The Blue Bird (1976 film)

The Blue Bird is a 1976 AmericanSoviet fantasy film directed by George Cukor. The screenplay by Hugh Whitemore, Alfred Hayes, and Aleksei Kapler is based on LOiseau bleu by Maurice Maeterlinck. It was the fifth screen adaptation of the play, following two silent films, the studios 1940 version starring Shirley Temple, and a 1970 animated feature. Unlike prior adaptations, the film received littletono critical praise and was a flop at the box office.

The film was shot on location in Moscow and Leningrad. Katharine Hepburn and Shirley MacLaine initially were signed to star, but both dropped out of the production before shooting began. At times both work and living conditions bordered on the primitive, and the nonRussian cast found it difficult to cope with the severe weather and mostly inedible food. citation needed James Coco, originally cast as Tylo, could digest only bread and butter and eventually suffered a gall bladder attack that necessitated his being replaced, and Elizabeth Taylor dealt with dysentery and dehydration throughout filming. Communication between the English and Russianspeaking crews was nearly impossible, and George Cukor frequently resorted to sign language in a feeble effort to make himself understood. He also encountered difficulties with Jane Fonda, who kept trying to engage the Russians in political discussions, and Cicely Tyson, whom he accused of trying to jinx the production by casting voodoo spells on the set.Vincent Canby of the New York Times described the movie as two films that want to compete but dont, everyone being polite, accepting compromise, effectively neutered. One of these films is blandly American, like the sort of processed cheese sold in jars that can later be used as water glasses. The other is dimly Russian but without any real Russian character, except for the sets, which arent great. They look like stuff left over from the Bolshoi Operas last road tour ... Spectacle for spectacles sake no longer is the rage in this country. It can still work sometimes if its put on a large patch of ice, but the romantic notions that motivate The Blue Bird are enough to send most American children, to say nothing of the ancients who may accompany them to the film, into antisocial states beginning with catatonia and ending in armed rebellion ... Mr. Cukor ... seems to have had less chance to direct in this case than to act as the goodwill ambassador who got his actors on and o

Source: Wikipedia