Temple Tuesday: Behind the Blue Bird

Readers of my blog have suffered through my obsession with the 1940 Shirley Temple movie "The Blue Bird." Today is just one more chapter documenting how nutz I am for this film. I was excited to recently acquire a vintage behind-the-the-scenes still from the movie. On the back is this publicity blurb:

Here is Shirley Temple's crew getting ready for a "dolly shot." Shirley and Johnny Russell (as Mytyl and Tyltyl) can be seen walking, while Director Walter Lang, who also directed "The Little Princess," wearing a white, short-sleeve shirt, is walking toward the camera tracks. Note soundman directly back of Lang, with microphone on bamboo pole. In the shot, the soundman will follow Shirley and Johnny as they walk down the village street, catching their dialogue, but he will be out of range of the camera's eye.

In this detailed view, you can see Shirley's mother Gertrude looking stylish in her hat. Standing next to her in a suit is Shirley's bodyguard, John Griffiths, best known as "Griff."



A closeup of Shirley with costar Johnny Russell:



Here are two publicity stills taken from the same scene:





See more Shirley Temple "The Blue Bird" photos at my main website.