While Hitchcock made many outstanding films (especially Strangers on a Train, Rebecca, Rear Window, Psycho, Suspicion and Notorious), he also made many less satisfying movies. Along with Vertigo and The Lady Vanishes, The Birds is probably the most overrated film that was directed by Alfred Hitchcock.
One frequent complaint about The Birds is that no explanation is given for why birds have suddenly begun to gather and attack man. This doesn't bother me, for if it did happen, no one could possibly offer a coherent explanation. Hitchcock couldn't blame it on a comet, or on one too many films starring Annette Funicello.
The biggest problems with The Birds are that it takes too long for the tension to kick in, most of the special effects aren't very good, there are few compelling characters, and that there are holes in the story development. On the positive side, there is some nice cinematography. Bodega Bay looks like a great place to retire, although I suppose that housing there would be very expensive these days.
The first half of The Birds slowly develops the romance between resourceful, confident lawyer Mitch Brenner (Rod Taylor) and daddy's favorite, wealthy idler and fashionable beauty Melanie Daniels (Tippi Hedren). After being bested by Mitch in an encounter at a pet store, Melanie tracks him down at his mother's house on a splendid bayside lot in Bodega Bay. We soon learn why Mitch has remained single all this time: he is very devoted to his widowed mother (Jessica Tandy) and his sister (Veronica Cartwright), who is young enough to be his daughter. The competition was too much for his former girlfriend Annie Hayworth (Suzanne Pleshette), who still hangs around in case Mitch decides to change his mind. Melanie and Annie become fast friends, despite their mutual interest in Mitch.
Gradually, the birds impose themselves on this tepid romance. The special effects of the bird attacks are generally unconvincing, especially when they are descending upon schoolchildren running for their lives. One exception is the famous scene having Hedren in a phone booth, with birds wildly flying around (and into) the booth. One dubious scene has a hundred birds flying down a chimney to attack the Brenner family; after an edit, the birds have suddenly vanished. The birds break off attacks to gather ominously. One can walk around them at this time, as long as you tiptoe very, very quietly. It must have been quite a chore to assemble all these birds on the set. No wonder it took three years for the film to see release (following Psycho).
There is also something gender affirming about the film. Taylor is brave and clever throughout, while Tandy and Hedren are eventually terrified. Hedren and Pleschette do try to lead a class full of schoolkids to safety, although considering what happens, the kids may have been safer staying in the school.
The supporting characters aren't up to usual Hitchcockian standards, either. There's a hysterical woman who shouts at Hedren, "You're evil! Evil!" There's a know-it-all bird expert who eavesdrops on a cafe conversation, then regales all with facts about world bird population. Her character seems even more convenient and expert than the psychiatrist from Psycho.
The Birds is unusual in that it has no score. The film was based on a story by author Daphne Du Maurier. Novelist Evan Hunter ("Blackboard Jungle") adapted the screenplay, his first. Hedren was a model who was cast by Hitchcock after he saw her in a commercial for a diet soft drink. Hedren would also star in Hitchcock's following film, Marnie. (51/100)
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