"I think the scariest part... was the noises." What's interesting is that many of those sounds were not actually birds but electronic sound effects, designed by Bernard Herrmann, the great film score composer. He did the unforgettable music for Psycho, Vertigo, and many others.
It's a common theory that Cathy is actually Mitch and Annie's daughter, with the family claiming she's Mitch's sister to avoid the scandal of a child out of wedlock. This certainly goes a long way to explaining the vast age gap between them, and why Annie stayed in Bodega Bay (and even gives a quite moving addition to her sacrificing her life to save Cathy).
@@tomloft2000 This movie really has nothing to do with the original story beyond the very basic concept of birds suddenly attacking people. Totally different setting and characters (the story is in du Maurier's native England, and ends with the main characters being the only people still alive in Europe).
1968's Night of the Living Dead is typically regarded as the birth of the zombie film as it now exists, but this movie from five years earlier bears quite a few similarities. Something you wouldn't think would be any threat suddenly starts inexplicably attacking people, using strength of numbers to overwhelm any defense, the people under siege make things worse by turning on each other rather than working together to solve the problem, and everything culminates in a boarded-up house under siege.
The actress playing Annie Hayworth is Suzanne Pleshette. She went on to star in "The Bob Newhart Show" playing Bob's wife Emily. The TV show is considered one of the top 50 TV shows of all time.
23:21 "But, oh my god! Melanie, girl, why the _hell'd_ you go in that _room?_ _Why?_ You knew there was at _least_ a _bird in_ there." Let me just say something in her defense, with regard to _that_ particular scene. See, it didn't really surprise me when the birds demonstrated their ability to smash through _windows._ Glass is not that hard to break. But the birds in _that_ room had demonstrated that, if they concentrated their efforts, they could break through the _roof._ And earlier, they had demonstrated that, if they concentrated their efforts, they could break through _doors._ All this being the case, I think it's safe to say that _any_ safeguard one puts in place for protection from these birds would've only done so _temporarily._ Birds that can break through a _roof_ can break through a _door._ All the safety provided by staying _out_ of that room was _temporary._
Although it doesn't entirely stick to the book it's based on, the ending to the film was purposely meant to be ambiguous. The book was also a political allegory for The Cold War. But the "real" answer is based on an actual 1961 bird attack, in a town called Capitola. Multiple birds smashed into cars and buildings, and even attempted to enter homes. Apparently, they had digested some type of fish contaminated by toxic algae that caused amnesia, disorientation and seizures.
The Birds wasn't a book it was a short story, though it was published in a book, sure. But it was more about the people at home in the UK in WWII if it was about anything. I mean, come on, kamakazi birds, air raids, people being left to fend for themselves. Hitchcock liked Daphne's stuff.
@@dragontears ...although duMaueier hated Hitchcock's vision. She was baffled as to why the great director had distorted it as he had. The difference between the story and the film is striking, though less in the depiction of the birds' inexplicably aggressive behaviour than in the characters who confront it, and where it all happens. However, she approved Hitchcock's version of her novel "Jamaica Inn" and loved his version of "Rebecca."
@@washo2222 It might have been the studio's insistence that the story was changed. Check out the movie Hitchcock. It's about the making of Psycho. The studio was constantly budding in to the production of that movie. Also studios loved to take original stories and stick in a fictional love story.
THE BIRDS!! A true horror classic. I've got a cousin that is still to this day scared shitless of flocks of birds after she saw this as a kid. I love it!!
I saw this as a kid in the sixties, and yes, I completely understand how your cousin feels. Now, 50 yrs later, I still don't like birds... I just don't trust them. If only I'd known then that they were descended from dinosaurs, I coulda worked through it... cause I love dinosaurs! lol
I was at the store once early in the morning. It was around late winter/early spring and the trees were barren, except for one at the side of the store that was still full. I thought it was strange that it still had leaves on it, but after parking and taking a second to look I realized those weren't leaves. It was filled to capacity with squawking black birds (grackles, I'm pretty sure), and there were even more on the roof of the store, lining the building. Once I realized what I was looking at, I immediately wondered where Hitchcock was. XD This is a real classic. Gotta love Sir Alfred's work.
A really fun thing about this movie is that the first half hour seems like a Bringing Up Baby-esque romantic comedy, with a goofy woman instantly being attracted to a random guy and doing a bunch of crazy stuff to see him again. And then the seagull attacks her and it starts turning into a horror movie. Not that anyone at the time was actually fooled, since it was based on a famous short story and all the marketing openly revealed the bird attacks, but Hitchcock loved this kind of playing with expectations, and raising the suspense of just when the scary stuff would start.
"Can I bring the lovebirds, Mitch? they haven't harmed anyone." "Oh, alright; bring them." Fun Fact: When audiences left the U.K. premiere at the Odeon, Leicester Square, London, they were greeted by the sound of screeching and flapping birds from loudspeakers hidden in the trees to scare them further. Bird Wrangling Fact: Rod Taylor claims that the seagulls were fed a mixture of wheat and whiskey. It was the only way to get them to stand around so much. Mitch Factor Fact: Mitch Zanich, owner of the Tides Restaurant at the time of shooting, told Alfred Hitchcock he could shoot there if the lead male in the movie was named after him, and Hitchcock gave him a speaking part in the movie. Hitchcock agreed: Rod Taylor's character was named Mitch Brenner, and Mitch Zanich was given a speaking part. After Melanie is attacked by a seagull, Mitch Zanich can be heard saying to Mitch Brenner, "What happened, Mitch?"
The mother wasn't aware of her breaking in their house. I think she recognized her as the heiress that wasn't written about in the article. Plus, she seemed to be the type who didn't think anyone was good enough for her son.
I've been to Bodega Bay. Nice little town. The gas station scene is pure Hitchcock. One of his tricks was to allow people to see something terrible happening (or about to happen) without being able to do anything about it.
Apparently, one ending considered was that the car would return to San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge would be covered with birds, implying the "problem" had spread, or at the least, followed Melanie. It was ruled out - too expensive. And, one of the little girls at the schoolhouse was an uncredited Suzanne Cupito who would later change her name to Morgan Brittany and play Katherine Wentworth on TV's hit soap opera, Dallas.
"That was the dumbest thing I've seen someone do in a movie in quite sometime!" LOL Can't argue. I saw this when I was, maybe 10? It was my first Hitchcock movie my dad let me watch. Through that whole sequence of her hearing a noise, not waking anyone else, going up alone, opening the door, going INSIDE, seeing the hole...I just kept going "No. No. What are you DOING?" I do love this movie. There is a horror to it different from what we're used to nowadays. I love it plays on our more primal fears.
Birds are the descendants of dinosaurs. Dinosaurs once ruled the world. They're just getting back. This film was based on a short story by Daphne du Maurier. She also wrote Rebecca which is another great Hitchcock film.
5:49 Hey, now. That's a young Jessica _Tandy._ I didn't _notice_ her when I first saw this movie. I'm accustomed to seeing her much _older,_ in movies like _Cocoon,_ _Batteries Not Included_ and _Driving Miss Daisy._
By the way, Tippi Hedren is the mother of actress Melanie Griffith and the grandmother of actress Dakota Johnson. Melanie is not named after her mother's character in The Birds. It's a coincidence.
The Birds in the room with Tippi was suppose to be like the shower scene in psycho. Hitchcock lied and told Tippi that mechanical birds were to be used for the scene but on the day of shooting she found out. During this and marnie Hitchcock would not let her out of her contract and they had a very rocky relationship.
From the book of the same name by Daphne Du Maurier." Du Maurier's inspiration for the story was the sight of a farmer being attacked by a flock of gulls as he ploughed a field."
It's crazy rewatching this film knowing how Tippi Hedren went through the wringer during the production of this film. One of the mechanical crows in the phone booth scene broke the supposedly "shatterproof" glass, and shards of it hit her in the face. Additionally, the mechanical birds meant to be used for the attack scene got switched with live birds. Allegedly, she spent five days filming the scene with live birds being thrown at her and attached to her body with elastic bands. One of which almost pecked her eye out.
@@OGBReacts it gets worse with the glass. Tippi Hedren has alledged that the glass was replaced with normal glass on purpose by Hitchcock as retaliation for her not letting him sexually harass her
Some fun cast connections to other stuff you've seen here. Veronica Cartwright (Cathy) was Lambert in Alien (or as everyone probably thinks of her, "the woman who's not Ripley"), and Rod Taylor (Mitch) appeared briefly in Inglourious Basterds as Winston Churchill.
I was too young to see it when it came out ...( maybe 7 or 8...) , but my older sister told me about it. For a while in the 70s, that schoolhouse was up for sale...& I remember my father ( a realtor ) had a listing for it. It's a little bookstore or art gallery the last time I drove past it. It's actually several miles from Bodega Bay....but edited in to look like it's just up the street.
The ornithologist at the diner said that it is highly unlikely that species of birds come together to attack humans. Hitchcock is brilliant to let us, the viewer, decide what could possibly be the reason for the birds attacking humans. The hysterical mother at the diner made you (and most of us) believe that it all started when Melanie arrived at Bodega Bay. Even in the radio announcement in the car where the announcer said that the bird attacks were primarily at Bodega Bay would make you believe it's all because of Melanie. Or could it be because of the two lovebirds? Who knows. I've been dying to see if anyone would do a remake of this film using the CGI technology we have today. It would make such an epic movie! Great reaction Sam! I'm glad you enjoyed this Hitchcock classic! 🐦
I really hope no one produces a remake -- at least not just to show off any "improved" special effects. Special effects alone are insufficient to effective storytelling. Need proof? Just look at all the terrible movies being made with "great" special effects but a poor story with unsympathetic, cardboard characters.
Cathy fell into a black hole and ended up in the future, as a space freighter pilot. Her last assignment was the Commercial Towing Vessel "Nostromo". RIP.
There was actually a sequel to this movie in 1994, which is really just a totally separate story that's also about birds attacking people, and everyone hated it. Tippi Hedren had a cameo, though not as Melanie, and said "I hate to think what Hitchcock would have thought of it."
The film that inspired Tippi Hedren's other classic movie: Birdemic. 😎👍 One of the most chilling scenes to me is when Hedren's character, who started out as so strong and confident being thrown into shock and just uttering "No!....No!..."
I live not too far from Bodega Bay and grew up a little farther than now. I watched this with a friend when we were about six. The next morning we rode our BMX bikes to peewee baseball. We got to the field before anyone else. There was at least a hundred crows on the field and I froze, totally freaked out. My friend had bigger balls than me and rode his bike right through them and drove them off. lol
This movie use to scare me as a kid. Not only did we have a fireplace, but birds use to fly in and nest lol Can I recommend the 1955 thriller/noir movie The Night of the Hunter staring Robert Mitchum and Shelley Winters.
The little girl with the love birds stars with Cher, Michelle Pfeiffer, Susan Sarandon, and Jack Nicholson in The Witches of Eastwick (1987), which I highly recommend. You may also remember her from Alien (1979). The mother is best known from Driving Miss Daisy and Fried Green Tomatoes. The schoolteacher starred on The Bob Newhart Show on CBS.
They spoofed this movie on The Simpsons, American Dad, Bob's Burgers, Family Guy, Futurama, and many other TV shows and movies. This was also the first Hitchcock movie to be released on VHS with a PG-13 rating in 1993. It's also one o several other movies that have animals attacking people including JAWS, JURASSIC PARK, JURASSIC WORLD, The Swarm, Grizzly, Piranha, Snakes On A Plane, The Shallows, Crawl, Arachnophobia, Lake Placid, Cujo, Alligator, Crocodile, Anaconda, Open Water, Day Of The Animals, Empire Of The Ants, Food Of The Gods, Monkey Shines, TREMORS, and The Killer Shrews.
10:44 I remind you that this movie came out in 1963. Imagine that. Compared to the other kinds of movies released at the time, imagine how much this kind of thing must have terrified people.
This film for me has a kind of poetic expressionistic view of human relationships. It starts off almost like a screwball comedy with a guy and girl always conflicting with each other because they're intensely attracted to one another, but in Hitchcock's worldview this is an illusion to repress life's scarier ordeals. The dynamic of Lydia and Melanie, in fact they both look very similar, is key to this with Mitch being each their chess piece they want to move around the board. And the birds, well, they're a catalyst for humans constantly playing games with each other and using things for advantage not for need. And by the way, Bernard Herrmann who did the music for PSYCHO was the sound consultant for all those bird sounds. There's no music in the film, but he used those various bird sounds like scary music, my favorite being while Brenner house is being attacked the second time and the lights suddenly go out, there's this bird scream sound that travels left to right that makes my shoulder blades shiver. I've got a beautiful autographed picture that Tippi Hedren who plays Melanie gave me and it's very artistic with birds she penned on the page signed For Robert Love, Tippi. She's a sweetheart and believe it or not a huge animal lover even though during that attic scene near the end because the bird handlers were launching real birds at her and one talon sliced her eye and she had to take a week off because of the trauma filming the scene caused. Great reaction and thanks for not getting annoyed with this immensely long comment.
Did u know, Alfred Hitchcock had the real birds released on purpose because Tippi Hedren rejected his sexual advances? Every chance he got her made scenes difficult for her.
@@lynetteoliva1256 , I know the gossip although that sort of trouble didn't get into full swing until Marnie although Hitchcock was always very controlling. I don't talk to her about it because it would be in very bad taste and there is lots to talk about besides her film career.
@@robertjewell9727 I just wanted to know if u were aware of it. Of course, I wouldn't expect u to bring that possibly bad time of her past up. I think she is a wonderful actress, & I'm sure she is a lovely person too.
@@lynetteoliva1256 , that she is. She's very active and lives on a wildlife refuge primarily taking care of lions and tigers, but other animal species too. I really want to get out there. I've never been.
Hitchcock stated that if he showed why the birds were attacking the movie would be a sci-fi, he said he directed suspense-mysteries, leave them guessing.
Good movie, good reaction (as always). Rod Taylor, who played Mitch Brenner in this was also the star of a great science fiction movie from 1960 called "The Time Machine" from the HG Wells novel. It's been remade more than once but never as well.
I think I saw this about 25 yrs. ago. As grown as I am, I still freak out every time I see too many crows gathering on line polls and trees. It's the fact that there was no reason why the birds went crazy only adds to my paranoia.
The Birds (1963) interesting facts--> When audiences left the U.K. premiere at the Odeon, Leicester Square, London, they were greeted by the sound of screeching and flapping birds from loudspeakers hidden in the trees to scare them further. Alfred Hitchcock revealed on The Dick Cavett Show (1968) that 3,200 birds were trained for the movie. He said the ravens were the cleverest, and the seagulls were the most vicious. Rod Taylor claims that the seagulls were fed a mixture of wheat and whiskey. It was the only way to get them to stand around so much. Tippi Hedren was cut in the face by a bird in one of the shots. Real-life event inspiration-->The Birds film was partly inspired by the true events of a mass bird attack on the seaside town of Capitola in California on August 18, 1961, when "Capitola residents awoke to a scene that seemed straight out of a horror movie. Hordes of seabirds were dive-bombing their homes, crashing into cars, and spewing half-digested anchovies onto lawns. Alfred Hitchcock heard of this event and used it as research material for this film which was then in progress. The real cause of the birds' behavior was toxic algae but that was not known back in the 1960s.
One of my favorite movies! I have been watching this since I was a kid in the ‘70s. To this day anytime I see a lot of birds together I automatically think of this movie. If you haven’t seen Rear Window by Hitchcock then please add it to your list of must see classics.
This movie has a surprisingly long backstory. In 1939, Hitchcock made an adaptation of Daphne du Maurier's novel Jamaica Inn, which suffered from its star Charles Laughton throwing his weight around and is considered one of his weakest films. But despite that, for his next film he did another du Maurier adaptation with Rebecca. This time he got full creative control, resulting in one of his most beloved films that even won Best Picture, one of shockingly few Oscar wins his legendary career produced. Du Maurier's writing career also continued strong, though all her later work remained in the shadow of her masterpiece Rebecca. And in 1952 she published a short story collection which included The Birds, a huge departure from her typical realistic Gothic romance and mystery stories about all the world's birds inexplicably attacking humanity and wiping them out. Evan Hunter, who'd done some scripts for Hitchcock's anthology shows, tried his hand at writing a feature film for him by going back to an author he'd had great success with, though his script really just takes the very basic concept of du Maurier's story and builds its own characters and situation out of it. The result was another smash and one of Hitchcock's most beloved films, which together with Psycho even tends to eclipse his reputation these days and makes people regard him as a horror director rather than the more general suspense that the vast majority of his films reside in.
Carolina Nabuco claimed that Rebecca had been plagiarized by du Maurier. Frank Baker also accused her of plagiarizing his story The Birds. Baker considered court action when the movie was released but for financial reason couldn't afford to do so. Although I like much of Daphne du Maurier's work, I can't help but question how much of it was actually hers.
@@nightfall902 …I sort of know what you mean. Rebecca is almost a parody of a Brontë Sisters novel like Wuthering Heights (…complete with the ‘ghost’ story…), or like Henry James’ Turn Of The Screw, which is a parody of a Brontë Sisters novel. Feels like it’s that nexus between a steal, an homage, or maybe by now it’s a ‘genre’ with certain tropes firmly established.
So the Birds were a mix of real ones, animationic ones and puppets. The effects were done by Ub Iwerks who started with Walt Disney and came up with the design of Mickey Mouse.
you might have recognized the actor that played Cathy (Alice, Lois). it's Veronica Cartwright, and she seemed to make a career out of being in sci fi movies (Alien, Invasion of the Body Snatchers).
Monkeys in the pet shop... yup. My friend's dad owned a pet shop and he had a few different kinds of monkeys, plus a Mynah bird. One ape, can't remember the exact type, was very friendly and my friend (with the help of her dad) brought it to school once for show-and-tell. --- Very different times, back then. LOL
This was one of my favorite movies as a kid. It used to scare the crap out of me. It is odd that the movie really doesn't explain anything regarding the birds behavior, yet it is still a classic. I always thought that going into that room at the end was the dumbest thing that Melanie could have done as well.
When my mom was younger, she was and some friends were having a sleepover and watched this. Apparently, her dad snuck outside and throw pinecones at the screen at the end of the movie. XD
One of my favorite Halloween costumes was when I dressed at Tippi Hedren from The Birds. I had the sixties skirt and jacket, the Twist Hairdo, dozens felt birds attached to my clothes and in my hair, and gallons of fake blood all over me. It was beautifully gruesome. I made felt silhouettes of birds, like the stickers that are used on bus stops in Europe, to keep birds from flying into the glass. The next year my husband and I went as the shower scene from Psycho.
a true Hitchcock classic suspense thriller. Will be a little while before you look at a large group of birds on a wire without some hesitation. Not sure if you noticed Alfred Hitchcocks cameo, he liked to pop into scenes to see if anyone could notice. He had the group of dogs in the petshop scene.
I'm sure lots of other people said it, but besides being inspired by a short story, it's also based on a real life event of birds that went crazy in California cuz of some algae or mold or something. So, horror, but not outside of the realm of possibility, horror. The best kind.
When I was a kid this movie for some reason came on TV once a year at the same time. It also ment it was time to rotate the living room furniture so my Dads recliner was from/away the fire wood stove.
So the birds rule the world now, I guess. Humans and birds just have to learn to communicate, so we'll know how to serve our new masters, right? Great reaction! If you want iconic Alfred Hitchcock movies like this and Psycho, North by Northwest (1959) is great a thrilling and funny spy story with Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint. But my favorite movies by Hitchcock are both taking place in a single location; Rope (1948) and Rear Window (1954), both with James Stewart. Rope, based on a play from 1929, was first planned to be filmed in one take. But then it was made in colour, and that restricted takes to 10 minutes. But Hitchcock was able to fake longer takes by hiding cuts, so it almost appears that there is only four shots in this 80 minutes long movie. Rear Window is .. just great. No spoilers. Just watch it!
Some trivia: Tippi Hedren played a big part in helping Vietnamese refugees in 1975 get involved in the nail salon business, when she was involved in a charity organization that was working with them.
The little girl who gets traumatized? She grew up to be the lady in Alien who gets traumatized by the chest burster in Alien. She gets her brain bent in Invasion of the Bodysnatchers and Witches of Eastwick. Lol. She is always getting the worst of things.
When this film was first shown at the Odeon Cinema, Leicester Square, London there were loud speaker set up in the trees that played the sounds of flapping wings and birds screeching as the audience left.
One of my favorite older movies. The first time I'd seen this movie was on TV in black and white (because I'm old enough to remember black and white only TVs) which does a great deal towards lessening the effects of the blood. When I was around 11 or 12 I happened to watch it again, this time in living color. It was a bit more disturbing that time. Plus the scene where the old woman walks into that mans house and finds him dead with his eyes pecked out and Hitchcock does that wonderful sets of far, close Closer shots, I didn't remember seeing that scene before and it really got to me. The sound design was really great. The scene in the house when they can only hear the birds and not see what's going on is really claustrophobic. My favorite scene will always be outside the school when the crows start gathering and the camera cuts away and everytime it comes back there's more of them. And when it's quiet and the children start running...and the birds don't move until that happens. Great reaction!
In the scene where Melanie is in the room being attacked, there were live birds attached to Tippi Hedren on strings and she ended up being traumatized from that scene in real life.
My all time favorite Hitchcock film. You know something just clicked in my head. Wasn't the town in The Fog starring Jamie Lee Curtis and her mother, Janet Leigh named Bodega Bay too? Edit: nevermind it was Antonio Bay
I saw this movie as a teenager when it aired on TV, and I remember thinking that if they released the lovebirds, the attacks would stop. Of course, having no explanation at all for the birds' behavior is much more suspenseful. Still a very creepy, classic movie.
So excited for you to react to The Birds! This movie was, no joke, my favorite as a child. And when I say child I mean 9 years old. Watched it over and over. My love of horror and suspense was written on the wall very early lol. The school house scene with the singing is still in my opinion one of the best suspense build ups ever made. Even on an emotional level the subplot relationship with the Melanie and Lydia of two women in need of love and support is just so subtle and amazingly well done.
This freaked me out as a kid. I actually thought a couple birds were going to attack me a couple times. Alfred Hitchcock was a great horror/suspense film maker. To this day, whenever I hear a bunch of birds in a tree, I think of this movie. Welcome to the horror movie us old people grew up with. Glad you enjoyed it. I enjoyed your reaction.
Rod Taylor was well known for his role in the 1960 Sci fi classic The Time Machine. Definitely worth a watch. Tippi Hedren did a movie in 1981 called Roar which took 10 years to make and it is known to this day as the most dangerous movie ever made as so many lions, tigers and other animals were used in the film and some of the cast and crew were injured. Even though Roar is an adventure comedy, the synopsis doesn't do the movie any favours as it gives the impression that the movie is more like The Birds but with lions and tigers.
I'm up in Northern California. Recently backyard birds acted weird -- from wildfire disruption and diseases -- and they went from cute to creepy real fast. When they start making extra noise and acting weird I say "it's getting a little Hitchcockian out there." When one starts to fly into the house it is scary af but seems like it shouldn't be. They haven't taken anyone's eyes yet.
Great reaction, Sam! So this marks your third Hitchcock movie, after NORTH BY NORTHWEST (1959) and PSYCHO (1960). Other Hitchcock films (most of which are considered suspense thrillers rather than horror films) that I’d recommend to you include THE 39 STEPS (1939), REBECCA (1940), FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT (1940), SUSPICION (1941), SABOTEUR (1942), LIFEBOAT (1944), SPELLBOUND (1945), NOTORIOUS (1946), ROPE (1948), STAGE FRIGHT (1950), STRANGERS ON A TRAIN (1951), I CONFESS (1953), DIAL M FOR MURDER (1954), REAR WINDOW (1954), TO CATCH A THIEF (1955), THE TROUBLE WITH HARRY (1955), THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH (1956), THE WRONG MAN (1956), VERTIGO (1958), MARNIE (1964), TORN CURTAIN (1966), TOPAZ (1969), FRENZY! (1972), and his final film, FAMILY PLOT (1976).
I see some comments about the actors. Nobody has mentioned that Mitch's mom is played by the great actress Jessica Tandy, who was Mrs. Threadgood in Fried Green Tomatoes and starred with Morgan Freeman in Driving Miss Daisy.
Hi , saw this as a child of 7 & loved it. Totally in love with Rod Taylor ,my favorite movie b4 LOTR , was The Time Machine with Rod Taylor . Also seen every Alfred Hitchcock , i swear tv & movies as a kid, taught me a lot about humans & life in general. Opened my young eyes to how hideous some people are and how heroic some people can be(snuck into movies a lot as kid from 10 - 13 that's what we did, saw Clockwork Orange, Midnight Cowboy The Exorcist lots of graphic War movies jeeze but it was worth it✌ as always love your reaction❤
The child actress that plays Cathy is Veronica Cartwright (Alien & Invasion of the Body Snatchers). Great reaction. A classic movie that is definitely worth checking out is the 1946 mystery thriller The Spiral Staircase. It is considered to be one of the earliest forerunners of the modern slasher movies. It features legendary actress Ethel Barrymore ( grand aunt of Drew Barrymore).
Great, fun reaction to this classic. Thanks! As a fun aside, the original planned ending had them barely escaping an attack on the car as they drove out of town, only to arrive in San Francisco and find the Golden Gate Bridge covered with birds. But ultimately that was deemed too bleak as well as expensive. So it was never filmed, although they have storyboards of it.
Hi OGB, you are a gamer right... If you play "The Crew" they have Bodega Bay & school building on the huge map... If drive into town & past the school... birds will fly off the roof (very cool game easter egg)
This was the very first movie that freaked me out as a kid in the late 60s. I assumed this was a worldwide phenomenon, not just limited to Bodega Bay. I also guessed that it was triggered by humans lighting up cigarettes. I was a confused kid.
Is that a young beautiful Jessica Tandy????? Check more of her out. Her n her hubby Hume Cronyn, Cocoon and Batteries not Included. Her performance in Driving Ms Daisy and Fried Green Tomatoes. Hume was fabulous in 12 Angry Men. Just to name a few. Death by bird!!!! 🤣🤣🤣
I love the scene where Melanie smokes a cigarette, blissfully unaware of the crows invading the playground right behind her. Creepiest thing ever.
BIG TIME!
One of my favorite scenes.
"I think the scariest part... was the noises." What's interesting is that many of those sounds were not actually birds but electronic sound effects, designed by Bernard Herrmann, the great film score composer. He did the unforgettable music for Psycho, Vertigo, and many others.
It's a common theory that Cathy is actually Mitch and Annie's daughter, with the family claiming she's Mitch's sister to avoid the scandal of a child out of wedlock. This certainly goes a long way to explaining the vast age gap between them, and why Annie stayed in Bodega Bay (and even gives a quite moving addition to her sacrificing her life to save Cathy).
Ahhhh that can make sense
i've never read the original story so I don't know if it hints at that. but chronologically it could work.
@@tomloft2000 This movie really has nothing to do with the original story beyond the very basic concept of birds suddenly attacking people. Totally different setting and characters (the story is in du Maurier's native England, and ends with the main characters being the only people still alive in Europe).
I’ve never heard that theory but I like it and it will be my reality from now on when watching it .
My oldest brother is 22 years older than me. It happens sometimes.
1968's Night of the Living Dead is typically regarded as the birth of the zombie film as it now exists, but this movie from five years earlier bears quite a few similarities. Something you wouldn't think would be any threat suddenly starts inexplicably attacking people, using strength of numbers to overwhelm any defense, the people under siege make things worse by turning on each other rather than working together to solve the problem, and everything culminates in a boarded-up house under siege.
The actress playing Annie Hayworth is Suzanne Pleshette. She went on to star in "The Bob Newhart Show" playing Bob's wife Emily. The TV show is considered one of the top 50 TV shows of all time.
23:21 "But, oh my god! Melanie, girl, why the _hell'd_ you go in that _room?_ _Why?_ You knew there was at _least_ a _bird in_ there."
Let me just say something in her defense, with regard to _that_ particular scene. See, it didn't really surprise me when the birds demonstrated their ability to smash through _windows._ Glass is not that hard to break. But the birds in _that_ room had demonstrated that, if they concentrated their efforts, they could break through the _roof._ And earlier, they had demonstrated that, if they concentrated their efforts, they could break through _doors._ All this being the case, I think it's safe to say that _any_ safeguard one puts in place for protection from these birds would've only done so _temporarily._
Birds that can break through a _roof_ can break through a _door._ All the safety provided by staying _out_ of that room was _temporary._
Although it doesn't entirely stick to the book it's based on, the ending to the film was purposely meant to be ambiguous. The book was also a political allegory for The Cold War.
But the "real" answer is based on an actual 1961 bird attack, in a town called Capitola. Multiple birds smashed into cars and buildings, and even attempted to enter homes.
Apparently, they had digested some type of fish contaminated by toxic algae that caused amnesia, disorientation and seizures.
Wow!!
Daphne du Maurier wrote the story about the birds 1952.
The Birds wasn't a book it was a short story, though it was published in a book, sure. But it was more about the people at home in the UK in WWII if it was about anything. I mean, come on, kamakazi birds, air raids, people being left to fend for themselves. Hitchcock liked Daphne's stuff.
@@dragontears ...although duMaueier hated Hitchcock's vision. She was baffled as to why the great director had distorted it as he had. The difference between the story and the film is striking, though less in the depiction of the birds' inexplicably aggressive behaviour than in the characters who confront it, and where it all happens. However, she approved Hitchcock's version of her novel "Jamaica Inn" and loved his version of "Rebecca."
@@washo2222 It might have been the studio's insistence that the story was changed. Check out the movie Hitchcock. It's about the making of Psycho. The studio was constantly budding in to the production of that movie.
Also studios loved to take original stories and stick in a fictional love story.
THE BIRDS!! A true horror classic. I've got a cousin that is still to this day scared shitless of flocks of birds after she saw this as a kid. I love it!!
I saw this as a kid in the sixties, and yes, I completely understand how your cousin feels. Now, 50 yrs later, I still don't like birds... I just don't trust them. If only I'd known then that they were descended from dinosaurs, I coulda worked through it... cause I love dinosaurs! lol
I still have a big issue with sea gulls thanks to this
Veronica Cartwright who played the sister Cathy, 16 years later played Lambert in Alien.
“BIRD POLICE!!” 😂🤣🤣 idk why that part killed me
🤣🤣🤣
I was at the store once early in the morning. It was around late winter/early spring and the trees were barren, except for one at the side of the store that was still full. I thought it was strange that it still had leaves on it, but after parking and taking a second to look I realized those weren't leaves. It was filled to capacity with squawking black birds (grackles, I'm pretty sure), and there were even more on the roof of the store, lining the building. Once I realized what I was looking at, I immediately wondered where Hitchcock was. XD
This is a real classic. Gotta love Sir Alfred's work.
Moral of the story: Never use herring-scented hairspray; it can lead to all kinds of trouble.
A really fun thing about this movie is that the first half hour seems like a Bringing Up Baby-esque romantic comedy, with a goofy woman instantly being attracted to a random guy and doing a bunch of crazy stuff to see him again. And then the seagull attacks her and it starts turning into a horror movie. Not that anyone at the time was actually fooled, since it was based on a famous short story and all the marketing openly revealed the bird attacks, but Hitchcock loved this kind of playing with expectations, and raising the suspense of just when the scary stuff would start.
Hitchcock’s slow build up is one of the things that made his movies so brilliant.
Which is why Alfred Hitchcock is still known as one of the best directors of all time! 😊
Alfred Hitchcock was a master of his craft, i wouldnt call this Horror, but Suspense, because that was what Hitchcock was all about.
"Can I bring the lovebirds, Mitch? they haven't harmed anyone."
"Oh, alright; bring them."
Fun Fact: When audiences left the U.K. premiere at the Odeon, Leicester Square, London, they were greeted by the sound of screeching and flapping birds from loudspeakers hidden in the trees to scare them further.
Bird Wrangling Fact: Rod Taylor claims that the seagulls were fed a mixture of wheat and whiskey. It was the only way to get them to stand around so much.
Mitch Factor Fact: Mitch Zanich, owner of the Tides Restaurant at the time of shooting, told Alfred Hitchcock he could shoot there if the lead male in the movie was named after him, and Hitchcock gave him a speaking part in the movie. Hitchcock agreed: Rod Taylor's character was named Mitch Brenner, and Mitch Zanich was given a speaking part. After Melanie is attacked by a seagull, Mitch Zanich can be heard saying to Mitch Brenner, "What happened, Mitch?"
Re: Your fun fact about the loudspeakers, that sounds like something William Castle would have done.
“Why is mama so suspicious of her immediately?”
I mean, she did break into their house. 😂
Okay, fair enough 😂
The mother wasn't aware of her breaking in their house. I think she recognized her as the heiress that wasn't written about in the article. Plus, she seemed to be the type who didn't think anyone was good enough for her son.
I've been to Bodega Bay. Nice little town.
The gas station scene is pure Hitchcock. One of his tricks was to allow people to see something terrible happening (or about to happen) without being able to do anything about it.
I had no idea it was a real place until these comments!
Apparently, one ending considered was that the car would return to San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge would be covered with birds, implying the "problem" had spread, or at the least, followed Melanie. It was ruled out - too expensive. And, one of the little girls at the schoolhouse was an uncredited Suzanne Cupito who would later change her name to Morgan Brittany and play Katherine Wentworth on TV's hit soap opera, Dallas.
"That was the dumbest thing I've seen someone do in a movie in quite sometime!" LOL Can't argue. I saw this when I was, maybe 10? It was my first Hitchcock movie my dad let me watch. Through that whole sequence of her hearing a noise, not waking anyone else, going up alone, opening the door, going INSIDE, seeing the hole...I just kept going "No. No. What are you DOING?" I do love this movie. There is a horror to it different from what we're used to nowadays. I love it plays on our more primal fears.
adid you ever see the video Hell No! The sensible horror film? it pokes fun of all of this.
Birds are the descendants of dinosaurs. Dinosaurs once ruled the world. They're just getting back. This film was based on a short story by Daphne du Maurier. She also wrote Rebecca which is another great Hitchcock film.
5:49 Hey, now. That's a young Jessica _Tandy._ I didn't _notice_ her when I first saw this movie. I'm accustomed to seeing her much _older,_ in movies like _Cocoon,_ _Batteries Not Included_ and _Driving Miss Daisy._
Yes. Her acting career spanned almost 70 years
By the way, Tippi Hedren is the mother of actress Melanie Griffith and the grandmother of actress Dakota Johnson. Melanie is not named after her mother's character in The Birds. It's a coincidence.
Hitch has made birds and taking showers scary. He was a genius.
Little Cathy was later in Alien and Invasion of the Body Snatchers. She's a scream queen. I even met her once, Nice woman.
The Birds in the room with Tippi was suppose to be like the shower scene in psycho. Hitchcock lied and told Tippi that mechanical birds were to be used for the scene but on the day of shooting she found out. During this and marnie Hitchcock would not let her out of her contract and they had a very rocky relationship.
Jeeeeez :/
Let's just say Hitchcock was very unprofessional towards Tippi.
I highly recommend checking out Shadow Of A Doubt from 1943! It’s Hitchcock’s favorite film that he directed!
From the book of the same name by Daphne Du Maurier." Du Maurier's inspiration for the story was the sight of a farmer being attacked by a flock of gulls as he ploughed a field."
It's crazy rewatching this film knowing how Tippi Hedren went through the wringer during the production of this film.
One of the mechanical crows in the phone booth scene broke the supposedly "shatterproof" glass, and shards of it hit her in the face.
Additionally, the mechanical birds meant to be used for the attack scene got switched with live birds.
Allegedly, she spent five days filming the scene with live birds being thrown at her and attached to her body with elastic bands. One of which almost pecked her eye out.
Good lord 😫😫
The animals were also all badly treated...i love this film, but Hitchcock was kind of gross
@@bethanythatsme No :( that’s so sad. I had a feeling :(
@@OGBReacts it gets worse with the glass.
Tippi Hedren has alledged that the glass was replaced with normal glass on purpose by Hitchcock as retaliation for her not letting him sexually harass her
@@rickypedia999 Oh that’s good 🙃🙃🙃 wow
Some fun cast connections to other stuff you've seen here. Veronica Cartwright (Cathy) was Lambert in Alien (or as everyone probably thinks of her, "the woman who's not Ripley"), and Rod Taylor (Mitch) appeared briefly in Inglourious Basterds as Winston Churchill.
My favorite cast member in this was Suzanne Pleshette. Loved her since I was a kid watching The Bob Newhart Show.
I prefer to remember Rod Taylor as "George, the inventor chap," in "The Time Machine" (1960).
And she’s Angela Cartwright’s sister, AKA Penny from the original Lost in Space and was in The Sound of Music.
Rod Taylor was also the voice of Pongo in 101 Dalmatians.
I was too young to see it when it came out ...( maybe 7 or 8...) , but my older sister told me about it. For a while in the 70s, that schoolhouse was up for sale...& I remember my father ( a realtor ) had a listing for it. It's a little bookstore or art gallery the last time I drove past it. It's actually several miles from Bodega Bay....but edited in to look like it's just up the street.
The ornithologist at the diner said that it is highly unlikely that species of birds come together to attack humans. Hitchcock is brilliant to let us, the viewer, decide what could possibly be the reason for the birds attacking humans. The hysterical mother at the diner made you (and most of us) believe that it all started when Melanie arrived at Bodega Bay. Even in the radio announcement in the car where the announcer said that the bird attacks were primarily at Bodega Bay would make you believe it's all because of Melanie. Or could it be because of the two lovebirds?
Who knows. I've been dying to see if anyone would do a remake of this film using the CGI technology we have today. It would make such an epic movie! Great reaction Sam! I'm glad you enjoyed this Hitchcock classic! 🐦
We got Birdemic.
@@the-NightStar What shock! What terror!
RiffTrax version is better.
I really hope no one produces a remake -- at least not just to show off any "improved" special effects. Special effects alone are insufficient to effective storytelling. Need proof? Just look at all the terrible movies being made with "great" special effects but a poor story with unsympathetic, cardboard characters.
Cathy fell into a black hole and ended up in the future, as a space freighter pilot. Her last assignment was the Commercial Towing Vessel "Nostromo". RIP.
There was actually a sequel to this movie in 1994, which is really just a totally separate story that's also about birds attacking people, and everyone hated it. Tippi Hedren had a cameo, though not as Melanie, and said "I hate to think what Hitchcock would have thought of it."
The film that inspired Tippi Hedren's other classic movie: Birdemic. 😎👍
One of the most chilling scenes to me is when Hedren's character, who started out as so strong and confident being thrown into shock and just uttering "No!....No!..."
I live not too far from Bodega Bay and grew up a little farther than now. I watched this with a friend when we were about six. The next morning we rode our BMX bikes to peewee baseball. We got to the field before anyone else. There was at least a hundred crows on the field and I froze, totally freaked out. My friend had bigger balls than me and rode his bike right through them and drove them off. lol
I have to recommend another Du Maurier adaptation, Nic Roeg's _Don't Look Now,_ another of the creepiest movies ever made.
This movie use to scare me as a kid. Not only did we have a fireplace, but birds use to fly in and nest lol
Can I recommend the 1955 thriller/noir movie The Night of the Hunter staring Robert Mitchum and Shelley Winters.
Jessica Tandy is also in this movie . She played the part of the older movie . She was also in : Driving Miss Daisy - Cocoon - ". And a few others.
The little girl with the love birds stars with Cher, Michelle Pfeiffer, Susan Sarandon, and Jack Nicholson in The Witches of Eastwick (1987), which I highly recommend. You may also remember her from Alien (1979). The mother is best known from Driving Miss Daisy and Fried Green Tomatoes. The schoolteacher starred on The Bob Newhart Show on CBS.
You'll never look at a group of birds again without thinking of this.
The Birds is IN THEATRES nationwide Oct. 22-23 only, as Fathom Events celebrate its 60th Anniversary. Spread the word!
They spoofed this movie on The Simpsons, American Dad, Bob's Burgers, Family Guy, Futurama, and many other TV shows and movies.
This was also the first Hitchcock movie to be released on VHS with a PG-13 rating in 1993. It's also one o several other movies that have animals attacking people including JAWS, JURASSIC PARK, JURASSIC WORLD, The Swarm, Grizzly, Piranha, Snakes On A Plane, The Shallows, Crawl, Arachnophobia, Lake Placid, Cujo, Alligator, Crocodile, Anaconda, Open Water, Day Of The Animals, Empire Of The Ants, Food Of The Gods, Monkey Shines, TREMORS, and The Killer Shrews.
"I need the biggest seed bell you have. No, that's too big."
10:44 I remind you that this movie came out in 1963. Imagine that. Compared to the other kinds of movies released at the time, imagine how much this kind of thing must have terrified people.
Right!! Cleopatra, Move Over Darling, Charade, Hud, and THIS!!!
This film for me has a kind of poetic expressionistic view of human relationships. It starts off almost like a screwball comedy with a guy and girl always conflicting with each other because they're intensely attracted to one another, but in Hitchcock's worldview this is an illusion to repress life's scarier ordeals. The dynamic of Lydia and Melanie, in fact they both look very similar, is key to this with Mitch being each their chess piece they want to move around the board. And the birds, well, they're a catalyst for humans constantly playing games with each other and using things for advantage not for need. And by the way, Bernard Herrmann who did the music for PSYCHO was the sound consultant for all those bird sounds. There's no music in the film, but he used those various bird sounds like scary music, my favorite being while Brenner house is being attacked the second time and the lights suddenly go out, there's this bird scream sound that travels left to right that makes my shoulder blades shiver. I've got a beautiful autographed picture that Tippi Hedren who plays Melanie gave me and it's very artistic with birds she penned on the page signed For Robert Love, Tippi. She's a sweetheart and believe it or not a huge animal lover even though during that attic scene near the end because the bird handlers were launching real birds at her and one talon sliced her eye and she had to take a week off because of the trauma filming the scene caused. Great reaction and thanks for not getting annoyed with this immensely long comment.
Did u know, Alfred Hitchcock had the real birds released on purpose because Tippi Hedren rejected his sexual advances? Every chance he got her made scenes difficult for her.
@@lynetteoliva1256 , I know the gossip although that sort of trouble didn't get into full swing until Marnie although Hitchcock was always very controlling. I don't talk to her about it because it would be in very bad taste and there is lots to talk about besides her film career.
@@robertjewell9727 I just wanted to know if u were aware of it. Of course, I wouldn't expect u to bring that possibly bad time of her past up. I think she is a wonderful actress, & I'm sure she is a lovely person too.
@@lynetteoliva1256 , that she is. She's very active and lives on a wildlife refuge primarily taking care of lions and tigers, but other animal species too. I really want to get out there. I've never been.
Hitchcock stated that if he showed why the birds were attacking the movie would be a sci-fi, he said he directed suspense-mysteries, leave them guessing.
This movie was more Horror in my opinion . Arguably his only horror movie. This and “Psycho “ birds is even more horror.
This movie ranked at #96 in the 100 scariest movie moments on Bravo, cool reaction as always Sam, take care and you have a great weekend sweetie 🥰
@@justindenney-hall5875 That's cool, you have a great weekend
Good movie, good reaction (as always).
Rod Taylor, who played Mitch Brenner in this was also the star of a great science fiction movie from 1960 called "The Time Machine" from the HG Wells novel. It's been remade more than once but never as well.
Legit😂 “Look what we’ve done…silly humans!”
The little sister, Cathy, is played by Veronica Cartwright. Sixteen years after "The Birds"(1963), she played Lambert in "Alien" (1979).
I think I saw this about 25 yrs. ago. As grown as I am, I still freak out every time I see too many crows gathering on line polls and trees.
It's the fact that there was no reason why the birds went crazy only adds to my paranoia.
The Birds (1963) interesting facts--> When audiences left the U.K. premiere at the Odeon, Leicester Square, London, they were greeted by the sound of screeching and flapping birds from loudspeakers hidden in the trees to scare them further. Alfred Hitchcock revealed on The Dick Cavett Show (1968) that 3,200 birds were trained for the movie. He said the ravens were the cleverest, and the seagulls were the most vicious. Rod Taylor claims that the seagulls were fed a mixture of wheat and whiskey. It was the only way to get them to stand around so much. Tippi Hedren was cut in the face by a bird in one of the shots. Real-life event inspiration-->The Birds film was partly inspired by the true events of a mass bird attack on the seaside town of Capitola in California on August 18, 1961, when "Capitola residents awoke to a scene that seemed straight out of a horror movie. Hordes of seabirds were dive-bombing their homes, crashing into cars, and spewing half-digested anchovies onto lawns. Alfred Hitchcock heard of this event and used it as research material for this film which was then in progress. The real cause of the birds' behavior was toxic algae but that was not known back in the 1960s.
I don't know why but the scene of her driving that lil boat by herself in her fancy fur coat always cracks me up.. lmao!
One of my favorite movies! I have been watching this since I was a kid in the ‘70s. To this day anytime I see a lot of birds together I automatically think of this movie. If you haven’t seen Rear Window by Hitchcock then please add it to your list of must see classics.
This movie has a surprisingly long backstory. In 1939, Hitchcock made an adaptation of Daphne du Maurier's novel Jamaica Inn, which suffered from its star Charles Laughton throwing his weight around and is considered one of his weakest films. But despite that, for his next film he did another du Maurier adaptation with Rebecca. This time he got full creative control, resulting in one of his most beloved films that even won Best Picture, one of shockingly few Oscar wins his legendary career produced.
Du Maurier's writing career also continued strong, though all her later work remained in the shadow of her masterpiece Rebecca. And in 1952 she published a short story collection which included The Birds, a huge departure from her typical realistic Gothic romance and mystery stories about all the world's birds inexplicably attacking humanity and wiping them out. Evan Hunter, who'd done some scripts for Hitchcock's anthology shows, tried his hand at writing a feature film for him by going back to an author he'd had great success with, though his script really just takes the very basic concept of du Maurier's story and builds its own characters and situation out of it. The result was another smash and one of Hitchcock's most beloved films, which together with Psycho even tends to eclipse his reputation these days and makes people regard him as a horror director rather than the more general suspense that the vast majority of his films reside in.
Carolina Nabuco claimed that Rebecca had been plagiarized by du Maurier. Frank Baker also accused her of plagiarizing his story The Birds. Baker considered court action when the movie was released but for financial reason couldn't afford to do so. Although I like much of Daphne du Maurier's work, I can't help but question how much of it was actually hers.
@@nightfall902 …I sort of know what you mean. Rebecca is almost a parody of a Brontë Sisters novel like Wuthering Heights (…complete with the ‘ghost’ story…), or like Henry James’ Turn Of The Screw, which is a parody of a Brontë Sisters novel. Feels like it’s that nexus between a steal, an homage, or maybe by now it’s a ‘genre’ with certain tropes firmly established.
So the Birds were a mix of real ones, animationic ones and puppets. The effects were done by Ub Iwerks who started with Walt Disney and came up with the design of Mickey Mouse.
you might have recognized the actor that played Cathy (Alice, Lois). it's Veronica Cartwright, and she seemed to make a career out of being in sci fi movies (Alien, Invasion of the Body Snatchers).
Monkeys in the pet shop... yup. My friend's dad owned a pet shop and he had a few different kinds of monkeys, plus a Mynah bird. One ape, can't remember the exact type, was very friendly and my friend (with the help of her dad) brought it to school once for show-and-tell. --- Very different times, back then. LOL
This was one of my favorite movies as a kid. It used to scare the crap out of me. It is odd that the movie really doesn't explain anything regarding the birds behavior, yet it is still a classic. I always thought that going into that room at the end was the dumbest thing that Melanie could have done as well.
@15:42 - One of the best "Karen" slaps on film.
When my mom was younger, she was and some friends were having a sleepover and watched this. Apparently, her dad snuck outside and throw pinecones at the screen at the end of the movie. XD
Oh my god 🤣
One of my favorite Halloween costumes was when I dressed at Tippi Hedren from The Birds. I had the sixties skirt and jacket, the Twist Hairdo, dozens felt birds attached to my clothes and in my hair, and gallons of fake blood all over me. It was beautifully gruesome. I made felt silhouettes of birds, like the stickers that are used on bus stops in Europe, to keep birds from flying into the glass. The next year my husband and I went as the shower scene from Psycho.
And Jessica Tandy was the celebrated doyenne of Broadway during this time, so ppl were surprised Hitchcock was able to get her for his movie 🍿🍿
a true Hitchcock classic suspense thriller. Will be a little while before you look at a large group of birds on a wire without some hesitation. Not sure if you noticed Alfred Hitchcocks cameo, he liked to pop into scenes to see if anyone could notice. He had the group of dogs in the petshop scene.
I'm sure lots of other people said it, but besides being inspired by a short story, it's also based on a real life event of birds that went crazy in California cuz of some algae or mold or something. So, horror, but not outside of the realm of possibility, horror. The best kind.
Tippi Hedren, who played Melanie, is the mother of actress Melanie Griffith.
When I was a kid this movie for some reason came on TV once a year at the same time. It also ment it was time to rotate the living room furniture so my Dads recliner was from/away the fire wood stove.
The bird also thinks gas ⛽ is very expensive !!!! 😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣
I'm really starting to enjoy your reaction of when films decide to end.
So the birds rule the world now, I guess.
Humans and birds just have to learn to communicate, so we'll know how to serve our new masters, right?
Great reaction!
If you want iconic Alfred Hitchcock movies like this and Psycho, North by Northwest (1959) is great a thrilling and funny spy story with Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint.
But my favorite movies by Hitchcock are both taking place in a single location; Rope (1948) and Rear Window (1954), both with James Stewart.
Rope, based on a play from 1929, was first planned to be filmed in one take. But then it was made in colour, and that restricted takes to 10 minutes. But Hitchcock was able to fake longer takes by hiding cuts, so it almost appears that there is only four shots in this 80 minutes long movie.
Rear Window is .. just great. No spoilers. Just watch it!
I saw this movie around the first time it was on TV, when I was either in first or second grade around 1967 time frame. It scared me to no end.
Some trivia: Tippi Hedren played a big part in helping Vietnamese refugees in 1975 get involved in the nail salon business, when she was involved in a charity organization that was working with them.
The little girl who gets traumatized? She grew up to be the lady in Alien who gets traumatized by the chest burster in Alien. She gets her brain bent in Invasion of the Bodysnatchers and Witches of Eastwick. Lol. She is always getting the worst of things.
When this film was first shown at the Odeon Cinema, Leicester Square, London there were loud speaker set up in the trees that played the sounds of flapping wings and birds screeching as the audience left.
One of my favorite older movies. The first time I'd seen this movie was on TV in black and white (because I'm old enough to remember black and white only TVs) which does a great deal towards lessening the effects of the blood. When I was around 11 or 12 I happened to watch it again, this time in living color. It was a bit more disturbing that time. Plus the scene where the old woman walks into that mans house and finds him dead with his eyes pecked out and Hitchcock does that wonderful sets of far, close Closer shots, I didn't remember seeing that scene before and it really got to me. The sound design was really great. The scene in the house when they can only hear the birds and not see what's going on is really claustrophobic. My favorite scene will always be outside the school when the crows start gathering and the camera cuts away and everytime it comes back there's more of them. And when it's quiet and the children start running...and the birds don't move until that happens. Great reaction!
In the scene where Melanie is in the room being attacked, there were live birds attached to Tippi Hedren on strings and she ended up being traumatized from that scene in real life.
Jeeeeez
Now you're ready to watch Mel Brooks' masterpiece "High Anxiety". I think it's his best film, an homage to Alfred Hitchcock.
Definitely watch High anxiety now that you’ve seen other Hitchcock movies, in particular Psycho, but also Rear Window and North By Northwest.
It is my favorite Mel Brooks movie!
My all time favorite Hitchcock film.
You know something just clicked in my head. Wasn't the town in The Fog starring Jamie Lee Curtis and her mother, Janet Leigh named Bodega Bay too?
Edit: nevermind it was Antonio Bay
I’m pretty sure Bodega Bay is mentioned in the Fog though.
I saw this movie as a teenager when it aired on TV, and I remember thinking that if they released the lovebirds, the attacks would stop. Of course, having no explanation at all for the birds' behavior is much more suspenseful. Still a very creepy, classic movie.
The Birds is really just a collection of RPG sidequests with a few bird attacks thrown in!!!
So excited for you to react to The Birds! This movie was, no joke, my favorite as a child. And when I say child I mean 9 years old. Watched it over and over. My love of horror and suspense was written on the wall very early lol. The school house scene with the singing is still in my opinion one of the best suspense build ups ever made. Even on an emotional level the subplot relationship with the Melanie and Lydia of two women in need of love and support is just so subtle and amazingly well done.
This freaked me out as a kid. I actually thought a couple birds were going to attack me a couple times. Alfred Hitchcock was a great horror/suspense film maker. To this day, whenever I hear a bunch of birds in a tree, I think of this movie. Welcome to the horror movie us old people grew up with. Glad you enjoyed it. I enjoyed your reaction.
Rod Taylor was well known for his role in the 1960 Sci fi classic The Time Machine. Definitely worth a watch.
Tippi Hedren did a movie in 1981 called Roar which took 10 years to make and it is known to this day as the most dangerous movie ever made as so many lions, tigers and other animals were used in the film and some of the cast and crew were injured. Even though Roar is an adventure comedy, the synopsis doesn't do the movie any favours as it gives the impression that the movie is more like The Birds but with lions and tigers.
This movie scared the sh** out of me as a young child!
I'm up in Northern California. Recently backyard birds acted weird -- from wildfire disruption and diseases -- and they went from cute to creepy real fast. When they start making extra noise and acting weird I say "it's getting a little Hitchcockian out there." When one starts to fly into the house it is scary af but seems like it shouldn't be. They haven't taken anyone's eyes yet.
I live in Santa Rosa and every time I go to Bodega Bay I think of this movie. Great reaction
Great reaction, Sam! So this marks your third Hitchcock movie, after NORTH BY NORTHWEST (1959) and PSYCHO (1960). Other Hitchcock films (most of which are considered suspense thrillers rather than horror films) that I’d recommend to you include THE 39 STEPS (1939), REBECCA (1940), FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT (1940), SUSPICION (1941), SABOTEUR (1942), LIFEBOAT (1944), SPELLBOUND (1945), NOTORIOUS (1946), ROPE (1948), STAGE FRIGHT (1950), STRANGERS ON A TRAIN (1951), I CONFESS (1953), DIAL M FOR MURDER (1954), REAR WINDOW (1954), TO CATCH A THIEF (1955), THE TROUBLE WITH HARRY (1955), THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH (1956), THE WRONG MAN (1956), VERTIGO (1958), MARNIE (1964), TORN CURTAIN (1966), TOPAZ (1969), FRENZY! (1972), and his final film, FAMILY PLOT (1976).
I wish more reactors would do this film.
Mama is Jessica Tandy, from Driving Miss Daisy and Fried Green Tomatoes.
I see some comments about the actors. Nobody has mentioned that Mitch's mom is played by the great actress Jessica Tandy, who was Mrs. Threadgood in Fried Green Tomatoes and starred with Morgan Freeman in Driving Miss Daisy.
Hi , saw this as a child of 7 & loved it. Totally in love with Rod Taylor ,my favorite movie b4 LOTR , was The Time Machine with Rod Taylor . Also seen every Alfred Hitchcock , i swear tv & movies as a kid, taught me a lot about humans & life in general. Opened my young eyes to how hideous some people are and how heroic some people can be(snuck into movies a lot as kid from 10 - 13 that's what we did, saw Clockwork Orange, Midnight Cowboy The Exorcist lots of graphic War movies jeeze but it was worth it✌ as always love your reaction❤
The child actress that plays Cathy is Veronica Cartwright (Alien & Invasion of the Body Snatchers). Great reaction. A classic movie that is definitely worth checking out is the 1946 mystery thriller The Spiral Staircase. It is considered to be one of the earliest forerunners of the modern slasher movies. It features legendary actress Ethel Barrymore ( grand aunt of Drew Barrymore).
She wasnt just a child actress, she slapped Ripley in Alien.
9:40 "It just happened _twice_ in the span of a few _hours."_
Yeah. With a couple _very_ different species of _birds._
I love Alfred Hitchcock films 🎥 like all of them
But this one is my favorite 😻 and I watch it often!
Great, fun reaction to this classic. Thanks! As a fun aside, the original planned ending had them barely escaping an attack on the car as they drove out of town, only to arrive in San Francisco and find the Golden Gate Bridge covered with birds. But ultimately that was deemed too bleak as well as expensive. So it was never filmed, although they have storyboards of it.
It's the end of the world! To this day, congregations of birds give me anxiety! Great reaction!
Hi OGB, you are a gamer right...
If you play "The Crew" they have Bodega Bay & school building on the huge map...
If drive into town & past the school... birds will fly off the roof (very cool game easter egg)
This was the very first movie that freaked me out as a kid in the late 60s. I assumed this was a worldwide phenomenon, not just limited to Bodega Bay. I also guessed that it was triggered by humans lighting up cigarettes. I was a confused kid.
Is that a young beautiful Jessica Tandy?????
Check more of her out. Her n her hubby Hume Cronyn, Cocoon and Batteries not Included. Her performance in Driving Ms Daisy and Fried Green Tomatoes.
Hume was fabulous in 12 Angry Men. Just to name a few.
Death by bird!!!! 🤣🤣🤣
Hi Sam. Hitchcock was a true MASTER. Another excellent Hitchcock film is Rear Window (1954). Outstanding!!!
This was beyond my favorite movie of Hitchcock