The Blue Bird (1976)

A pair of peasant children, Mytyl and her brother Tyltyl, are led on a magical quest for the fabulous Blue Bird of Happiness by the Fairy Berylune. On their journey, they are accompanied by... See full summary »

Director:

George Cukor

Writers:

Maurice Maeterlinck (play), Hugh Whitemore (screenplay)

Stars:

Elizabeth Taylor, Jane Fonda, Cicely Tyson

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Elizabeth Taylor	...	Mother / Witch / Light / Maternal Love
Jane Fonda	...	The Night
Cicely Tyson	...	Tylette
Ava Gardner	...	Luxury
Todd Lookinland	...	Tyltyl
Patsy Kensit	...	Mytyl
Will Geer	...	Grandfather
Mona Washbourne	...	Grandmother
Robert Morley	...	Father Time
Harry Andrews	...	Oak
George Cole	...	Tylo
Richard Pearson	...	Bread
Steven Warner	...	Children of the Future
Monique Potter	...	Children of the Future (as Monique Kaufman)
Russell Lewis	...	Children of the Future

Storyline

A pair of peasant children, Mytyl and her brother Tyltyl, are led on a magical quest for the fabulous Blue Bird of Happiness by the Fairy Berylune. On their journey, they are accompanied by the humanized presences of a Dog, a Cat, Light, Fire, Bread, and other entities.

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Plot Keywords:

blue bird of happiness | children | bird | journey | dog | 

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Taglines:

A cavalcade of magic. A carnival of fun. The Blue Bird is magic for everyone.

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Family | Fantasy | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

G

Details

Country:

USA Soviet Union

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 April 1976 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Blue Bird

Filming Locations:

Lenfilm Studios, Kamennoostrovsky Prospekt, Petrogradsky District, St. Petersburg, Russia

Box Office

Budget:

$12,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$887,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox,Lenfilm Studio,Edward Lewis Productions

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Valentina Ganibalova was featuring in the ballet "Don Quixote" at the Kirov Theater during filming and had to rush to the theater many evenings once the day's filming wrapped at Lenfilm. Co-star Elizabeth Taylor came to one of her performances.

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Quotes

Tylette: I love you both as much as you deserve.

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Connections

Referenced in Un genio en apuros (1983)

User Reviews

Not Very Good but It's Certainly Weird

The Blue Bird (1976)

** (out of 4)

George Cukor directed this USSR/USA co-production of the classic story about two children who set out to find the Blue Bird of Happiness. The all-star cast includes Elizabeth Taylor in four roles including the Mother, Witch and Queen of Light, Jane Fonda as The Night, Cicely Tyson as Tylette and Ava Gardner as Luxery. THE BLUE BIRD has been filmed countless times over the years and this one here has the reputation as being one of the worst. It's strange to see all the talent that is wasted here but at the same time I think fans of the weird and surreal will probably want to check this out and they might get a few kicks out of it. This version here is completely weird from the opening scene to the last but I think this here is what keeps it entertaining. For the most part the performances range from poor to average but with a cast like this you expect much better. Taylor seems out of place in all four of her roles but I will admit that I got a kick out of her playing the witch. Fonda seems like she's caught up in a bad dream as she never feels in place. Gardner is wasted in her small role as is Robert Morley. Poor Tyson comes off the worst with a rather embarrassing performance. I'd say that the majority of the visuals are quite nice and we're given some good cinematography but all of this is pretty much wasted since the story never fully takes off. The dance sequences really don't add anything either and in the end this here is just a strange mix of fantasy and drama.