Hellen I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

KnotMissPriceless Why so much hype?

Glimmerubro It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

Philippa All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

MissSimonetta While The Blue Bird (1918) was critically lauded in its day, I feel it has not held up especially well, and even by the standards of 1910s cinema, it's much too obsessed with whimsical allegory at the expense of the story and characters.The special effects and costuming are top notch, but I just wish the filmmakers had better material to use it for. The plot is more obsessed with analyzing symbols and allegories, not that I have a problem with those devices, but if the story is not compelling, then it's all just a aesthetically pleasing bore. Fairy tales and such stories should not just spend their time explaining themselves to the audience; it's up to us to do the analysis.There are other positives, like the charming child leads, but once again, they aren't given good material to work with, and that's a shame given the talent involved with The Blue Bird.

kidboots Maurice Maeterlinck's play "The Blue Bird" was produced for the first time in America in October 1910 and was considered a success. If Maurice Tourneur's film productions of both "The Blue Bird" and "Prunella" had met with the success they deserved, they may have paved the way in the twenties for a fantasy film genre instead of the over population of sheiks and flappers!! Most critics were abundant in their praise - "The Moving Picture World" saw in it "the simplicity of childhood and the wisdom of deep and kindly philosophy", Photoplay also praised it as "one of the most important productions ever made" but unfortunately Motion Picture Magazine spoke for the philistine portion of the public when it said "Seven reels of children and trailing through fairy places with bread, water, light and fire is frankly tedious on the screen". The production values were moral and allegorical as well as beautifully pictorial and those of the public that rejected it were all the worse for it.When Mytyl refuses to give her little bird to the sickly child across the way she and brother Tyltyl are visited by a strange old fairy who sends them on a journey of self discovery and to seek the true meaning of happiness. They first meet the spirit of water and fire that their mother had told them about (and they had scoffed at her), their dog and cat then begin to converse with them and tell them all the stories they could only bark and miaow out before.The special effects performed by Ben Carre who was closely associated with Maurice Tourneur, are extraordinary. The children are magically dressed, spilt milk turns into a lovely maid and the fairy of light finally whisks them all to the Fairy Palace, flying high above the roof tops. However Fairy Berylune, who first came to the children has said that whoever finishes the journey with the children shall die - so the cat leads the party who will try to stop the children finding the blue bird. Only the faithful little dog promises to protect them. The Underground Palace of Night - Mother Night has two children, Sleep and Death (probably a bit heavy going for children in the audience) and Mytyl and Tyltyl also find ghosts, sickness, War and terrors behind heavy wooden doors - but no blue birds. They visit the graveyard where the "happy dead sleep" but at a turn of TylTyl's diamond it becomes a beautiful flower land. They finally find the blue bird at their grandparent's little house where they also visit their little brothers and sisters who died in infancy. Unfortunately, when they leave, the blue bird flies away. On to the Palace of Happiness where luxury and riches abound, then there is also the "Happiness of the Home", "Joy of Pure Thoughts" and "Springtime". Another amazing sequence was in the land of children waiting to be born. A ship was waiting to take all the little children to their waiting mother's arms.Enchanting Tula Belle was born in Norway and was just wonderful as Mytyl, a real child if ever there was one. Unlike the two other youngsters in "The Blue Bird" , Robin MacDougall and Katharine Bianchi, she did have a reasonable career as a child actress before retiring in 1920.Highly, Highly Recommended.

FerdinandVonGalitzien As it is well-known among silent film connoisseurs, the fine Arts were an essential influence on silent films in general and Herr Maurice Tourneur's work in particular. His beautiful oeuvres gave him fame and prestige around the world from his French period in the mid 10's to his career in the USA."The Blue Bird" (1918) tells the story of two poor children, Mytyl and Tyltyl, who are led by the fairy Berylune in the search, around a fantastic world, for the blue bird of happiness. The film belongs to Herr Tourneur's American silent film period, and in this movie it is possible to watch all his artistic virtues in full display. This early astounding production is striking even today for its great artistic merits. The film was based on a book written by the Belgian poet Herr Maurice Maeterlinck and maybe Herr Tourneur during his young days could have illustrated it due to his earlier career as a book illustrator or… MEIN GOTT!!! Perhaps he even read it! In any case, Herr Tourneur adapted and transferred the fairy tale story to the silent screen in a superb way.The film exudes classicism and even romanticism, artistic subjects that Herr Tourneur know very well how to employ in the world of fantasy. There is amazing art direction, elaborate decors and costumes and witty technical effects, not to mention the inventiveness that can be seen in every shot of the film and in the beautiful, exemplary photography of Herr John van den Broek and Lucien Andriot that captures the atmosphere of the classical fairy books through a cinema lens in a masterly way.Probably the story can be considered as affected, even innocent in this modern time but even that has a special value in artistic terms for this film; that baroque taste and out of date atmosphere fit perfectly in the story that moves from the real to the dream world, from the real to the unreal. Herr Tourneur's interpretation of this fantastic universe is a prodigious work, imaginative and inventive and shining with brilliant artistic merits.And now, if you'll allow me, I must temporarily take my leave because this German Count must listen to the gracious caw of the Schloss crows.Herr Graf Ferdinand Von Galitzien http://ferdinandvongalitzien.blogspot.com/

David Atfield Maurice Maeterlinck's wonderful play is transformed into a magical film by Maurice Tourneur, one of the masters of early cinema. Maeterlick's belief, that beauty is to be found in all things, is here given life in a film that works for adults and children.The visuals are splendid, and the effects gorgeous (reminiscent of Melies in some scenes and German expressionism in others). And the two little children give excellent performances.The Grapevine Video print is very good, but it does have some nitrate decomposition, which is very sad. I hope there is a pristine print of this masterpiece in an Archive somewhere - it deserves preservation.It will remind you of the 1939 "Wizard of Oz", especially in costume and sentiment, but pre-dates it by over 20 years. An unmissable silent gem.