The Birds
Thousands of birds flock into a seaside town and terrorize the residents in a series of deadly attacks.
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- Cast:
- Tippi Hedren , Rod Taylor , Jessica Tandy , Suzanne Pleshette , Veronica Cartwright , Ethel Griffies , Charles McGraw
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Reviews
Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .
I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.
It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.
One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.
Melanie Daniels (Tippi Hedren) is a rich socialite from San Francisco. One afternoon on her way to a pet store she notices a large migration of seagulls. She walks into the pet store; and asks Mrs. Mac Gruger ( Ruth Devitt ) if any Mina Birds are available? She explains that they would have to be ordered, but she can get one for her. A few moments later a man walks in Mitch Brenner( Rod Taylor). He knows Melanie from a court incident and knows she doesn't work at the store. He continues to ask her questions on various birds. Melanie doesn't know anything about birds, so she looks like a fool. He is looking for Love Birds for his sister on her birthday. When Melanie finds out he knew who is is , she is furious and wants to get him back. When he leaves she finds out his address by getting a friend to run his plate number. She decides to ask Mrs. MacGruger to order some Love Bird; and she would pick them up tomorrow. The next day she picks them up and delivers them to his place in San Francisco. When she arrives his neighbors tells her he isn't there; and won't be back until Monday. He explains that he spends the weekend with his sister and mother in Bodega Bay. Melanie decides she will go up and surprise him with a gift.When she arrives she stops at the post office. She does some investigating and finds out he lives on the other side of the bay with his mother Lydia( Jessica Tandy) and his sister. Then she asks what his sister's name is? When she gets conflicting names , they tell her to go to Anne Hayworth's house( Suzanne Pleshette). She is the schoolteacher and can tell her what she needs to know. When Melanie arrives, Anne tells her that Mitch's sister is Cathy( Veronica Cartwright)re. Anne then goes on to ask is Melanie if she is one of Mitch's girlfriend's which makes Melanie feel awkward at first. Once she gets the the info from Anne she goes back to the dock and rents a boat. When she arrives at Mitch's house, she leaves the The Love Birds with a card for Cathy. When she leaves she rips up the card she had for Mitch and leaves. When she thinks she's free Mitch spots her out in the bay. He then gets into his truck and follows her back to town. On her way back Melanie gets attacked by a seagull. When she arrives back at The Tides restaurant she explains what happened to Deke Carter( Lonny Chapman) the owner; and to Mitch who begins to treat her.He asks her why she is up her? She lies and says she is up to she an Anne they were college friends. Mitch asks her how long she would be staying, they he invites her to dinner that night. When she is patched up she realizes she has to find a place to stay. She arrives back at Anne's and asks if she can rent a room? Anne agrees , and Melanie makes herself at home. When she arrives at the Brenner's house she get's to know Cathy more and they seem to hit it off. Melanie and Lydia seen distant, because of Lydia's attitude to Mitch's lady friends. It seems no one ever will be good enough for Mitch. When Mitch walks Melanie out to her car they both notice large migration of gulls; and find it odd. Melanie return's back to Anne's they both get to talking and Melanie finds out Anne is originally from San Francisco. Anne relocated to Boydega Bay because of Mitch. They were an item four years ago, but Lydia coudn't stand it. To Lydia Anne just wasn't good enough, but now the two get along great. That night Mitch calls Melanie and invites her to Cathy's birthday party . While they are are talking a loud crash is heard at the front door.They notice that a gull has crashed through the door The next day at the party, everything seems fine until a flock of seagulls start to attack. Everyone flees into the house until it's safe to come out. That night at the Brenner's bird's fly into the house and create chaos. The birds seem more aggressive and decide to report the incident to the authorities. The next day Melanie goes to check on Cathy at the school. While she is waiting she notices a large number of crows perching. She goes inside the school and warns Anne. They decide to get the kids out quietly, when they start to leave the birds viciously attack, then leave. Most flee downtown and Melanie arrives at the Tides restaurant. Melanie makes an urgent call to her father on what happened and tells him she will not be able to come home right away.Then a conversation begins about birds behavior, some believe it's the sign of the end of the world. When Mitch arrives to get Melanie, One patron blames Melanie, because the attacks happened when she arrived. All seems calm at the moment, then the attacks start back up. The birds begin to attack the downtown area creating chaos , which leads to car crashes, explosions, and people stuck in businesses, E.T.C..When they have an opportunity, Mitch and Melanie leave to get Cathy At Anne's. While walking they notice a large number of crows, gulls by the schoolhouse. They also notice that Anne was killed protecting Cathy when they ran outside to see the explosion. Once home Mitch starts to board up the house. On the radio the attack is mentioned, but no explanation is given. For the moment they believe they are safe, but the birds begin to attack the house. Mitch has to quickly find furniture to keep them out. Meanwhile Melanie hears a sound upstairs. When she goes upstairs she opens the door to one of the bedrooms. There she discovers the birds have pecked their way in. She is viciously attacked and later is found by Mitch who has also been attacked by them. He brings her downstairs to treat her. Melanie is still in defensive mode thinking she is still being attacked. While bandaging her up they realize she needs to get to a hospital. Mitch has to brave the outside to get the car. He carefully gets the car out of the garage then goes back to get Cathy, Lydia, and Melanie. To Mitch this seems like the best time to leave, the birds seem calm. In the end, They leave and hundreds of birds are seen all over in the closing scene. In conclusion, The Birds is a true classic. It's a movie that makes you think about bird behavior; and birds that gather on a wire. It a horror film that hold wee; but his best will always be P-S-Y-C-H-O.
I cant say much about The Birds (1963) because everyone knows why its so good, everyone knows why its so effective, well written and well directed. Its just a classic horror film that manages to be scary and creepy despite its absurd premise.I believe this is one the movies that inspired all those killer animals films, but this one is one of the better ones in that genre. Probably because most of those other films lack the kind of writing that this one has, they don't develop their characters well enough so by the time something happens to them you really don't care, in The Birds you do care and you root for these people even if they aren't the most likable people on earth. Also, the bird attacks in the film are really well directed, another aspect those movies lacked.
The first half of The Birds is a dull, soap-opera-y story involving Rod Taylor, his soon-to-be-girlfriend Tippi Hedren, his cold mother Jessica Tandy, sister Veronica Cartwright and ex-girlfriend Suzanne Pleshette. It might as well have been lifted from another film since it has nothing to do with the birds.In fact, the birds don't begin their attacks until about fifty minutes into the movie. When they do there are some genuinely scary moments, although of course the special effects look rather dated today, even the fake blood doesn't quite look like the correct shade of red. We're never told why the birds behave this way, which makes the film pretty intellectually unsatisfying. They just start killing people for apparently no reason.Finally, after witnessing much death and destruction, Rod Taylor and Tippi Hedren leave town, but the birds are still hanging around en masse, ready to attack more people. I half expected a title card reading, "End of Part One", but no — that was the whole movie.This film is called a classic by the critics. But most of the time I was bored, waiting for something to happen, and even when the bird attacks came, I couldn't help asking myself, "so when do we find out why they're doing this?"
THE BIRDS is a mysterious horror drama about an inexplicable conflict between the innocent creatures and the greatest enemy of nature. It is loosely based on the 1952 story of the same name by Daphne du Maurier.The main protagonist is a young woman, who is known for compacting inappropriate jokes and misbehavior in public. One day, she meets a charming lawyer in a San Francisco bird shop. He wants to purchase a pair of lovebirds for his sister's eleventh birthday, but the shop has none. He had seen her in court once before when her recklessness resulted in the breaking of a plate glass window, but she does not know him. He plays a prank by pretending to mistake her for a salesperson. After his departure, she becomes curious and decides to know him better. She finds his weekend address in Bodega Bay, purchases a pair of lovebirds, and makes the long drive to deliver them. The two of them meet again. However, something else is in the air ...Mr. Hitchcock has replaced his traditional tense story with an extreme mystery. He has, through a bizarre apocalyptic atmosphere, a frivolous romance and an idyllic life philosophy, made a symbolic game of destruction. His allegory, in which good and evil are a sort of metaphor, is excellent. The story is intriguing and unfortunately average, but the direction is very good.Hitch plays with visual effects and sound elements. He constantly enhances his horror, through scenes of massacred bodies, explosions and hysteria. The protagonists are constantly exposed to danger and none of them are safe. The fear has changed their character. A psychological or just logical explanation, that is cause of animal attacks, is absent.Characterization is good, while the performances is a bit wooden.Tippi Hedren as Melanie Daniels is a beautiful and dangerous blonde. She is the main carrier of a danger and reason at the same time. She is an exotic phenomenon in an idyllic landscape. The term "heroine" is perhaps too strong, but her performance indicates that notion. Rod Taylor as Mitchell "Mitch" Brenner is her support and better segment of their romance. His character is torn by three women. Jessica Tandy as Lydia Brenner is confused, lost and frightened in a complex role of a mother. Suzanne Pleshette as Annie Hayworth is a bit sinister and jealous as an ex-girlfriend, but her performance is the most realistic in this movie.Maestro has offered a bit "malicious" end.