A
beautiful woman named Melanie Daniels
(Tippi Hedren) encounters a bachelor
named Mitch Brenner (Rod Taylor) who
enters her bird store but comes off the
wrong way but however, she does go to
Bodega Bay where he resides to give him
love birds that he ordered. Yet she is
attacked by a seagull.
Suddenly afterwards she spots a flock of
birds in her town near schoolyards and
other areas as they viciously attack and
kill people.
Soon Melanie and Mitch are brought
together more so as they are fighting for
their lives along with Mitch's family as
these birds can't be explained for their
nasty behavior.
This seemed like a
romantic drama to start with as it took
forever for the horror to start and
although the movie was well done in some
ways it lacks in other spots as you
wonder what the point to this film is.
It does get batter with the birds
invading the small town and good
reactions from people too as this film
became a classic. However, it didn't do
anything for me.
The acting is
marvelloussly well done by a great cast
of legendary actors in this film.
Rod Taylor knew his craft as a smart
aleck but charming young man in the film
as his personality really shines in the
film.
Another cast member who shines just as
well is his fellow actress Tippi
Hedren in her first starring role as
she remained an icon for this film. She
does well playing a woman who is
sensitive but really speaks her mind and
not scared about what she says.
We also have a very young performance by Veronica
Cartwright who is believeably
charming as a young teenage girl and
stands out well plus has a ton of energy
with her scared emotions too as she
usually has been pitted against
terrifying incidents in other films.
Eyes are plucked
out of a corpse
There are bloody bite marks on people
Alfred
Hitchcock directs the piece well,
adds suspense to it here and there with
good romantic moments but however he
doesn't add on as much horror to it like
he did in his other horror films such as Psycho
but it does start to happen a quarter way
through the film.
He does show a perfect dialogue scene
between Rod Taylor and Tippi
Hedren at the bird store when he
asks for love birds making out that he
was being fresh and trying to pick her
up. It is quite funny when they have a
dispute.
There's a good camera shot on Hedren
in a boat and a seagull swoops in her
face.
There's a great setting in a house
between Hedren playing the piano
and Veronica Cartwright mingling
with her as it looked natural.
There are nice shots on a flock of birds
standing on the telephone pole and the
wires as well as at playgrounds and on
roofs of houses too which gives the movie
a horror feel to it.
The settings looked good with the birds
attacking people outside as well as the
sparrows flying from the chimney shute
and swarming around in a house.
We see a perfect shocked reaction on Jessica
Tandy's face with an o shaped look
out of pure shock when she sees her dead
feather lying in his room with some dead
seagulls and then she goes ballistic
later.
Hedren and Taylor look very
adventureous when running to get away
from the seagulls and trying to rescue Cartwright's
character as she looked believeably
terrified and cried on set very well.
Then both Cartwright and Tandy's
intensity looked perfect of the madness
going on when they are inside the house
trying to stay safe from the birds.
we spot a perfect frightened shot on
Doreen Lang as a waitress in a diner
and she did well at going crazy by
accussing both Hedren and Taylor
for having these seagulls attacking.
There are perfect shots on the birds
going into the house and attacking
Hedren and she looked good at
freaking out from this.
There's a suspenseful shot on Taylor when
he tries to block a window and a seagull
attacks his hand.
One of the best directions is when Taylor
and Pleshette are holding Hedren
while finding some way of escaping the
house and Hedren is looking
terrified by all of this.
Melanie Daniels:
Just what is it you're looking for, sir?
Mitch Brenner: Lovebirds.
Melanie Daniels: Lovebirds, sir?
Mitch Brenner: Yes. I understand
there are different varieties. Is that
true?
Melanie Daniels: Oh yes, there
are.
Mitch Brenner: Well, uh, these are
for my sister, for her birthday, see, and
uh, as she's only gonna be eleven, I, I
wouldn't want a pair of birds that
were... too demonstrative.
Melanie Daniels: I understand
completely.
Mitch Brenner: At the same time, I
wouldn't want them to be too aloof,
either.
Melanie Daniels: No, of course
not.
Mitch Brenner: Do you happen to
have a pair of birds that are... just
friendly?
Mitch
Brenner: Be able to find your way
back all right?
Melanie Daniels: Oh, yes.
Mitch Brenner: Will I be seeing
you again?
Melanie Daniels: San Francisco's a
long way from here.
Mitch Brenner: Well, I'm in San
Francisco five days a week with a lot of
time on my hands, I'd like to see you.
Maybe we could go swimming or something.
Mother tells me you like to swim.
Melanie Daniels: How does Mother
know what I like to do?
Mitch Brenner: I guess we read the
same gossip columns.
Melanie Daniels: Oh, that. Rome.
Mitch Brenner: Yeah, I really like
to swim, I think we might get along very
well.
Melanie Daniels: In case you're
interested, I was pushed into that
fountain.
Mitch Brenner: Without any clothes
on?
Melanie Daniels: With all my
clothes on. The newspaper that ran that
story happens to be a rival of my
father's paper.
Mitch Brenner: You're just a poor,
innocent victim of circumstances, huh?
Melanie Daniels: Well I'm neither
poor nor innocent, but the truth of that
particular...
Mitch Brenner: Truth is you were
running around with a pretty wild crowd,
isn't it?
Melanie Daniels: Well yes, that's
the truth, but I was pushed into that
fountain, and that's the truth, too.
Mitch Brenner: Uh huh. Do you
really know Annie Hayworth?
Melanie Daniels: No. At least I
didn't till I came up here.
Mitch Brenner: So you didn't go to
school together?
Melanie Daniels: No.
Mitch Brenner: And you didn't come
up here to see her.
Melanie Daniels: No.
Melanie Daniels: You were lying!
Melanie Daniels: Yes, I was lying.
Cathy
Brenner: [while Melanie is playing
the piano] I still don't understand
how you knew I wanted lovebirds.
Melanie Daniels: Your brother told
me.
Lydia Brenner: Then you knew Mitch
in San Francisco. Is that right?
Melanie Daniels: No, not exactly.
[grabs a cigarette out of an ashtray]
Cathy Brenner: Mitch knows a lot
of people in San Francisco. Of course,
they're mostly hoods.
Lydia Brenner: Cathy!
Cathy Brenner: Well, Mom, he's the
first to admit it. He spends half his day
in the detention cells at the Hall of
Justice.
Lydia Brenner: In a democracy,
Cathy, everyone is entitled to a fair
trial. Your brother's practice...
Cathy Brenner: Aw, Mom, please. I
know all that democracy jazz. They're
still hoods.
[Mitch comes in]
Cathy Brenner: He has a client now
who shot his wife in the head six times.
Six times! Can you imagine it? I mean,
even twice would be overdoing it, don't
you think?
Melanie Daniels: [to Mitch]
Why did he shoot her?
Mitch Brenner: He was watching a
ball game on television.
Melanie Daniels: What?
Mitch Brenner: His wife changed
the channel.
[laughs and leaves]
Cathy Brenner: Are you coming to
my party tomorrow?
Melanie Daniels: I don't think so.
I have to get back to San Francisco.
Cathy Brenner: Don't you like us?
Melanie Daniels: Oh, darling, of
course I do.
Cathy Brenner: Don't you like
Bodega Bay?
Melanie Daniels: I don't know yet.
Cathy Brenner: Mitch likes it very
much. He comes up every weekend, you
know, even though he has his own
apartment in the city. He says that San
Francisco's like an anthill up the foot
of a bridge.
Melanie Daniels: Well, I suppose
it does get a little hectic at times.
Cathy Brenner: Well, if you do
decide to come, don't say I told you
about it. It's suppose to be a suprise
party. You see, they've got this whole
complicated thing figured out, where I'm
going to Michele's for the afternoon, and
Michele's mother will say she has a
headache. Would I mind very much if she
took me home. And when I get here, all
the kids'll jump out! Oh, won't you come.
Won't you please come?
Melanie Daniels: I don't think so.
Cathy Brenner: Mitch, can I bring
the lovebirds in here?
Lydia Brenner: No!
Cathy Brenner: But Mom, they're in
a cage.
Lydia Brenner: They're birds,
aren't they?
Mother
in Diner: Why are they doing this?
Why are they doing this? They said when
you got here, the whole thing started.
Who are you? What are you? Where did you
come from? I think you're the cause of
all this. I think you're evil! EVIL!
Cathy
Brenner: Mitch, can I bring the
lovebirds in here?
Lydia Brenner: No!
Cathy Brenner: But Mom, they're in
a cage.
Lydia Brenner: They're birds,
aren't they?
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