History of “The Blue Bird"

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21187, 9 August 1940, Page 8

History of “The Blue Bird "

Exactly thirty years after the American stage premiere of Maurice Maeterlinck’s “The Blue Bird,” 20th Century-Fox filmed the last shot of its magnificent screen version of the immortal story, in glorious technicolour, with a brilliant cast headed by a score of Hollywood favourites.

“The Blue Bird” made its debut in New York City in 1910. For its author it meant world-wide acclaim —for he had given the world what has been called the most beautiful and human story ever told. The original presentation of the play in America, in Moscow and at the Haymarket Theatre in London, contained everything lavish in the realm of production values, from elaborate ballet interludes to a full score by Humperdinck. But the motion picture version, filmed in the new technicolour, not only had an overwhelming advantage in technical aspects, such as were presented by the “cat” and “dog,” the trees that come alive and the scenes depicting the Flaming Forest; the Land of the Past, showing where the loved ones live again; the Land of the Future, showing the “children yet to be”; the Hurricane; the Palace floating in mid-air and the Mystic Lakes, but it is said that it also exceeds all previous productions from the standpoint of charm and faithful adherence to the essential elements of the story. The beloved role of Mytyl provides Shirley Temple with the greatest opportunity of her career. Maeterlinck himself expressed his pleasure with her selection by writing: “Shirley, you are the one person in the whole world I myself would have chosen for the role of Mytyl in ‘The Blue Bird.’ ” Maeterlinck got his idea for the play from the folk-lore of Lorraine. Though originally written in French, the play was first produced by Stanislavsky in Russian at the Moscow Art Theatre in 1908. It has since been translated into 32 languages and presented on the stage of 45 nations. It was first presented in English at the Haymarket Theatre in London in 1909. The role of Mytyl has been portrayed by countless actresses throughout the years, but it remained for Shirley Temple to completely bring to life Maeterlinck’s own conception of his creation.