Blue Bird
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Movie Reviews of Blue Bird
Movie Review: Charming
Summary: 4 Stars
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.
Movie Review: Love it!
Summary: 5 Stars
I was counting the days for this movie to come out on DVD! I love it!Movie Review: The Wizard of Oz it's not.
Summary: 3 Stars
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.
Movie Review: Still Looking For Extras
Summary: 3 Stars
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").
Movie Review: The B/W Scenes Look Awful
Summary: 2 Stars
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.