THE BLUE BIRD (20th Century-Fox 1940) Fox Home Video

The last movie Shirley Temple made for her alma mater, 2oth Century-Fox was also her worst: Darryl F. Zanuck’s personally supervised The Blue Bird (1940); an amateurish attempt to recapture and bottle the fantasy magic of MGM’s The Wizard of Oz (1939). Two years earlier, Temple had been at the height of her popularity as the curly-haired moppet on the cusp of winning the coveted part of Dorothy Gale before L.B. Mayer finally decided to take a chance on his home-grown Judy Garland instead. Garland’s gain/Temple’s loss. But now, Zanuck had inexplicably tired of his #1 box office draw. Indeed, Temple, who had kept the studio afloat, and, in the black throughout the Great Depression, was growing up – fast! And Zanuck, savvy to the notion child stars rarely evolve gracefully into adult stardom, was ready to pack in the towel before Temple actually past her prime. As such, The Blue Bird was ill-conceived as a last-ditch lavish send-off; a movie to outlast the ages – those ages being, between 5 and 10. For there was nothing even remotely enjoyable about The Blue Bird, starting with its pint-sized heroine; a rather disagreeable sort, selfishly on a quest for her own happiness. The screenplay by Walter Bullock was adapted from Maurice Maeterlinck’s 1908 play. This, had been popular. Stubbornly, the movie version failed to recapture the stagecraft’s ethereal quality. As such, in almost every way, and even despite its homage to Oz’s transformation from B&W into Technicolor, to augment its fantasy elements, The Blue Bird  emerged as a wholly inferior and deadly dull experience. Only part of its gargantuan misfire could be blamed on hokey production values and shoddy special effects.

The lion’s share of its poor performance at the box office was owed Shirley Temple, whose complete lack of grasp on the role of the quest-driven Mytl sank the picture almost from the outset. Well past her prime as Fox’s precocious princess, Temple’s awkward stab as a wide-eyed child of 7 - at age 12 - fumbled the angelic pixie dust to have made her impossibly lovable throughout the 1930’s. Temple is already well into her pre-teen body proportions here. If only the movie had made concessions for this, as Oz accepted Judy Garland as a teenage, Dorothy Gale far more mature than the one depicted in illustrations in Frank L. Baum’s beloved children’s books, The Blue Bird still might have come off. If made 3-5 years earlier, Temple could have undoubtedly still gone on the same - arguably, still in her prime. But Temple at age 12 is miscast as Mytl, a Germanic knockoff of Gretel (of Hansel and Gretel fame), whose father, Tyl (Russel Hicks) is slated to go off to war. Heart-sore and befuddled, Mytl falls asleep and has one whopper of a dream about the blue bird of happiness – a mythical creature to have escaped her discovery thus far. The good fairy, Berylune (the wholly ineffectual, Jessie Ralph), instructs Mytl to search for the blue bird with her brother, (Johnny Russell), her dog and cat, whom Berylune has transformed into faithful human servants, Tylo (Eddie Collins) and Tylette (Gale Sondergaard). But Tylette is mischievous and nearly gets everyone killed during a raging forest fire.

From here, the narrative only gets creepier by the minute. Mytl and her accompanying adventurers are made to visit the past where they converse with their long-deceased grandparents, miraculously willed back to life by their own remembrances. Afterward, Mytl has a harrowing adventure in the forest, is introduced to a luxuriant lifestyle, and, is afforded a rare glimpse into the future – entering a land of as yet-to-be born children, awaiting their calling from the planet earth. From these experiences, Mytl awakens with humility and kindness as her compatriots; a girl matured and now able to recognize the comfort and joys of her home life and family. By dawn’s early light, Father receives word that a truce has been called. He has been spared going off to war.  Mytl is inspired to give the titular Blue Bird, sought after, though never discovered in her dream, to Angela (Sybil Jason), who, arguably, needs its guidance more now.  The Blue Bird is a mess. Ernest Pascal's screenplay is episodic at best. The garish sequence in which Mytl journeys to heaven and meets boys and girls who have yet to be born – some eagerly awaiting the hour of their birth, others utterly depressed by the prospect of having to leave their perfect world for earth - neither hinges on the scene that immediately preceded it, nor cohesively leads us into the movie’s dénouement. More nightmare than daydream, The Blue Bird suspended its fantasy in a broth of mixed messages and muddled outings, neither sustaining teachable moments nor involved as pure escapist entertainment. Zanuck’s initial faith in Temple, in mounting this super production, rather confirmed his worst nightmare about her future at the studio. It was unofficially over. Best to move on and find other streams of revenue. The movie’s colossal belly-flop at the box office sent Temple packing from Fox in a hurry. In retrospect, it remains an affected tacky, and rather shameless attempt to capitalize on the success of MGM’s The Wizard of Oz.

Fox’s DVD is below par. The Technicolor is quite unstable with fluctuating hues, overly orange or pink flesh tones, some mis-registration problems and a barrage of age-related artifacts, made more obvious during matte process/effects photography. Fine details are lost in a softly focused image. Contrast is anemic at best. The audio has been re-channeled to stereo surround. Mercifully, the original mono is also included. There are NO Extras! Bottom line: The Blue Bird is a bust; a badly bungled travesty for which not even Technicolor, Temple or Zanuck could salvage the results. Pass, and be very glad that you did!

FILM RATING (out of 5 - 5 being the best)

1

VIDEO/AUDIO

2.5

EXTRAS

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