Surprisingly incoherent and boring

It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

Shirley Temple is about as good as ever and there are some other nice acting performances but this is otherwise a second-rate film.It is obvious that 20th Century Fox was looking for their own Wizard of Oz but this movie lacks much of what made that classic what it was.This film is released one year after that breakthrough smash but was a flop.There are some nice special effects and the Technicolor is excellent but there is not enough substance here.The plot is largely too dark and doesn't fit well with Temple's persona.There are some brilliant cinematic setups, particularly one in the forest and another that is supposed to be a mix of heaven and a Greek temple that is reminiscent of the castle scene in The Thief of Baghdad (same year - 1940).This is one of the first films to feature Ann E. Todd, who is a scene stealer.Helen Ericson is lovely as literally the bright light.This is also Sybil Jason's last film. Some of her scenes were cut, reportedly at the urging of Temple's mother, so as not to overshadow the star. Jaosn was a great child actress and she steals the screen in her two scenes.This is worth seeing for film buffs but not for a date night.

Amid the competitiveness of classic era cinema, whenever one studio had a big success the others would inevitably roll out their copycats. These were invariably inferior knock-offs, but they often fared reasonably well because they cashed in on the popularity of whatever it was they were imitating. But imagine, if you will, a rip-off movie so appalling that it failed at the box office, even with the attachment of a popular star. Just such a thing is The Blue Bird. It's making was a particularly pertinent bit of point-making by 20th Century Fox, since its star Shirley Temple had lost out to Judy Garland for the lead role in The Wizard of Oz. However, the fantasy movie Fox gave to Temple got wrong everything The Wizard of Oz got right.The failure of The Blue Bird is usually blamed upon the fact that Temple plays a mean-spirited little girl, and it's true this is at least part of the problem. It's not that she isn't good at being the snooty brat – I can well imagine her being like that in real life – it's just that it's wrong for the movie. The story arc is all about Temple's moral development through her adventures, but she's so convincing as the little madam we have no starting point with which to sympathise with her. Ironically though it's the deliciously evil Gale Sondergaard who I find myself routing for, especially since the "good guys" in this movie are so flimsy (or in the case of Fairy Berylune, downright rude).But there are still deeper flaws running through The Blue Bird. Its joyless, po-faced moralism becomes tiresome incredibly quickly. Its fairytale concepts may be a little different but they don't really inspire much delight. Admittedly a little poignancy has been eked from the scene with children waiting to be born, but the concept of unborn babies being love-struck teenagers is a little too weird even for a fantasy movie. And plot-wise it doesn't really have much else to offer. There is a tacked-on "daddy going to war" subplot, very much a Shirley Temple staple, but it falls flat because unlike in The Little Princess an emotional bond between father and daughter is not established.And when one compares The Blue Bird to its predecessor The Wizard of Oz, its woeful banality reaches depressing proportions. Like The Wizard of Oz, it begins in monochrome and turns to colour, but as oppose to the unforgettable transition in Oz it's an almost arbitrary switch between two scenes. Essentially it steals the idea but has learnt none of the grace. And, for want of a better word, it's not movie-fied enough. A frumpy Jessie Ralph in her patchwork cloak is very much as the character might appear in a book of fairy tales, but The Blue Bird could benefit more from the glamour of Billie Burke and her sparkles. And Helen Ericson as "Light" is simply too bland to be a replacement. Also bland is the music, the special effects, the set design… I could go on, but there doesn't seem much point. The Blue Bird shows classic Hollywood at its least enchanting.

This is one movie I am surprised so many people have not seen. This is worth having in your collection, especially if you have kids. I remember this fondly as a child. The majority of the movie is part of the lead characters dream, but the wonderful adventure that she goes on to find the "blue bird" is enjoyable. What many today miss is the fact that the search for the blue bird is actually the search for happiness and/or hope which was needed so much during the time that it was made. Based on a play, this adaption brings up so many things young children start to ask about, life, death and what happens in between. Unlike the others movies that Shirley Temple has been in, this movie actually lets her play a character with more depth the the poor pretty princess.

I search the movie 'The Blue Bird' with 'Shirley Temple' because I want it to buy. Where can I buy this movie (DVD)? I want this movie in DVD where I can choice the language French. I waiting for your response. Please help me for found this movie if you not have this movie. If you have this movie send me a mail. I like this movie because this have play when I was a children and this is my favorite's movie to my children times. And I want this movie for my children's and children's to my sister and brother so their can see my favorites and children times movie and this is a very big souvenir for me (if I found this) and I hope that I found this.Thanks Petro Yaso