There is one major liability childhood actors have: they grow up. Approaching adolescence, Shirley Temple was nearly twelve when she made January 1940's "The Blue Bird." Her devoted fans saw a change in their sweetheart, and they failed to embrace the movie, handing Shirley her first box office flop. The film led to a quick exit from her box-office reign, breaking a six-year top ten winning streak, four as number one.
Shirley Temple was one of several actresses considered for the role of Dorothy in 1939's "The Wizard of Oz," and was screen tested by singing. However, her voice didn't compare to front-runner Judy Garland's. The idea of Shirley starring in a child-fantasy movie like 'Oz' took hold with 20th Century Fox head Darryl Zanuck, who dug up a 1908 play "The Blue Bird" by Maurice Maeterlinck. He decided to pour $2 million into the production, quite a high budget in those days, figuring the movie would be a surefire hit. It wasn't.
Film critic J. P. Roscoe described "The Blue Bird" as having "all the pieces of a big and bold fantasy but seems to miss the target. It mostly feels like it tries too hard to be something that it isn't." Many have pointed to the personality of Shirley's character, Mytyl, the spoiled daughter of a wood cutter who doesn't appreciate her life in a small German village during the Napoleonic wars. She's haughty and petulant, something her fans never witnessed in Shirley before. Mytyl and her younger brother, Tyltyl (Johnny Russell), capture a blue bird and bring it home. Like "The Wizard of Oz," "The Blue Bird" was filmed in black and white prior to Mytyl's dream, then kicks into a Technicolor world once she's in slumberland. In the dream, the sister and brother set out to find the Blue Bird of Happiness which has flown away. They're accompanied by their family pet dog who has transformed into a human, Tylo (Eddie Collins), while Tylette (Gale Sondergaard), the house cat has turned into a woman. Sondergaard had been cast as the original Wicked Witch of the West in "The Wizard of Oz," with a look similar to the glamorous Evil Queen in 1937's 'Snow White.' But the film's producers had a change of opinion, feeling the bad witch should be ugly. Sondergaard refused to play the new look figuring it would be a career killer, and the witch went to character actress Margaret Hamilton instead.
Shirley's dream in "The Blue Bird" lead the four wanderers to the land of yet-to-be-born children. Throughout Mytyl's travels, the child eventually gains an appreciation to life. But both the movie public and critics disliked the fantasy film, with many in the press labeling it "The Dead Pigeon." Temple's previous film, 1939's "Susannah of the Mounties," was popular at the theaters, and made a profit, but not as large as her earlier films. Because Temple was in only two motion pictures in 1939, her first place mantle as the top box office actor ended. Compounding her turn of fortune was an occurrence the month before "The Blue Bird's" release. A deranged woman barged into the CBS radio studio where Shirley and actor Nelson Eddy were reading an adaptation of the film. She approached the pair with a loaded gun while Temple was singing 'Someday You'll Find Your Blue Bird." She aimed the gun at the child star before security guards stopped her. The would-be assassin believed that Shirley stole her late daughter's soul after she had died in 1929, the same day she thought Temple was born. Trouble was, the gun slinger got the year wrong: Shirley was born in 1928.
After "The Blue Bird," 20th Century Fox terminated Temple's contract. Technically, Shirley's final movie for the only studio she had ever worked for was August 1940's 'Young People,' where she made several brief appearances while stock footage was inserted showing her in her cutesy heyday. After that Shirley's private suite in the studio was disassembled and made into offices, leaving no trace of the actress who purportedly rescued Fox years before from insolvency.
Shirley Temple was one of several actresses considered for the role of Dorothy in 1939's "The Wizard of Oz," and was screen tested by singing. However, her voice didn't compare to front-runner Judy Garland's. The idea of Shirley starring in a child-fantasy movie like 'Oz' took hold with 20th Century Fox head Darryl Zanuck, who dug up a 1908 play "The Blue Bird" by Maurice Maeterlinck. He decided to pour $2 million into the production, quite a high budget in those days, figuring the movie would be a surefire hit. It wasn't.
Film critic J. P. Roscoe described "The Blue Bird" as having "all the pieces of a big and bold fantasy but seems to miss the target. It mostly feels like it tries too hard to be something that it isn't." Many have pointed to the personality of Shirley's character, Mytyl, the spoiled daughter of a wood cutter who doesn't appreciate her life in a small German village during the Napoleonic wars. She's haughty and petulant, something her fans never witnessed in Shirley before. Mytyl and her younger brother, Tyltyl (Johnny Russell), capture a blue bird and bring it home. Like "The Wizard of Oz," "The Blue Bird" was filmed in black and white prior to Mytyl's dream, then kicks into a Technicolor world once she's in slumberland. In the dream, the sister and brother set out to find the Blue Bird of Happiness which has flown away. They're accompanied by their family pet dog who has transformed into a human, Tylo (Eddie Collins), while Tylette (Gale Sondergaard), the house cat has turned into a woman. Sondergaard had been cast as the original Wicked Witch of the West in "The Wizard of Oz," with a look similar to the glamorous Evil Queen in 1937's 'Snow White.' But the film's producers had a change of opinion, feeling the bad witch should be ugly. Sondergaard refused to play the new look figuring it would be a career killer, and the witch went to character actress Margaret Hamilton instead.
Shirley's dream in "The Blue Bird" lead the four wanderers to the land of yet-to-be-born children. Throughout Mytyl's travels, the child eventually gains an appreciation to life. But both the movie public and critics disliked the fantasy film, with many in the press labeling it "The Dead Pigeon." Temple's previous film, 1939's "Susannah of the Mounties," was popular at the theaters, and made a profit, but not as large as her earlier films. Because Temple was in only two motion pictures in 1939, her first place mantle as the top box office actor ended. Compounding her turn of fortune was an occurrence the month before "The Blue Bird's" release. A deranged woman barged into the CBS radio studio where Shirley and actor Nelson Eddy were reading an adaptation of the film. She approached the pair with a loaded gun while Temple was singing 'Someday You'll Find Your Blue Bird." She aimed the gun at the child star before security guards stopped her. The would-be assassin believed that Shirley stole her late daughter's soul after she had died in 1929, the same day she thought Temple was born. Trouble was, the gun slinger got the year wrong: Shirley was born in 1928.
After "The Blue Bird," 20th Century Fox terminated Temple's contract. Technically, Shirley's final movie for the only studio she had ever worked for was August 1940's 'Young People,' where she made several brief appearances while stock footage was inserted showing her in her cutesy heyday. After that Shirley's private suite in the studio was disassembled and made into offices, leaving no trace of the actress who purportedly rescued Fox years before from insolvency.