the same name by Maurice Maeterlinck. Intended as 20th Century Fox's answer to MGM's 'The Wizard of Oz', which had been released the previous year, it was filmed in Technicolor and tells the story of a disagreeable young girl (played by Shirley Temple) and her search for happiness.
Despite being a box office flop and losing money, the film was later nominated for two Academy Awards. It is available on both VHS and DVD.
Plot
The setting is Germany during the Napoleonic Wars. Mytyl, the bratty and ungrateful daughter of a wood cutter, finds a unique bird in the royal forest and selfishly refuses to give it to her sick friend Angela. Mother and Father are mortified at Mytyl's behavior. That evening, Father is called on to report for military duty the next morning.
Mytyl is visited in a dream by a fairy named Berylune who sends her and her brother Tyltyl to search for the Blue Bird of Happiness. To accompany them, the fairy magically transforms their dog Tylo, cat Tylette and lantern into human form. The children have a number of adventures: they visit the past (meeting their dead grandparents who come to life because they are being remembered), escape a scary fire in the forest (caused by Tylette's lies to the trees in a treacherous attempt to make the children quit their journey), experience the life of luxury and see the future, a land of yet-to-be born children.
Mytyl awakes as a kinder and gentler girl who has learned to appreciate her home and family. The following morning, Father receives word that a truce has been declared and he no longer must fight in the war. Mytyl is inspired to give the unique bird, now revealed to be the eponymous Blue Bird that she had sought throughout her journey, to Angela.
Cast
Opening credits
End credits
Four-year-old Caryll Ann Ekelund appears as an unborn child in the film. On Halloween 1939, Ekelund's costume caught fire from a lit jack-o-lantern. She died from her burns several days later and was buried in her costume from the film. Ekelund came from a showbusiness family; her older sister was actress Jana Lund.
The character played by Gene Reynolds is a yet-to-be-born Abraham Lincoln, indicated by Alfred Newman's theme from the previous year's 'Young Mr. Lincoln'.
Production
Despite a lingering myth that Shirley Temple was originally cast in 'The Wizard of Oz,' she had been only briefly considered because she was a proven box-office draw. Arthur Freed, an uncredited producer on 'The Wizard of Oz', wanted rising child star Judy Garland for the lead role. When producers listened to Temple's singing voice, they were unimpressed. Temple would not have been available in any event because Fox refused to loan her to other studios.
When 'The Wizard of Oz' became a success and shot Judy Garland to fame, Fox moved to create their own fantasy feature starring Temple and based on the 1909 fantasy play 'The Blue Bird' by Maurice Maeterlinck. Walt Disney had previously attempted to purchase the rights to the play to create an animated adaptation.
In imitation of 'The Wizard of Oz', the opening scenes are in black-and-white (though without a sepia tint), although the opening credits are in color. But unlike in 'The Wizard of Oz', when 'The Blue Bird' changes to full color, it remains as such for the remainder of the film.
Producer Darryl F. Zanuck changed the Tyltyl character (played by Johnny Russell) to be much younger than Temple's Mytyl character, as he felt that a boy of closer age would have to be mentally incompetent to allow a girl to take leadership away from him. Zanuck also dropped some of the characters in the original story such as Bread, Water, Fire, Milk, Sugar and Night, as he wanted the story to focus more on Temple as the star. He also wanted to cast Bobs Watson as Tytyl, Gene Lockhart as Daddy Tyl, Joan Davis as Tylette, Jessie Ralph as Mrs. Berlingot, Anita Louise as Light, Zeffie Tilbury as Granny, George Barbier as Grandpa, Andy Devine as Cold in Head and Berton Churchill as Time. During the writing of the screenplay, Temple's mother objected to her daughter's characterization as "too nice" and also raised concerns that the script did not focus enough on her. The tension came to a head when Zanuck threatened suspension, and after consulting with their lawyer, the Temples agreed to proceed with the film as planned.
It was shot on location in Lake Arrowhead, California with a $2 million budget, employing the Technicolor process.
Almost a month prior to its release, 'The Blue Bird' was dramatized as a half-hour radio play on the December 24, 1939 broadcast of CBS Radio's 'The Screen Guild Theater', starring Temple and Nelson Eddy. During the performance, as Temple was singing "Someday You'll Find Your Bluebird," a woman arose from her seat and brandished a handgun, pointing it directly at Temple. She froze just long enough for police to stop her. It was later discovered that the woman's daughter had died on the day she mistakenly believed Temple was born, and blamed Temple for stealing her daughter's soul. The woman did not know that Temple was born in 1928, not 1929.
Differences between film and play
The film, although following the basic plot of the play, greatly embellishes the story and does not contain the play's original dialogue. The opening black-and-white scenes and the war subplot were invented for the film. Mytyl's selfishness, the basic trait of her personality, is a plot thread specifically written into the motion picture that is not present in the original play.
The play begins with the children already asleep and the dream about to begin, and there is no depiction of the family's daily life as in the film.
Music
Alfred Newman's original score to 'The Blue Bird' was released in 2003 by Screen Archives Entertainment, Chelsea Rialto Studios, Film Score Monthly and Fox Music. The album contains the entire score as heard in the film in chronological order. It was produced using rare preservation copies of the original nitrate optical scoring sessions, which were digitally restored by Ray Faiola. The rare limited edition includes an illustrated 24-page color booklet with liner notes by film and music historians Jon Burlingame and Faiola, detailing the film's production and scoring.
'Track listing'
# Main Title - 1:17
# The Royal Forest - 3:19
# Selfish Mytyl/Come O Children One and All/Returning Home with the Bird - 7:32
# Awaking in Technicolor/Tylo and Tylette on Two Legs/Search for the Blue Bird - 10:04
# In the Graveyard - 3:44
# There Are No Dead People/Granny and Grandpa - 4:57
# Lay-De-O (sung by Shirley Temple) - 1:00
# Leaving Granny and Grandpa - 1:29
# The Land of Luxury - 4:44
# Carousel in the Foyer - 0:40
# Fighting Over the Horse - 1:13
# Fed Up with the Land of Luxury - 5:35
# Escape - 1:51
# Return to "Light" - 1:43
# Tylette Summons the Trees/Forest Fire - 8:09
# Boat to Safety/The Land of Unborn Children - 5:30
# Father Time/The Children are Born - 8:01
# Returning Home - 1:57
# Waking Up/Finale - 5:15
# End Cast - 0:58
'Total Time: 79:12'
"The Land of Unborn Children" includes a few bars from Newman's theme for the previous year's 'Young Mr. Lincoln', as the Studious Boy played by Gene Reynolds is a yet-to-be-born Abraham Lincoln.
Awards
The film was nominated in two categories at the 13th Academy Awards ceremony:
* Academy Award for Best Cinematography - (Arthur Miller, Ray Rennahan)
* Academy Award for Best Visual Effects - (Fred Sersen (photographic), Edmund H. Hansen (sound))
See also
* List of American films of 1940
* Shirley Temple filmography
* 'The Blue Bird' (1976), also released by 20th Century Fox
References
Bibliography
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