“The Blue Bird” is a fantasy movie where Shirley Temple plays a cheerless girl on a search for the Blue Bird of Happiness. Director Walter Lang (“The Little Princess” 1939) put together a motion picture with colorful sets and beautiful filming in Technicolor, which earned two Oscar nominations: Best Visual Effects and Best Cinematography (Arthur Miller, Ray Rennahan). However, the screenplay by Walter Bullock is dull and monotonous and seems outdated, even for 1940, as it was based on the 1908 stage play of the same name by Maurice Maeterlinck.
Shirley Temple is the undisputed star of the show. She does her usual thing with her patented talent, charisma, and persona, this time as a “naughty” girl. The supporting cast includes Spring Byington, Nigel Bruce, Gale Sondergaard, Laura Hope Crews, Johnny Russell, Eddie Collins, and Sterling Holloway as the Wild Plum. The film was intended as Fox’s answer to MGM’s “The Wizard of Oz” (1939). However, despite receiving top-rate production efforts, “The Blue Bird” was a flop at the box office for 20th Century Fox.
The Blue Bird (1940)
cinema
My Review
“The Blue Bird” is a fantasy movie where Shirley Temple plays a cheerless girl on a search for the Blue Bird of Happiness. Director Walter Lang (“The Little Princess” 1939) put together a motion picture with colorful sets and beautiful filming in Technicolor, which earned two Oscar nominations: Best Visual Effects and Best Cinematography (Arthur Miller, Ray Rennahan). However, the screenplay by Walter Bullock is dull and monotonous and seems outdated, even for 1940, as it was based on the 1908 stage play of the same name by Maurice Maeterlinck.
Shirley Temple is the undisputed star of the show. She does her usual thing with her patented talent, charisma, and persona, this time as a “naughty” girl. The supporting cast includes Spring Byington, Nigel Bruce, Gale Sondergaard, Laura Hope Crews, Johnny Russell, Eddie Collins, and Sterling Holloway as the Wild Plum. The film was intended as Fox’s answer to MGM’s “The Wizard of Oz” (1939). However, despite receiving top-rate production efforts, “The Blue Bird” was a flop at the box office for 20th Century Fox.