Blue Bird
by Walter Lang
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Eddie Collins, Gale Sondergaard, Nigel Bruce, Shirley Temple, Spring ByingtonDirector: Walter Lang
Brand: TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; Spanish (Subtitled); French (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; Spanish (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Format: Color, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 83 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-03-27
Audience Rating: G (General Audience)
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Movie Reviews of Blue Bird
Movie Review: A Child's Bluebird of Happiness
Summary: 5 Stars
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.
Summary of Blue Bird
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.A poignant story of a selfish young German girl's search for happiness, Blue Bird is a classic Shirley Temple film with a storybook Hansel and Gretel feel. This restored and remastered 1940 film opens with a purposely grainy, black and white world that reinforces Mytyl's (Shirley Temple) ill-humored attitude toward life. Mytyl consistently complains about everything and fails to see that she and her family are really quite blessed until her father is summoned to war. A dramatic switch to Technicolor, now bright and clear thanks to restoration efforts, marks the fairy Berylone's (Jessie Ralph) nighttime appearance and the beginning of Mytyl's and her brother Tyltyl's (Johnny Russell) quest to find the blue bird of happiness. Lead by "Light" (Helen Ericson), the children and their faithful dog Tylo (Eddie Collins) and scheming cat Tylette (Gale Sondergaard) journey through the lands of the past, future, and luxury only to find a prevailing unhappiness. In the end, it's a journey of self-discovery that leads Mytyl to find true happiness in a most unexpected place. This film marks a departure from the typically sunny and cheerful characters played by Shirley Temple and was, in spite of its lavish scenery and nominations for Academy Awards in both cinematography and special effects, unsuccessful at the box office. (Ages 5 and older) --Tami Horiuchi
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