Temple Tuesday: A Different Light

In the 1940 Shirley Temple film “The Blue Bird,” the character of Light is played by Helen Ericson. Dressed in a filmy negligee/gown, she definitely added a little va-va-voom for the adult audiences. Guiding the Tyl children and their pets, she helped deliver them all (well, almost all) safely home after their search for the elusive Blue Bird.



Recently, I acquired this promotional glass slide:



Who the heck is Nancy Kelly?!? Of course I asked Shirley Temple guru Rita Dubas for the answer and she quickly provided the explanation. Kelly was the original choice for “Light.”

In Edwin Schallert’s August 22, 1939 column he heralded:

Nancy Kelly to Enact Light in “Blue Bird”

Having had experience with fantasy in an air version of “The Wizard of Oz,” which, of course, is now current as a spectacular film production, Nancy Kelly should be a “natural” for the important part of Light in “Blue Bird,” from Maurice Maeterlinck’s imaginative and symbolic poetic drama. Anyway, she has been chosen for this feature. Miss Kelly was originally to have appeared with Tyron Power in “Daytime Wife,” which will be his first starring picture following his return from his European honeymoon trip. Linda Darnell has been elected for that lead instead, meaning a definitely build-up for this young lady brought to the fore in “Elsa Maxwell’s Hotel for Women.”

Another trade magazine of the day announced:

NANCY KELLY drew the important role of Light in Maeterlinck’s “The Blue Bird.” In order to enact this part in the Shirley Temple vehicle, Zanuck had to take Miss Kelly out of “Part-Time Wife,” for the two productions will be “shooting” at the same time. Later Miss Kelly will co-star with Tyrone Power in “Johnny Apollo.” [a role taken by Dorothy Lamour instead] She is also slated to appear in “Law West of Pecos” with Randolph Scott, Binnie Barnes and Cesar Romero [this film was not made].

Why the switch? For that I do not have a definitive answer. It would appear that Kelly was placed in the comedy “He Married His Wife” with Joel McCrea instead, which provided the actress a leading role. Perhaps the studio wanted to give her a bigger build-up and felt that the supporting role of “Light” was not enough.



Today, Kelly is best known as the suicidal mother in “The Bad Seed,” receiving a Tony Award for the 1955 stage production and an Academy Award nomination for the 1956 film version.

See more “The Blue Bird” photos at my main website.