Birds

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

The story begins as an innocuous romantic triangle involving wealthy, spoiled Melanie Daniels (Tippi Hedren), handsome Mitch Brenner (Rod Taylor), and schoolteacher Annie Hayworth (Suzanne Pleshette). The human story begins in a San Francisco pet shop and culminates at the home of Mitch's mother (Jessica Tandy) at Bodega Bay, where the characters' sense of security is slowly eroded by the curious behavior of the birds in the area. At first, it's no more than a sea gull swooping down and pecking at Melanie's head. Things take a truly ugly turn when hundreds of birds converge on a children's party. There is never an explanation as to why the birds have run amok, but once the onslaught begins, there's virtually no letup. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

DVD FEATURES:

• Region: 1
• Number of Discs: 1
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 (Theatre Wide Screen)
• Audio: 5.1, PCM Mono
• Screen: Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV
• Subtitle: English
• Features:
  • • All About "The Birds"
    • Deleted scenes
    • Original ending
    • Storyboard sequence
    • Tippi Hendren's screen test
    • "The Birds Is Coming" [Universal international newsreel]
    • "Suspense Story: National Press Club Hears Hitchcock" [Universal International newsreel]
    • Production photographs
    • Production notes
    • Cast and filmmakers
    • Theatrical trailer
    • Universal web link

AWARDS

• Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

•     Nominated Best Visual Effects - 1963 (Ub Iwerks)

• Hollywood Foreign Press Association

•     Won New Star of the Year - Female - 1963 (Tippi Hedren)

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Director:

  Alfred Hitchcock

• Producer:

  Norman Deming, Alfred Hitchcock

• Screenwriter:

  Evan Hunter

• Cinematographer:

  Robert Burks

• Editor:

  George Tomasini

• Production Designer:

  Robert F. Boyle

• Set Designer:

  Robert F. Boyle, George Milo

• Costume Designer:

  Edith Head

• Sound/Sound Designer:

  Bernard Herrmann, Waldon O. Watson, William Russell

• Makeup:

  Howard Smit

• Special Effects:

  Ub Iwerks, Lawrence A. Hampton

• Production Manager:

  Norman Deming

• Storyboard:

  Harold Michelson

• Short Story Author:

  Daphne du Maurier

REVIEW:

• The Birds features a classic Alfred Hitchcock setup: average people placed in circumstances turned upside down. And of course, there are the requisite dark insinuations and strange psychological underpinnings. Though we're never sure why the birds are rising up, their behavior seems to be a response to humankind's complacency and arrogance. It's a frightening yet sportive vision of Judgment Day. As in Psycho, Hitchcock's previous film, the normalcy of the setting is allowed to set in before the audience is thrown into the perverse drama. When the bird violence comes, Hitchcock pulls out all the stops to make it as realistic as one could imagine. There are 371 trick shots in the film. Some have dated, but for the most part the effects are still effective. The last shots are especially memorable. And the movie features a unique soundtrack from frequent Hitchcock collaborator Bernard Herrmann: no music, only bird sounds organized as if they were music, for maximum creepy impact. The Birds stands as the end of an unprecedented period when Hitchcock could no wrong; he made only five more features, with decidedly mixed artistic and financial results. ~ Brendon Hanley, Rovi