The Birds Collection

Horror

Thriller

The Birds

Alfred J. Hitchcock Productions

United States of America

English

Tippi Hedren

Rod Taylor

Jessica Tandy

Suzanne Pleshette

Veronica Cartwright

Ethel Griffies

Charles McGraw

Ruth McDevitt

Lonny Chapman

Joe Mantell

Doodles Weaver

Malcolm Atterbury

John McGovern

Karl Swenson

Richard Deacon

Elizabeth Wilson

Bill Quinn

Doreen Lang

Alfred Hitchcock

Morgan Brittany

Darlene Conley

Betsy Hale

Dal McKennon

Mike Monteleone

Renn Reed

Arnold Roberts

Jeannie Russell

Rory Stevens

Robert Burks

Robert F. Boyle

Norman Deming

Edith Head

Evan Hunter

George Tomasini

George Milo

Virginia Darcy

Waldon O. Watson

William Russell

Lois Thurman

Larry Hampton

Bernard Herrmann

Daphne du Maurier

Howard Smit

Rita Riggs

James S. Pollak

James H. Brown

Ub Iwerks

Ray Berwick

Birds of a different feather do indeed flock together.  

The Birds is directed by Alfred Hitchcock and adapted to screenplay by Evan Hunter from the story of the same name written by Daphne du Maurier. It stars Rod Taylor, Tippi Hedren, Suzanne Pleshette, Jessica Tandy, Veronica Cartwright and Ethel Griffies. Cinematography is by Robert Burks and editing by George Tomasini.

Mother's love? Better to be ditched or loved?

When animals attack! The only outright horror movie that Alfred Hitchcock ever directed, The Birds sees the great man get the utmost terror from something so amiable in our lives - Birds! Modern day critics can hark on about it being dated all they like, it still doesn't detract from what a frenzied experience "The Birds" can still be - let alone what it did for cinema goers in 1963! Admittedly upon small screen ventures too much is missed or under enhanced, which is a crying shame.

But it isn't dark Annie! It's a full moon.

Plotting is simple in trajectory terms. Hip socialite Melanie Daniels (Hedren) has a friendly vocal joust in a pet shop with handsome Mitch Brenner (Taylor), the result of which sees Melanie, on a mischievous whim, buy a couple of lovebirds and set off for Mitch's weekend retreat out in Bodega Bay to deliver them as a show of devilish womanhood. Upon arrival in Bodega Bay, though, Melanie seems to be the spark for the birds in the area to start attacking humans, and pretty soon the attacks escalate and intensify...

Hitchcock and Hunter offer up no reasons or answers for what occurs in Bodega Bay (to keep it murky we learn late on via radio that other towns become affected), and famously the ending is open ended as well, forcing the audience to unravel ideas themselves. There's no musical score in the film, thus Hitchcock gets the terror and tension out of editing, bird effects and unholy sounds. The pacing is also a key area, it's a good hour before things go decidedly nasty, the wait keeps the viewer on edge, we seriously get to know the principal characters (the actors worked well by Hitch) and then the terror is unleashed. Perfect.

Hitchcock's skill at staging a memorable scene is well evident here. The climbing frame that sees one crow arrive, cutaway as Melanie smokes on a bench, back to the frame and now it's four crows, cutaway, back, and five crows – eight – then a "murder of crows". The birds first attack at the birthday party, the telephone kiosk, gas station mayhem, the birds swooping into view above the school roof and the POV viewpoint as we join a bird hovering above a town under siege, all great scenes, as is the crowning glory that is the eerie silence that accompanies the edge of your seat finale.

Motifs are plentiful, from Mothers to sexuality, from broken crockery - to glass - to abandonment fears, Hitch has fun, especially with the human interactions, or lack of in certain scenes. It's a film that cries out for analysis, such is the director's want, in turn it's a riveting horror picture and a crafty enigma. It sounded daft as a basic idea for a film, and some must have thought Hitchcock had missed the boat of the creature feature boom of the 50s. Yet "The Birds" stands tall and proud as a damn fine piece of film from a true maestro of his craft, one of his last true classics and still today, over 50 years after its release, the film provokes theory discussion and visual terror in equal measure. 9/10

Certainly has some creepy imagery and the acting was mostly passable, and I guess it works as a B-movie horror-thriller, but I never really found the birds all that terrifying. Probably the lower end of the Hitchcock movies I've seen. **3.25/5**

RetroSpyGadget

Terrific horror film! Terrific film! But my impression is that The Birds is not really about the birds. To me this movie is all about the characters, their stories and finding something they didn't expect to find in each others. They felt real to me, they evolved and changed alongside their relationship with each others. In the end, even though they are going through hell, they managed to find some closure.

60th Anniversary Spot

How Hitchcock Uses Silence to Scare | The Birds (1963) - Scene | Hitchcock Presents

The Crows Attack the School - Scene | The Birds (1963) | Hitchcock Presents

The Birds | Attack on Bodega Bay

The Final Flurry - 'The Birds" | Hitchcock Presents

A Gathering Of Crows - The Birds (1963) | Hitchcock Presents

Feast Your Eyes - The Birds (1963) | Hitchcock Presents

School's Out - The Birds | Hitchcock Presents

Eli Roth on THE BIRDS

Alfred Hitchcock: The Masterpiece Collection "The Birds" Now on Blu-ray

The Birds (1963) - 100th Anniversary Classic Moments [HD]

The Birds Official Teaser Trailer #1 - Alfred Hitchcock Movie (1963) HD

Best Movies

The Birds

Cast & Crew

Videos

Cast

Tippi Hedren

Rod Taylor

Jessica Tandy

Suzanne Pleshette

Veronica Cartwright

Ethel Griffies

Charles McGraw

Ruth McDevitt

Lonny Chapman

Joe Mantell

Box office

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