"The Blue Bird" (movie) - Aoitori

...Her starring films, of which she was made two to four a year, always included singing and dancing scenes, but the most famous are her tap dancing scenes with the black dancer Bill Robinson (nicknamed Bojangles), with whom she formed a pair in four films, including "The Little Brigade Commander" (1935) and "Temple Patriots" (1936), especially her use of staircases. In an attempt to prolong his popularity, the government tried to strengthen his work by hiring first-class directors such as John Ford for The War Cop (1937) and Allan Dwan for The Farmer (1938), and by making Little Princess Temple (1939) a color film. However, his film The Blue Bird (1940), which was made to compete with MGM's The Wizard of Oz (1939), was a complete box-office flop, proving his limitations as a child star. (Ironically, The Wizard of Oz was a project in which MGM had borrowed Shirley Temple from 20th Century Fox to star in the lead role in exchange for MGM's own star, Jean Harlow, but Temple's role was not awarded after Harlow's death (1937).) He quickly became a ``child of the past.'' She appeared in over ten films as a "female actress," including "Fort Apache" (1948), directed by John Ford and considered a Western version of "The Military Envoy," but retired from the film industry in 1950.

*Some of the terminology used in reference to the film "The Blue Bird" is listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…年に2～4本つくられた主演映画には必ず歌と踊りの見せ場があるが，なかでも《小聯隊長》(1935)，《テムプルの愛国者》(1936)など4本でコンビを組んだ黒人ダンサー，ビル･ロビンソン(愛称ボージャングルズ)とのタップ･ダンス，とくに階段をつかったそれは有名である。　人気の延命策として《軍使》(1937)ではジョン･フォード，《農園の寵児》(1938)ではアラン･ドワンと第一級の監督を起用し，《テンプルちゃんの小公女》(1939)ではカラー作品にするなど作品の強化がはかられたが，MGMの《オズの魔法使》(1939)に対抗してつくられた《青い鳥》(1940)が興行的に惨敗して子役スターとしての限界を証明(皮肉なことに，《オズの魔法使》はMGMが自社のスター，ジーン･ハーローと交換に20世紀フォックスのシャーリー･テンプルを借り出して主演させようとした企画であったが，ハーローの死(1937)によってテンプル主演が見送られたという経緯がある)，たちまち〈過去の子ども〉となっていった。《軍使》の西部劇版ともいうべきジョン･フォード監督による《アパッチ砦》(1948)など10余本の映画に〈娘役〉で出演したが，50年に映画界から引退した。…

※「《青い鳥》（映画）」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報