Silent Film of the Month: The Blue Bird (1918)

 

Run Time: 70 minutes. Studio:  Paramount. Director: Maurice Tourneur. Writer: Charles Maigne. Adapted from a play written by  Maurice Maeterlinck. Producer: Adolph Zukor. Main Cast: Tula Belle, Robin Macdougall, Lillian Cook, Gertrude McCoy, Charles Ascot,Tom Corless, Mary Kennedy, Charles Craig, Sammy Blum, S.E. Potapovitch  Cinematographer: John van den Broek            


The silent film of this month is a fantastic fantasy from 1918 called The Blue Bird. The Blue Bird was directed by Maurice Tourneur. Maurice Tourneur began his career in France in 1911. There he worked first as an assistant director and eventually moved up to be a director himself with films like Jean la Poudre. In 1914 he moved to America where he would direct many great films including the one I'm writing about today, The Poor Little Rich Girl, and The Last of the Mohicans . After some trouble with MGM in 1928, he would move back to France and direct more films over there and in Germany such as The Crew, The Ship of Lost Men, and Dilemma of Two Angels. Despite the many types of films Maurice Tourneur directed, he always had a taste for the fantastic, which of course works perfectly in this fairy tale film. Maurice Tourneur's son,  Jacques Touneur would later become a Hollywood director and direct such films as Cat People, Out of the Past, and I Walked with a Zombie.

 Tula Belle the main child actress in this picture, had a very short career as a child actress appearing in films from 1915 to 1920. Some of these films inculde George Foster Platt's Deliverance, and Charles Miller's At the Mercy of Men. Later in 1918, the same year The Blue Bird was released. she would appear in A Doll's House, which is another film directed by Maurice Tourner. She was also the sister of another child actress named Ebba Mona, who appeared in Henry Otto's The Temple of Venus and Edmund Mortimer's The Wolf Man, those are the only 2 films Ebba Mona was in. The main child actor of the film was Robin Macdougall, and this appears to be the only film he was in. The Blue Bird was also the last film appearance of Lillian Cook. Though she was talented actress Lillian Cook's career never really took off. Her first film appearance was actually in a 1914 short film directed by Maurice Tourneur, entitled Mother. For much of her filmography she played supporting and minor roles, though occasionally she would get the lead such as in Robert Thornby's A Woman's Power.

 This film was made in Fort Lee, New Jersey. Before Hollywood Fort Lee was the movie making capital of the United States,  Though around this time period studios were already moving to Hollywood, there were still quite a few films being made in Fort Lee including this one.

In this film two kids, Mytyl (played by Tulla Belle), and Tyltyl (played by Robin Macdougall) are sent on a mission by the magical fairy Berylune (played by Lillian Cook)  to find the blue bird of happiness. Berylune gives them a magic hat that allows them to see the spirits that live inside their house.  They are joined by the spirits of Light (played by Gertrude McCoy), Fire (played by S.E. Potapovitch), Water (played by Mary Kennedy), Milk (played by Eleanor Masters), Sugar (played by Charles Craig) and their own cat (played by Tom Corless) and dog (played by Charles Ascot). On their journey the kids visit various places including, the land of the dead, the land of the unborn, the palace of night, and the palace of happiness.

The Blue Bird is one of the greatest fantasy films ever made. It is very beautiful, absorbing, and charming. The whole film has a strong sense of magic and wonder from beginning to end.

Very important to the artistic success of this film is the work of production designer Ben Carré. Ben Carré has worked as a production designer and/or art director on many other great films such as Rupert Julian's The Phantom of the Opera, Rex Ingram's Mare Nostrum, Alan Crosland's Old San Francisco, and A Night at the Opera (with the Marx Brothers). He also worked with Maurice Tourneur on such films as The Poor Little Rich Girl, The Last of the Mohicans, and A Doll's House. The worlds he helps create here are amazingly detailed and downright breathtaking.

This film received great reviews from critics. However it was not a hit at the box office. Some film historians and critics believe that this film had a big influence on German Expressionist films.

This wasn't the only time this story was adapted for the screen. In 1940 another film version would be released under the same name, directed by Walter Lang and starring Shirley Temple. However this 1918 film is considered the best film adaption of the source material.

-Michael J. Ruhland    

Resourses Used
http://www.jbkaufman.com/movie-of-the-month/blue-bird-1918
http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/453452%7C453523/The-Blue-Bird.html
http://www.silentfilm.org/archive/the-blue-bird