Films I would remake: The Blue Bird

The Blue Bird just proves in Hollywood there is no such thing as a sure thing.  This was the film that insiders thought was better than a little film called The Wizard of Oz.  Oops.  In fact, the Blue Bird (starring Shirley Temple) turned out to be pretty bad.  But I don't think it can't be saved, although the one attempt to remake it (a russian/us co-production) turned out even worse.

The story stars Shirley as Mytel who is a spoiled bitch/brat (bratch?), and that is the first problem right there.  No one has accused Shirley of great acting but her bitchiness here is oscar worthy.  It takes so long to get our sympathy back that it truly harms the film.  She is saddled with a non entity of a brother and poor parents and wishes for better.  That night the witch/fairy comes to her house and charges Shirley with the quest to find the blue bird.  She is saddled with her useless brother, and the changed to human forms of her pet cat and evil pet cat.

As you can tell I think that the first two things should be done is to make the lead role less bitchy and to probably ditch the brother, or for God's sake make him interesting in some way.  The witch also gives them "Light" to be their guide.  Light isn't an interesting character but she is beautiful.  More could be done here as well.  With the help of Light our gang travel to many mystical places.  The first is the past which the arrive at through a graveyard. It's an early test of courage.

The past is very interesting and a saving grace of the film.  Though the idea is under presented it seems to be a model of heaven and hell.  Those in the past (the dead) only are aware when people are thinking of them.  The children think of their loving grandparents and there they are alive again in an idealized version of their cottage.  It's obvious with a little thought that bad people are going to be remembered too, but not a lovely cottage.  So, one can infer that heaven and hell exist as a judgement/popularity contest where eventually everyone fades off into the eternal sleep of the forgotten past.  This idea could certainly be fleshed out in very interesting ways.

They then travel to the land of luxury where the film is most ham handed in its morality.  It also oddly enough doesn't do enough to give the fabulous proportions that the land of luxury should have.  Probably a matter of budget but it just seemed that they had 10 times more actors being trees later on than say being an army of servants.   After more pouting they escape from luxury which still doesn't endear us to Shirely.

We then have the bit with storm in the forest.  Now I'm not expecting CGI or anything but the special effects here were embarrassing for the time and specially for a major picture.  No one seem to know how to put together a simple matte shot here.  It just hurts to watch.  Worse the scene is episodic and the only interesting thing about it is that the wicked cat lady dies.  Why was she wicked?  Well she was cat.  Ah.

Finally we get to the future. Like the past this is the interesting part of the film.  It looks like heaven but it isn't.  It is filled with girls and boys who haven't been born yet.  They play together as they wait for their big day, and while most are happy some aren't.  Shirely meets her future little sister and finds out they won't know her long. ("I'll tell mother about you," she says but I hope she omits that she'll die early, that sort of information is never appreciated.)  Others are sad that they we be torn apart from each other as each are born in different times.  Others are sad because the earth they are going to is a sad place.  It's a sobering and thoughtful part of the film.

And then, the end.  Everyone is happy.  Wha?

Ok, so what we need here is a complete rewrite.  Tighten up the characters.  Make the main character less of a knob.  Develop the good ideas better and tie the whole thing better.  Maybe add a bit more action as there are only two action beats and both are in the middle of the picture.  So that's my proposal.