I think The Birds is one of the best-known movies in Hitchcock’s filmography and one of the few that is thought of as an actual horror movie.
After a chance encounter with a man named Mitch at a pet store, Melanie travels to Bodega Bay to deliver a pair of lovebirds to him. During her unexpectedly lengthy stay, birds start attacking in hordes, injuring and killing the island’s residents.
Melanie was played by Tippi Hedren. Apparently, people were not very kind about her performance in this movie. She has a sort of melodramatic quality to her performance, which is also seen in Hitchcock’s 1964 movie Marnie. I personally like that about her. For me, it works. She also nearly lost an eye when she was locked in an attic room full of birds. Rod Taylor was cast as Mitch (instead of Cary Grant or Sean Connery, both of whom Hitchcock initially wanted in the role), who was played as the classic hero. There isn’t much else to him. Suzanne Pleshette plays a local school teacher who befriends Melanie, one of the sassiest characters in a Hitchcock movie. There’s something amazing about her voice, similar to that of Lauren Bacall. Mitch’s mother, played by Jessica Tandy, is one of those protective mothers. When she lost her husband, Mitch became the only man in her life. At first, she’s not particularly fond of Melanie, thinking she’s going to take him away from her. Finally, we have Mitch’s younger sister, Cathy, played by 13-year-old future scream queen Veronica Cartwright. Cathy serves as the human McGuffin that brings Melanie to the island; the lovebirds she brought to Mitch were for Cathy’s 11th birthday.
The Birds was loosely based on the 1952 short story by Daphne du Maurier and served as the third adaptation of her work by Hitchcock; this was preceded by Jamaica Inn (1939) and Rebecca (1940). The original story was set in Cornwall, England (du Maurier’s home county), and centred around a farmhand trying to protect his family from the rogue birds. Neither the short story nor the movie had an explanation as to why the birds began to attack.
Key scene: When Melanie is sitting outside of the school waiting for Cathy, birds start flocking around the playground. Kids are singing a song, which is all that can be heard. It’s a little bit creepy…
The Birds is an exciting and surprisingly ballsy movie. Not many movies back then showed scenes of children being savaged, and this one contains some surprisingly gory effects for the time. The biggest example is that of a man having his eyes pecked out.
The lack of reasoning or a full-on conclusion just adds bleakness to the cautionary tale of nature attacking. It feels realistic. Nature doesn’t always have a motive. Animals do weird and unusual things, and birds are no exception.
Hitchcock Cameo: Leaving the pet store with two dogs as Melanie enters.
Linsey Loves Horror 